Meta Unveils AR Glasses Prototype: Zuckerberg’s ‘Time Machine’ to the Future

By Katie Paul

MENLO PARK, California – Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, unveiled its first functional prototype of augmented-reality glasses, known as Orion, during its annual Connect conference on Wednesday. The presentation highlighted the company’s vision for merging the virtual and real worlds.

"This represents the physical world enhanced with holograms," said Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg as he dramatically revealed the chunky black glasses from a metal case on stage.

Zuckerberg described Orion as a "time machine," noting, "These glasses exist, they are impressive, and they offer a preview of a thrilling future ahead."

In addition to showcasing Orion, Meta introduced new AI chatbot features for its services and a new Quest mixed-reality headset. The announcement led to a record high for Meta’s shares, which closed up 0.9% at $568.31.

The Orion glasses, constructed from magnesium alloy and powered by custom-designed silicon, will allow users to interact using hand-tracking, voice commands, and a wrist-based neural interface. Zuckerberg mentioned that the company plans to refine the design to make it smaller and more affordable before it hits the consumer market, anticipated in 2027.

Despite years of development, notable AR devices have often encountered setbacks, as seen with previous failures like Google Glass. Zuckerberg has championed AR technology as a key component of his vision for the immersive "metaverse," which he began promoting in 2021. However, the delivery of these products has faced challenges due to high development costs and technical barriers.

Analyst Paolo Pescatore noted that while Meta aims to popularize AR and VR products, user hesitance regarding AI remains a challenge that needs to be addressed.

During the announcement, Zuckerberg did not demonstrate Orion’s features live, opting instead to show a video of user reactions. The footage included snippets of text messages and images displayed via the glasses, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang among the testers.

The closest comparable product currently available is the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which initially generated little interest until an AI assistant was added last year. This year, Meta announced enhancements to these smart glasses, allowing users to perform actions such as scanning QR codes and streaming music through voice commands.

Later this year, users will see further improvements, including video generation and real-time language translation capabilities between English and select European languages. A live demonstration featured Zuckerberg conversing with Mexican MMA fighter Brandon Moreno, showcasing the translation tool in action.

Meta also revealed updates to its AI chatbot, including plans to automatically generate personalized images for users’ social media feeds. An upgraded audio feature for its digital assistant, Meta AI, will enable it to respond to voice commands while offering options to mimic celebrity voices.

"I believe voice will become a more intuitive way to engage with AI compared to text," Zuckerberg stated.

Currently, over 400 million people use Meta AI each month, with 185 million returning weekly. In line with its strategy to provide its AI models for public use, Meta introduced new versions of its Llama 3 models, although they are not available in the European Union due to local regulations.

Additionally, Meta announced a new entry-level mixed-reality headset, the Quest 3S, priced starting at $300, alongside reducing the price of the previously launched Quest 3.

The company has invested tens of billions of dollars into artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and other metaverse technologies, raising its capital expense forecast for 2024 to a record $37 billion to $40 billion. Its Reality Labs division, focused on the metaverse, reported losses of $8.3 billion in the first half of this year, following a $16 billion loss in the previous year.