Orion
Interaction and AI prototypes for Meta’s first true AR glasses.
- Role
- Senior Product Design Prototyper, Wearables
- With
- Meta
- Year
- 2024
Orion is Meta’s first true augmented-reality glasses, unveiled at Connect in September 2024. It looks like normal eyewear and projects full-color holograms through waveguide optics. The design question was how to fit new AR experiences and everyday productivity into something that still looks good on your face.
A new design dimension
When your whole world becomes a surface for digital content, a lot of design doors open. Maybe a notification feels like a breeze on a warm day. Maybe there are no apps at all, and everything goes through your AI assistant. Those explorations were fun, and most of them made the experience more confusing without adding much value. The design we landed on is deliberately familiar: spatial and new, but usable without a PhD.
AI that sees what you see
The part I’m proudest of is the AI cooking experience. I built it in my own kitchen late one night, then livestreamed it working, through an experimental headset and a temperamental model, to the entire Wearables org. On the surface it makes a smoothie. Underneath, it’s an AI that sees what you see and hears what you hear.
Input had to be great
Early on, virtual content looked great and was hard to use. When leadership reached for an Oculus controller in demos, that was the canary in the coal mine. I started building all of my demos on our EMG wristbands, which had only just moved from research to product. Rough edges and all, those demos showed leadership that the next generation of input was closer than we thought.
