Meta Orion Is Interesting, but Has a Long Way to Go

Excerpt

Meta Orion Made an Interesting Debut

On September 25, Meta unveiled Orion, which is a prototype of AR glasses at Meta Connect 2024. Mark Zuckerberg himself announced and put them on with a little bit flushed. However, the time he wore the Orion is very short. Anyway, the glasses seemed to attract a lot of people’s attention, who cheered excitedly. Yes, Meta Orion is surely interesting.

The smart device has improved in some ways. As you know, Orion is not the first VR or AR devices that the company made. Certainly, some AR features have progressed and separated components may enhance user experiences. However, I like Mark, without the glasses. He is a good-looking man, but looks far better before wearing them. Hey, you guys, what do you think about that? Do you agree with me?

You may have expected to buy one very soon. Unfortunately, you may have to wait for longer time than expected to buy your own Orion. Among obstacles that hinder commercial deployment of the AR glasses, the biggest one is price. Meta hinted that production cost of the device is around $10,000 per unit. Yes, it is not $1,000 but $10,000! Are you ready to pay for it?

Orion Has Made Progress

You Can Operate Meta Orion by a Hand Gesture

I think that the AR glasses have advanced in some respects among competitors, which include Google, Snap, and other vendors. Orion offers better user experiences and nice motion-tracking capability thanks to the gesture-detecting wristband. The Orion consists of three primary components that contain glasses, wristband, and the “Puck” that is a wireless computer.

The wristband looks like a Fitbit band and is made of high-tech material, which features electromyography (EMG) to translate neural signals related to hand motions of users. This function may save your hands from heavy works and help you control the device conveniently. You don’t have to raise your hands to the frame every time when you want to operate the AR glasses.

Meta communicated the wristband can detect some hand gestures. For instance, if you pinch the index finger with the thumb finger, which means “select something”. To press your middle-finger against your thumb, which lets the glasses open or close the app launcher. Whenever the wristband recognizes your hand motion, which allows you to know by haptic responses.

Cutting Edge Display

The company introduced a whole-new display that is employed for Orion. It contains Micro LED projectors that show a screen in front of your eyes through waveguides in the lenses. Yes, the lenses are critical for what Mark has expected to realize. Mark told that two main purposes of Orion are communication with each other person and interaction with AI.

To reach these goals, he and the company need new material that is strong and effective for the lenses of the AR glasses. This is the reason why they have chosen Silicon Carbide for the material. Silicon Carbide can let Micro LED projectors cast light broadly, which makes you see more images with bigger field of view. Meta announced that the AR glasses provide 70-degree of field of view that is wider than competitors.

The company emphasized that they have worked hard to reduce weight and size, develop suitable display for better user experiences. Many experts surely acknowledge that Orion has progressed and improved in various aspects.

You Don't Need to Tether Meta Orion to a Phone

As mentioned prior, Meta Orion has three primary components, among which is a wireless computer called Puck. The company has not released what processor is in, so I don’t know what the computing capability of Orion is. But, considering it has a separate unit for computing, it may have stronger CPU than peers.

Another important role of the Puck is to decrease burden of computing from the glasses, which makes them lightweight. Actually, Mark Zuckerberg wants to make a true wearable AR device for daily life, decreasing weight is a critical factor. By unloading computing part from frame, Orion has lost weight significantly, which makes sure that Meta Orion is interesting and advanced smart device.

Orion Has a Long Way to Go

Price Matters

While, Orion has made progress in some respects, you may have to wait for longer time than expected to buy one. First of all, the glasses are too expensive for mass production. Meta disclosed that Orion costs about $10,000 per unit to produce. What a price! It’s not affordable price for average consumer whom Meta is targeting.

I think that silicon carbide which is used for the lenses can explain a lot of the tremendous production cost. Meta may have chosen silicon carbide for Orion due to its high index of refraction that enables to cast light broadly and provide wider field of view. However, silicon carbide trades at relatively high level compared to its potential substitutes.

By the way, where is the price of silicon carbide going? To forecast the price trend of silicon carbide (SiC), you need to understand dynamics of SiC market. First, growth in electric vehicles and renewable energy plants is driving demand for silicon carbide. it can drive up SiC price.

On the other hand, as production technology develops, producers can grow bigger and high-quality SiC crystals with lower cost. Moreover, competitive investment in silicon carbide sector will farther diminish production cost.

Fortunately, some experts forecast that the price of silicon carbide will go down over several years. More optimistic professionals expect the price will drop by 30%~40% from current level in a decade. However, under optimistic scenario, the production cost of Orion may still be high for mass production.

How Much Is Acceptable Price?

If so, how much is consumers’ acceptable price for Orion? It can vary depending on market positioning of Orion. If its role is that complements a smartphone interactively, the consumer price range should be $300~$600. This price range is as same as high-end wearable smart devices like the Apple Watch and others. If the purchasing price of AR glasses exceeds this range, they may be beyond average consumers’ reach.

There are some models that fall in this price range, which include Virtue Pro XR Glasses, Rokid Max, an Snap Spectacles. You can buy one of them at affordable price, but which do not have various features due to cost limitation. They generally offer camera function and simple AR overlays.

If Meta Orion can be the high-end AR glasses for daily use and replace a smartphone, many people may accept a price range of $1,000~$1,500. This is similar to iPhone 16 Pro Max, which is sold at $1,199~$1,599. If Orion can offer various features that include calls, messaging and others like a smartphone, allowing it to replace a smartphone, so, the price can be reasonable.

Battery Life Is Also Critical

Battery life is another important element for AR glasses, which is aimed for daily use. Incidentally, Meta wants Orion to be a smart device for every day use. To do this, battery life of Orion needs to be longer than 8 hours, which is generally desired factor for a smartphone.

To be a mass market product, the glasses’ battery should endure more than 8 hours like a smartphone. Because consumers want to use them for all-day of calling, messaging, navigation and more without recharging.

However, Meta released that the Orion’s battery can last 2 to 3 hours, which is similar to other VR products and not suitable for all-day use. It’s disappointing. If you have to charge them every 2 hours, can you take the AR glasses in stead of your smartphone?

Meta Orion Is Still Heavy

Many AR headsets or glasses are so bulky and uncomfortable. As you know, Meta has made an effort to decrease size and weight, which has succeeded to some extent. Orion weighs around 100g, which is far lighter than peers. But, it is still much heavier than normal glasses, which is not ideal for every day use.

Have you checked how much your glasses weigh? Average glasses’ weight is between 15g and 30g. The table on the right shows what users feel based on glasses’ weight. As subtle increase in weight, people can feel uncomfortable. I don’t wear glasses except for sunglasses, while, the time that I wear sunglasses is relatively short, finding nose marks whenever wearing them.

Therefore, though Orion has lost weight significantly, people can still feel heavy if they wear the glasses. I believe that Meta’s outstanding engineers are trying to solve this matter.

People Do Not Want to Look Conspicuous

AR glasses like Orion often encounter people’s reluctance because they look outstanding, which can hinder broad deployment. Are you ready for wearing big, bulky, and unusual-looking device on your face in public spaces? The social resistance to wear AR glasses in public spaces has slowed broad deployment, since people don’t want to look conspicuous or feel clumsy.

If I wear Orion, I may look like Clark Kent. While I respect Meta’s effort, they need to do something that can make the glasses more attractive. Of course, I know what they have worked for. There have been size, weight reduction and design improvement. However, they need to make them more sleeker and glossier for mass adoption.

Still Lacking in Killer Apps

Orion may have also progressed in applications, which can be interesting. Meta showed a demo in which a user can recognize ingredients on a table and make a recipe that appeared digitally above the real-world ingredients. Of course, the application of Meta Orion is interesting, but which is not enough to attract people to buy the glasses.

They did not offer more compelling apps except that some games and the finding recipe app. It seems to be still short of killer apps that present irresistible reasons for consumers to buy the AR glasses. To be a mass market product, Meta need to develop robust, engaging, and easy content.

Legal and Privacy Issues

Laws and regulations can be different from a jurisdiction to anothers about the legitimacy of recording. In some regions, it’s against law to record people without their agreement, particularly in places where is private. For instance, a lot of U.S. states have “two-party consent” laws, which regulate all parties who are involved should agree to be recorded.

People can feel uneasy when they are along with whom are wearing AR glasses. Because they know that they can be recorded without consent. This can raise serious legal issues, which eventually affect commercial deployment of AR glasses. Avoiding this problem, Meta need to take voluntary actions in advance.

Conclusion

On September 25, Meta unveiled Orion, which is a prototype of AR glasses at Meta Connect 2024. The AR glasses have improved in some aspects, which include reduction in size and weight, separated components that enables to detect hand gesture. Above all, nice display offering wide field of view is most impressive. Yes, Meta Orion is interesting.

Some people have expected to buy AR glasses very soon. Unfortunately, they may have to wait for longer time than expected. There are some hurdles that hinder commercial deployment of the AR glasses, the biggest one is price. Meta hinted that the production cost of the smart device is around $10,000 per unit. Are you ready to pay for it?

There are another obstacles that contain still heavy weight compared to normal glasses, conspicuous design, lacking in killer apps, and legal issues. While Meta is trying to improve on these matters, which needs to have more sufficient time.