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a few days ago, meta released its first ar glasses prototype product, orion, which is called the iphone moment of the ar industry. however, in the view of lei technology, this orion, which has been "sharpened for ten years" and has a hardware cost of up to 10,000 us dollars, is not the iphone in the ar industry. if you have to compare it with another star product, it is more like the field of large video models. "sora".

image source: meta

meta has been sharpening its sword for ten years. is orion really "way ahead"?

although meta has no plans to release orion yet, and only the verge has experienced orion in the media, its design concept is avant-garde enough and shows meta’s judgment on the future development of ar glasses.

from the appearance point of view, orion is a pair of glasses with a "weird appearance" and a particularly thick frame.even if you have never come into contact with any ar glasses products, the appearance design of orion will make you think "there is something wrong with these glasses."but behind orion's bloated design lies meta's 10 years of technological research and development accumulation.

first of all, orion uses a microled projection solution.

the optical grade silicon carbide used in meta allows orion to provide a field of view (fov) of up to 70 degrees while maintaining image quality.for comparison, most ar glasses on the market have a field of view of only 30-50 degrees, and only a few high-end models can reach 55-65 degrees.

as the core indicator of ar glasses, the field of view is related to the display area of ​​ar glasses and also seriously affects the "immersion" of ar glasses. for example, the field of view is like the width of a flashlight beam in a dark room.if the field of view of ar glasses is too small, the user must turn their head repeatedly to "see the whole" window. this is why most ar glasses on the market can only achieve "smart bracelet" level interaction.

image source: meta

the 70-degree field of view allows users to completely display a window with interactive value in front of their eyes, which also significantly improves the practicality of ar glasses.in addition, the customized silicon solution also significantly reduces the power consumption and weight of orion. with the magnesium alloy frame,orion itself weighs only about 100 grams.

secondly, unlike most products in the industry, orion uses a split solution.

the entire system consists of ar glasses, emg (electromyography) wristband and wireless computing unit.the emg wristband looks like an ordinary smart bracelet, but the emg sensor on the inside can accurately capture wrist movements.provide accurate input and feedback. of course, there are also cameras on the sides of the orion glasses to capture hand movements. the wireless computing unit is similar in size to a panoramic action camera and can provide orion with computing power even when placed in your pocket.

finally, in terms of interaction innovation, it abandons the traditional handle and adopts an emg bracelet.

in the long run, the traditional handle solution for ar glasses will inevitably be abandoned, and future control handles will inevitably have a stronger connection with wearable devices, such as smart watches and smart bracelets.the emg bracelet detects the user's muscle electrical activity through electromyography technology.this not only reduces users’ learning costs, but also greatly enriches interaction methods.it is generally believed in the industry that intuitive and seamless interactive experience is the key to the popularization of ar.the emergence of the orion control bracelet proves the possibility of miniaturization of ar control devices, and also allows users to see a "more natural" ar interaction method in advance.

image source: meta

orion’s wireless split design,it also truly breaks the "fetters" of ar glasses.by moving the computing and processing modules out of the glasses body, not only the weight is significantly reduced, but also the wearing comfort is improved. this design essentially redefines the form of ar glasses.make it truly possible to become an electronic device for daily wear,and not just a technology display gimmick.

image source: meta

it is undeniable that compared with the wired split solution,the wireless split solution does affect orion's battery life.but from a user’s perspective, wireless design is indeed more in line with users’ psychological expectations for “glasses.”it can promote ar glasses from the laboratory to the mass market.

the market is still in its early stages, and there are still opportunities for innovation in domestic ar glasses.

although meta orion has "reconstructed" consumers' imagination of ar glasses with actual products, for other ar glasses brands,especially for domestic ar glasses brands, the market for ar glasses has not been completely blocked.

first of all, orion is still a very early product.although orion is meta's "dedicated work for ten years", its thick frame, weight close to 100g, relatively limited functions and unmentionable price all prove meta's attitude towards orion——this is actually meta’s “google glass”.

for meta,orion is not so much a product that wants to seize the market, but rather a product that demonstrates meta's leading position in the ar field.even if orion can be "mass" produced in the future, meta will give priority to meeting the needs of third-party developers.use limited orions to build an application ecosystem for meta ar glasses and prepare for the next generation of orions.

image source: meta

rokid, the domestic ar leader, released the well-received rokid ar lite this year. one of its major advantages is that it is "available". the official price is 4,499 yuan. users can also enjoy 1,000 yuan after using the officially issued f code. with discounts and other rights, it has become the most powerful and affordable ar device that everyone can afford.

secondly, domestic ar brands have stronger market sensitivity and localization advantages.

although orion is a technological leader, the needs of domestic consumers are different from those of foreign consumers.domestic brands have far better resources than overseas companies such as meta in terms of application ecology and film and television content. in addition, domestic brands can also take advantage of price advantages to occupy a larger share of the mid-range consumer market.by optimizing production costs and large-scale manufacturing, domestic brands can launch more consumer-friendly products and quickly occupy the market.

in the long run, before the virtual reality market truly matures, orion may be the best compromise. it provides lightweight, portable, and life-like features that ar glasses cannot achieve at this stage.

finally, domestic ar brands have natural advantages in software applications and content ecology.

to win the market for ar glasses, it is inseparable from the improvement of software applications and content service ecology. it can even be said that ecology is the decisive factor. domestic ar brands have natural advantages in software applications and content ecosystem construction. take rokid ar lite as an example. while reconstructing the os, it has increased the construction of gaming, office and other ecosystems, and even made ar light office a reality. .

built on the computing power of the station2 host, the multi-tasking capabilities provided by the rokid ar lite "multi-screen" can fully meet the needs of users for light office work.

(source: rokid)

wearing rokid ar lite, if you are used to writing documents while watching bilibili, you can write on the screen in front of you, play what you are interested in on the left screen, open the browser on the right screen to view web pages, and between windows without interfering with each other, you can focus on any screen by just turning your head slightly.

coupled with a portable keyboard and the touch interaction design added to rokid ar lite, this new "spatial office" experience can be brought to the high-speed train or a cafe you meet on the road to realize the customization of the office location. free. after all, rokid ar lite is not only a "large screen" and "multi-screen", but also an ultimate "portable screen".

when connecting with ray technology, rokid founder and ceo misa also said that the biggest technological breakthrough of rokid ar lite lies in the os. rokid has reconstructed a native os for spatial computing, laying the foundation for performance release and interactive innovation. it also creates the possibility for a more prosperous ar application ecosystem.

misa thinks,at present, the most suitable way to build an ar application ecosystem is "seven to three". 70% of the applications come from the migration of mobile pc applications to spatial computing, such as wechat, dingtalk, iqiyi, etc., and about 30% of the applications will be a new application for spatial computing, this is also the application ecosystem construction route of apple vision pro.

orion is sora, the ar industry’s iphone moment has yet to come

in 2012, google released its first ar glasses - google glass. as the world's first and most well-known smart glasses, it provides voice control, screen display and a certain degree of expansion capabilities.groundbreakingly putting the android system into a compact glasses frame,such ingenuity is enough to "detonate" the entire technology circle.

image source: google

although google glass is forward-looking, its positioning of smart glasses is too advanced and seems a bit unrealistic, so this product was eventually cut in half by google.however, as the technology matures, the markets that google has not yet captured are already filled with domestic brands.

but then again, despite the fierce competition among ar glasses on the market, in terms of functions, the functions of ar glasses seem to be a bit too single.limited viewing angles, poor hardware computing power, and limited battery life.most ar glasses on the market can only be regarded as "display devices" and cannot truly take advantage of the hardware form of ar glasses.

meta’s launch of orion is of great significance, especially to the domestic ar industry:

first, the clear-cut bullish attitude is exciting.meta spent ten years developing orion, demonstrating its firm optimism for ar glasses. zuckerberg even bluntly stated that ar glasses are the most ideal form of ai assistant: "glasses can see what you see and listen to what you hear, so they can become a perfect ai assistant because they know what you are doing. glasses can also project holograms into the world so your social experiences with others aren’t limited to small interactions on your phone screen.”

second, it brings inspiration to the form of ar products. orion, which was born out of nowhere, has provided many new solutions in terms of product form, and has also brought some inspiration to the ar industry. domestic brands can take this as an opportunity to give full play to the technological aggregation advantages of the domestic hardware supply chain, while using high shipment volumes to reduce product unit prices and seize the time to promote the implementation of ar products.

judging from the hardware cost of $10,000, orion is unlikely to bring the ar industry into the iphone moment. this year, rokid founder and ceo zhu mingming also told the media that today’s spatial computing industry is like the mobile phone industry that is still 3 years away from the release of the first-generation iphone (lei technology note: around 2003), and is in a stage of active exploration and expectation. stage, that is to say, it will take at least three to five years for ar glasses to become popular on a large scale.

orion is more like the "sora" of the ar industry. just like the video model: the emergence of sora allowed the world to see the value and potential of the video model. however, no matter how good sora is, it is still in the "demo" stage, and ordinary people have no chance to use it. in this context, kuaishou launched the keling video model, and byte also released two video models a few days ago. these "chinese version of sora" may not be as technically powerful as sora, but the point is that everyone can use it. superior.in the same way, we look forward to the emergence of a more inclusive "chinese version of orion" in the market, so that consumers can experience the powerful charm of ar technology.

author: lei technology, 36kr released with authorization.