Meta is planning to release AR glasses in 2024
One of the RayBan Stories glasses that is part of a partnership between Ray Ban and Meta
One of the most anticipated features is one that could lead to a huge change in how people communicate with each other using video calls. The smart glasses will allegedly allow users to communicate and interact with holograms of other people which Zuckerberg sees as a major improvement over platforms such as FaceTime and Duo.
Meta is already anticipating low sales for the first version of the AR glasses which individually cost thousands to make. While Meta is said to be spending billions to develop the device, it expects sales only in the tens of thousands when first released with sales mostly to developers and early adopters.
Besides Project Nazare, Meta is believed to be working on a pair of cheaper smart glasses codenamed Hypernova which is also planned to be released in 2024. Unlike the more expensive model, Hypernova will pair with a smartphone and will show notifications and incoming messages through a smaller display that is similar to North’s smart glasses.
Meta says that users will control the new glasses by using their minds
The OG version of the Nazare glasses could feature an AR experience with 3D capabilities and a wider field of view. It will run on Android after it was determined that it would take too long to develop a custom OS based on Google’s open-source Fuschia platform. The battery life on the OG glasses will be only four hours and the device is made for indoor use.
Controlling the new glasses (both Hypernova and Nazare) will require that the user wear a device on his wrist that will work by measuring pulses in the neurons of a user’s arm. This creates a phantom arm that the user will be able to use to navigate the UI. Meta is expecting the technology to allow the user to run the glasses with his mind.
The Verge notes that Meta originally was hoping to deliver the device with a 70-degree field of view but that doesn’t appear to be doable-at least for the first version of the device. Looks-wise, the wearable resembles the glasses that Superman wears while disguised as Clark Kent and at 100 grams, they weigh four times as much as a normal pair of glasses.
