All of a sudden, virtual seems less like a fading fad and more like a viable wave of the future — and Meta, keeper of chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse dreams, must be thrilled. The major takeaway from the Meta Connect developer conference last week was that the company finally succeeded in building full holographic, augmented reality glasses, or at least a prototype. Though early, the implications matter because, as Zuckerberg sees it, this is the technology that will someday replace smartphones.
But that just scratches the surface, especially for the fashion business. Because Meta also unleashed a slew of new reality-bending features and experiences that could change how brands operate and communicate in the near, not far-off, future. Seven months after Apple launched its Vision Pro mixed reality headset, the Meta CEO surprised the crowd by showing off the Orion prototype.
Forget bulky and heavy headsets, or holding up a smartphone screen. For Meta, stepping into an AR or MR experience will be a matter of putting on a pair of spectacles. This was always the goal of its EssilorLuxottica partnership.
First, they created the Ray-Ban smart glasses, which continue to get smarter with evolving artificial intelligence features and expanded styles and colors, including a new transparent frame. Lessons learned along the way were then applied to the Ray-Ban’s bigger, techier cousin. And Orion is just that.
The prototype is set in a thicker frame with beefier s.
