Meta will have the "world's most advanced pair of glasses" by this year
UPDATEUpdate from February 28, 2024:
- Report by Business Insider added
Meta's CTO basically confirmed that Meta will demo its expensive AR glasses prototype this year.
In his most recent AMA on Instagram, CTO Andrew Bosworth was asked how close Meta is to a pair of smart glasses with a HUD. Bosworth replied:
Heads-up-displays are a very specific concept of what a screen could look like in glasses. And insofar as it's really interpreting the world in real-time and processing things around it, that's probably further out on the processing side. On the display side, we are gonna have, I stand by it, the world's most advanced pair of glasses this year, but it's internal only. We'll have quite a few of them but they're not economically viable for large-scale production and distribution yet. It's a bit of a time machine for us to look into the future so we can build and design for the future. We're certainly working on glasses that have displays at multiple levels, smart glasses all the way up to full AR glasses, but I don't have the time line to share now.
Bosworth hinted in an interview late last year that Meta will unveil an AR glasses prototype in 2024. "I think there’s a pretty good chance that people will get a chance to play with it in 2024," said Meta's CTO. Speaking about the prototype, Bosworth said:
It’s probably our most exciting prototype that we’ve had to date. I might get myself in trouble for saying this: I think it might be the most advanced piece of technology on the planet in its domain. In the domain of consumer electronics, it might be the most advanced thing that we’ve ever produced as a species.
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In the AMA, Bosworth basically confirms that Meta will have the prototype ready to show this year, but also hinted at something new: that while the glasses may set new standards in terms of display technology, they will be limited in terms of processing and real-time understanding of its surroundings. Bosworth reiterates that the AR glasses are only intended for internal use due to exorbitant manufacturing costs.
According to a leaked hardware roadmap, a second, commercial version of the AR glasses could be released in 2027. According to the same leak, a third generation of Ray-Ban Meta Smartglasses could launch as early as 2025, and could for the first time include a small viewfinder head-up display.
Citing several sources familiar with the matter, Business Insider writes that Meta is planning to unveil a prototype of AR glasses at the upcoming Connect conference.
The company's first version of what's considered "true" AR glasses, an internal project referred to as Orion, is poised to be revealed this fall, likely during Meta's annual Connect conference for third-party developers. The AR team is also being pushed to have the high-tech glasses demoed during Connect, so there is internal pressure to ensure a high level of performance, according to two people familiar with the plans, whose identities Business Insider has confirmed and who asked to remain anonymous so they could speak freely.
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One of the sources also claims that "certain prototypes of the unreleased AR glasses" are visible in a photo posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Threads.
Bild: Mark Zuckerberg
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