Meta drops key specs of AR glasses in development for lower cost

据报道Meta降低了正在开发中的AR眼镜的关键规格，以实现更低的成本。

Meta has been working on AR glasses for eight years and billions of dollars, which Mark Zuckerberg hopes will one day be as big a moment as the iPhone. Last year, The Verge's Alex Heath reported that Meta no longer plans to release its first AR glasses, code-named "Orion," to consumers.

Instead, they will reportedly distribute it to select developers in 2024 and use it as a demonstration of the future of AR. Today, The Information's Wayne Ma made the same point about Heath's report, but Ma also mentioned that the first AR glasses Meta plans to sell to the public starting in 2027 will have lower specifications and features than Orion. These downgrades reflect the difficulty the industry is struggling to bring clear AR glasses from the world of sci-fi into the realm of real products. Apple reportedly delayed its full-featured AR glasses indefinitely earlier this year, while Google reportedly canceled its in-house glasses project this year in favor of making software for third parties.

MicroLED downgraded to LCoS

The developer/demo version of Orion will reportedly use microLED displays supplied by Plessey, the supplier that secured all future production for Facebook in 2019. MicroLED is a truly new display technology, not a variant of LCD such as "Mini LED" or "QLED". MicroLEDs, like OLEDs, are self-illuminating, which means the pixels can output not only color but also light, without the need for a backlight, while being more energy efficient and brighter.

This makes MicroLEDs ideal for consumer AR glasses, as they need to work on sunny days and be powered by small, lightweight batteries. While most major electronics companies are actively researching MicroLED technology—including Samsung, Sony, and Apple—no company has yet found a way to cost-effectively mass-produce such products. But Ma reported that "Plessey's technology has stalled" because the companies couldn't make microLED displays bright enough and struggled with yield issues caused by manufacturing flaws. As a result, consumer AR glasses will reportedly switch to LCoS displays. LCoS displays are essentially liquid crystal microdisplays, but image formation is by reflection rather than transmission. LCoS is not a new technology and has been used in movie projectors since the 1990s. LCoS microdisplays were used in HoloLens 1 and are also used in Magic Leap 2. They are less power efficient and brighter than microLEDs potentially perform, but cost much less in the short term.

zoom out

According to reports, the developer/demo version of Orion will feature a silicon carbide waveguide that will have a larger field of view than the glass waveguide used in existing transparent AR systems. Ma reports that Orion's field of view is roughly 70° diagonally, slightly larger than the larger Magic Leap 2's 66°, and much larger than the HoloLens 2 and Nreal Light's 52°. But silicon carbide waveguides are expensive, so Meta's consumer AR glasses will reportedly switch to glass waveguides, with a field of view of only about 50° diagonal, the same as HoloLens 2 and Nreal Light. We severely criticized the field of view of the HoloLens 2 and Nreal Light in our review.

Reduce Compute Module Functions

Ma also reported that Meta is cutting the functionality of the elliptical wireless computing module. The module will reportedly feature a 5G modem for connectivity, a touchpad for input, a Qualcomm chip for computing and a full-color camera.

However, early models also reportedly included a lidar depth sensor and a "projector for displaying images on the surface," features Ma said were cut from the final design, likely due to cost considerations. Previous reports said that Meta's AR glasses will be equipped with a neural input wristband based on the technology of startup CTRL-Labs, which Meta acquired in 2019, which can read nerve signals transmitted from the brain through the arm to the fingers. Such a device can sense tiny finger movements that would not be clearly perceived by a person nearby. Ma's report made no mention of wristbands.

Cheaper non-AR glasses are coming sooner

In 2021, Meta and Luxottica partnered to launch Ray-Ban Stories. The current Stories are basically camera glasses for taking hands-free first-person photos and videos. They also have speakers and microphones for music and phone calls, but no display of any kind. Since 2017, Snapchat has been selling successive generations of versions of similar products.

According to a Meta roadmap presentation that was leaked to The Verge, Meta’s vice president of AR, Alex Himel, allegedly told employees that the company plans to launch a third-generation Ray-Ban Stories in 2025, which will feature a heads-up display (HUD) and Neuro Wristband. This heads-up display, called Field of View, will be used to show notifications and translate real-world text in real time. To be clear: this isn't real AR, but a small floating contextual display. However, such smart glasses will be available sooner and cheaper than AR glasses, and their use cases should not be severely affected by near-term hardware limitations.