'This is a big deal': Meta announces neural AR glasses powered by AI and of course Nvidia's CEO showed up wearing a pair

Mark Zuckerberg has just wrapped up his Meta Connect 2024 keynote, in which he announced new products such as the $300 Quest 3S VR headset. But something that made an unexpected splash at the show is a project called 'Orion'—a pair of holographic AR smart glasses.

Now, AR smart glasses are not something that I'd usually be that into. But recently digging out a pair of Lenovo smart glasses that let me watch TikTok while lying entirely flat in bed has somewhat sold me on the idea. Orion is much more than that, however.

Orion are holographic smart glasses featuring eye tracking, hand tracking, AI voice control and a neural interface. Yeah, a neural interface sorta like what Gabe Newell likes to talk about and Elon Musk is trying to build. Though, no, you don't need an implant into your brain to get Orion working—it works off movement in your wrist.

How this «wrist-based neural interface» works exactly is not fully explained. I'm assuming Orion responds to small signals from your wrist through the seemingly cable-free wrist monitor shown during the presentation, and translates those into more natural movements within the XR world shining in front of your eyes. 

You can see what the XR world looks like from a couple of the clips during the show.

It sounds a bit odd, and I've not tried it, so I can't say how well it works personally. Though Meta did produce plenty of testimony, including from one bloke you might recognise. I certainly didn't expect to see him show up, but it makes complete sense that he came running when 'AI' was mentioned. 

«This is a big deal» says Nvidia CEO and founder, Jen-Hsun Huang while wearing Orion.

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«The head tracking is good, the brightness is good, the colour contrast is good, field of view is excellent,» Huang, ever the engineer, notes.

This was followed by a string of other users saying «that's crazy», or something to that effect, over and