After ten years of development and billions of dollars of investment, Yuan Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg in September kicked off one of the company’s most ambitious projects: an augmented reality prototype called Orion. a week ago, break CEO Evan Spiegel took the stage at the annual Snap Partner Summit to introduce its fifth-generation AR-enabled glasses. Both companies see the huge potential of the technology and have grand visions of AR glasses replacing smartphones as the next generation of computing.
“This is a huge leap forward in technology,” Meta chief product officer Chris Cox said in an exclusive interview with CNBC’s Julia Boorstin. “This is a big step forward in our goal of helping define the next generation of computing. ”
The dream of augmented reality and mixed reality is something tech giants have been pursuing for years.
Earlier this year, Apple began selling its Vision Pro virtual reality headset for $3,500. More than a decade ago, Google first introduced Google Glass to the market in 2013, an early attempt at an AR device, but the product faced challenges and was ultimately canceled. Microsoft has also invested in AR technology for more than a decade and launched the HoloLens headset for enterprises in 2016.
“We’re in adolescence,” said Tuong Nguyen, principal analyst at Gartner. “We see a lot of potential, but we haven’t fully realized that potential yet.”
While Snap and Meta have launched AR prototypes, they are still years away from selling these devices to consumers. The technology is too expensive to produce on a large scale. Currently, Meta plans to use Orion as a development device for its employees.
“We’ll be using it primarily internally to build the software we need,” Zuckerberg said at the Meta Connect conference in September. “We’ll also be working with some external partners to make sure we get diverse content.”
Snap also plans to invest in its ecosystem by leasing its AR glasses to developers who commit to paying $99 a month for a year.
“We’re really trying to lower the barriers for people to start using this new technology,” Spiegel told Boorstin. “We’re in a unique moment where both consumers and developers are really ready for something new.”
watch video CNBC’s Julia Boorstin tries out Meta and Snap’s augmented reality glasses and explores the future of this cutting-edge technology.
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