During Connect 2024, held on 25 and 26 September, the annual event on future technologies promoted by Meta, Mark Zuckerberg presented the latest VR visor and Smart glasses, developed in collaboration with Ray-Ban. He then announced a major technological innovation, which immediately caught everyone’s attention. Surprisingly, this time there was no mention of privacy issues, but rather the opposite.
It is Orion, a prototype of AR glasses already announced to the world five years ago under the name Project Nazare. This innovative device combines the physical and virtual worlds, putting people at the centre (human-oriented computing), with the aim of going beyond the traditional smartphone screen. The glasses, with a rather imposing frame that weighs about 100 grams, are equipped with a holographic display that exploits the physical environment, enriching it with 2D and 3D projections of various kinds: one can, for example, watch a film projected on the wall of one’s home or work on projects like Tony Stark in Iron Man.
Orion uses hand-tracking and eye-tracking technologies to select elements and an AI system that anticipates the user’s actions, enhancing the visual experience. An innovative aspect is the wrist-based neural interface, an armband that detects the movements of the thumb on the index finger, allowing it to control scrolling on the holographic display.
The trend towards screen-less (“display-less“) devices is gaining momentum, especially with the increased interest in smart glasses. These, at the moment, allow one to take photos and record videos thanks to a button built into the frame, and have a touchpad for functions such as pausing a video or activating music. Real-time translation is also coming soon. As far as privacy is concerned, an LED turns on automatically when the button to record is pressed, alerting those nearby.
For now, the prototype will be tested by an internal team and potential external partners, to gather diverse opinions and launch a finished, state-of-the-art product on the market. We just have to wait and see if Orion will really succeed in revolutionising the way we interact with the digital world.
It seems that we are facing a device destined to revolutionise the world of telephony, just as Steve Jobs did in 2007 with the first iPhone, when the elimination of buttons seemed incredible to us, just as the idea of eliminating touch from the display now is.
At the moment, the device is not yet on sale. Zuckerberg has specified that he wants to continue working on certain aspects, such as improving the display, size and design.
Immage from Meta .