Meta's most impressive new product, the smart glasses codenamed Orion, is not available for purchase. In a few years you might be able to buy something like this, but most of us will never get around to even wearing them. However, that doesn't necessarily make them any less impressive or less important. Orion is a statement of intent from Meta: that AR glasses really are the future and that we will get there eventually.
The reason for all this news was Meta Connect, so we'll also go through all of Connect's other announcements. There are new smart glasses, new VR headsets, new celebrity AIs replacing the old celebrity AIs, voice modes and more. But let's be honest: we're mostly talking about Orion. It's either vaporware, a scientific project, a prototype, the undeniable future, or somewhere in the center of the Venn diagram of all of those things. And the fact that they exist at all says a lot about where we are in the evolution of technology.
If you'd like to learn more about everything we discuss in this episode, here are some links to get you started, starting with Orion and Meta's other new gadgets:
And in other Meta Connect news:
And in the lightning round: