Meta is teasing its next big hardware release: the first AR glasses, and we’re excited
Meta’s Reality Labs division β the team behind the VR hardware and software efforts β has turned 10 years old, and to celebrate the company has released a blog post outlining its ten-year history. While a trip down memory lane is fun, the most interesting part came right at the end, when Meta teased its next big new hardware release: its very first AR glasses.
According to the blog postthese specs would merge the currently disparate product paths that Meta’s Reality Labs has developed β specifically, combining its AR and VR hardware (like the Meta Quest 3) with the form factor and AI capabilities of its Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses to , as Meta puts it: βdeliver the best of both worlds.β
Importantly for all Quest fans, Meta adds that the AR glasses would not replace mixed reality headsets. Instead, it sees them as the smartphones to the headsets’ laptops/desktop computers – suggesting the glasses will offer solid performance in a sleek form factor, but with less oomph than you’d get from a headset.
Before we get too excited, though, Meta hasn’t said when these AR specs will be released yet β and unfortunately, it could still be a few years away.
A report from The edge in March 2023, the company shared an apparent roadmap from Meta Reality Labs that suggested the company wanted to release smart glasses with a display in 2025, followed by “real” AR smart glasses in 2027.
While we may have to wait some time before we can put these things on our minds, we may be able to look at them in the next year or so.
A later report came out in February of this year, this time via Business insider, quoted unnamed sources as saying that real AR glasses would be demonstrated at this year’s Meta Connect conference. Dubbed βOrionβ by those claiming to be in the know, the specs are said to combine Meta’s
As always, we have to take rumors with a grain of salt, but since this latest teaser came via Meta itself, it’s somewhat safe to assume that Meta AR glasses are a matter of when, not if. And boy, are we excited.
Currently, Meta has two main hardware lines: the VR headsets and the smart glasses. And while new entries for both are rumored to be in the works β such as a low-end Meta Quest 3 Lite, a high-end Meta Quest Pro 2, and the aforementioned third-generation Ray-Ban glasses with a screen β these could AR glasses the first major new hardware line since the launch of the Ray-Ban Stories in 2021.
And the picture that Meta has painted of his AR glasses is sublime.
First, while Meta’s current Ray-Ban smart glasses aren’t the smartest yet, many major AI upgrades are currently in beta – and should hit the market soon.
The Look and Ask feature combines the intelligence of ChatGPT β or in this case the internal Meta AI β with the image analysis capabilities of an app like Google Lens. This apparently lets you identify animals, discover facts about landmarks and help you plan a meal based on the ingredients you have β it all sounds very sci-fi and actually useful, unlike some AI applications.
Then we take those AI capabilities and combine them with Meta’s best-in-class Quest platform, which is home to the best software and developers working in the XR space.
Although many apps likely couldn’t be ported to the new system due to hardware limitations – as the Glasses may not offer controllers, will likely be AR-only, and may be too small to offer as powerful a chipset or as much RAM as its Quest hardware β we hope enough will find their way. And Meta’s existing partners could plausibly develop entirely new AR software to take advantage of the new system.
Based on the many Quest 3 games and apps we’ve tried, even if only a few of the best make their way into the specs, they would make Meta’s new product feel immediately usable. a factor that is a must for any new gadget.
Finally, we would hopefully see Meta’s glasses adopt the best Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses feature: their design. These things are beautiful, comfortable, and their charging case is the perfect combination of fashion and function.
Give us everything we already have design-wise, and throw in interchangeable lenses so we’re not stuck with sunglasses all year round – which in the UK, where I live, are only usable for about two weeks a year – and the AR glasses could be perfect.
We’ll just have to wait and see what Meta shows, either at this year’s Meta Connect or in the future β and once they’re ready for prime time, we’ll certainly be ready to test them.