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Orion, our first true augmented reality glasses

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Re: Orion, our first true augmented reality glasses

#41

Post by tootie »

It's impressive hardware and some nifty demos, but I'm holding fast with AR just being a deadend. No matter how many pixels you can jam into these things, there just isn't a compelling case for using them. Nothing that isn't easier to do with a touchscreen or a keyboard. Those midair gestures just aren't ergonomic. And there's no way to balance the transmissivity of the lenses and the overlayed images without getting crummier visuals than a screen.

AR experiences on headsets and on phones have been bouncing around for years. There was a big push with new XR toolkits from Apple and Android a few years ago. Yet no one has ever produced anything more than a demo of something nifty. The one and only "killer app" remains Pokemon Go which is really just a clever gimmick. I think this is a classic solution in search of a problem.

Re: Orion, our first true augmented reality glasses

#43

Post by roughly »

Twirrim wrote: post #12

I know it's a prototype, but yikes those are large and goofy looking. Reminds me of the old 80's NHS glasses in the UK (which you could get for free if you couldn't afford otherwise). Or for those of you old enough, Brains from the old Supermarionation versions of the Thunderbird show ( https://i2-prod.walesonline.co.uk/incoming/article8451975.ec... )

In the army, they were BCGs - Birth Control Glasses.

Re: Orion, our first true augmented reality glasses

#44

Post by Sanzig »

On one hand - if the demos are representative, this looks like a very cool product right out of science fiction.

On the other hand, Meta is one of the very last companies that I would trust to operate a fleet of network connected always-on cameras attached to everyone's faces. The privacy implications are pretty horrifying. Imagine if Meta decided to run facial recognition on-device and upload the results to their advertising services. Your position could be easily tracked any time you walk into the field of view of someone wearing Meta glasses without your consent.

Not to mention for users that choose to use these things voluntarily, you are giving Meta an intimate look into every waking moment of your life. You think data brokers have too much on you now, just wait.

EDIT: Looks like most innocuous comments expressing privacy concerns on this post are getting flagged. That's not how HN is supposed to work, folks.

Re: Orion, our first true augmented reality glasses

#45

Post by w10-1 »

I agree with the business model of focusing on vertical integration with specific partners instead of DTC. There will be inevitable product quality trade-offs, but if you can select the partner context where those trade-offs work you can make progress and perhaps build in some price discrimination.

Re: Orion, our first true augmented reality glasses

#49

Post by Fabricio20 »

Wow these look huge, I was expecting it from the comments but it still managed to surpass my expectations. I wonder if they managed to squeeze a battery in it and that's why it's so thick. Assuming it's light enough to not cause pain after some extended use it's a huge step up from the Quest series (and other VR headsets that cover your entire head pretty much!) and a completely different class of product compared to other AR Headsets like the Apple Vision Pro which require an external power brick.
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