Facebook’s parent company has all but confirmed that the AR glasses prototype will be unveiled
Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth recently all but confirmed that the company will unveil a pair of augmented reality glasses before the close of 2024.
Likely this year, but no specific unveiling timeline
In a recent AMA posted on Instagram, Bosworth was asked about the company’s work on its augmented reality smart glasses with a heads-up display (HUD) and how close the company is to having them ready.
“Heads-up-displays are a very specific concept of what a screen could look like in glasses. And insofar as it’s really interpreting the world in real-time and processing things around it, that’s probably further out on the processing side,” said Bosworth in reply. “On the display side, we are gonna have, I stand by it, the world’s most advanced pair of glasses this year, but it’s internal only. We’ll have quite a few of them but they’re not economically viable for large-scale production and distribution yet.
“It’s a bit of a time machine for us to look into the future so we can build and design for the future. We’re certainly working on glasses that have displays at multiple levels, smart glasses all the way up to full AR glasses, but I don’t have the time line to share now.”
An augmented reality promise made in 2023
Late last year, Bosworth had already been suggesting that Meta would be unveiling a prototype of its new augmented reality glasses in 2024.
“I think there’s a pretty good chance that people will get a chance to play with it in 2024,” he said at the time, when talking about the prototype. “It’s probably our most exciting prototype that we’ve had to date. I might get myself in trouble for saying this: I think it might be the most advanced piece of technology on the planet in its domain. In the domain of consumer electronics, it might be the most advanced thing that we’ve ever produced as a species.”
All but confirming the augmented reality glasses unveiling for this year
During the Instagram AMA, Bosworth essentially confirmed that the company would be unveiling the prototype before the close of 2024. That said, on top of that, he also suggested something new might also be on its way. He indicated that while the glasses could set new display technology standards, they will have their limitations in real-time understanding and processing of its immediate environment. He underscored that the device is intended only for the company to use internally due to the exceptional price of manufacturing.
That said, according to mixed-news.com, a leaked hardware document suggested that there could also be another version of the augmented reality glasses, these ones meant for commercial sale, and that their intended release date will be in 2027. That same document also pointed to a third generation of Ray-Ban Meta Sunglasses that could launch as soon as next year, becoming the first time a small viewfinder HUD would be included in this type of product.
