Sure thing, let’s dive into this swirling whirlpool of tech talk and see what spills out.
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So, earlier this year Meta, in their grandness, kinda dropped this thing on us—Aria Gen 2. These aren’t your average glasses; they’re futuristic gizmos for researchers. At first, Meta was all hush-hush about it. Suspenseful, right? But now, they’re letting the cat out of the bag, getting ready to dish these out to some brainiacs next year. And in doing so, they’ve shown us a glimpse of what AR glasses might look like in the wild future.
Meta spilled some beans on Aria Gen 2 in a blog post. Oh boy, strap in—’cause this includes form factor jazz, sound stuff, cameras, sensors, and the brains of the operation, aka on-device compute. These glasses aren’t doing the whole AR dance yet (no display, y’know), but what they do have is pushing the envelope for what we might slap on our faces someday.
### Better Computer Vision Capabilities
Here’s a thought that won’t leave me: future AR glasses need to be like super smart, visually. Think indoor maps, spotting things you point at—stuff like that. Meta’s doubling down on this with four CV cameras—twice as many as before. It’s like adding more eyes (without being creepy). They’ve got this 120 dB HDR global shutter that’s a bit of a mouthful but sounds fancy, expanded field views, and something called an 80° stereo overlap to make 3D tracking and depth perception all snazzy. Picture it like glasses with eagle vision abilities. Anyway, they showed these babies off doing some SLAM thingy in a room. Fancy, right?
### New Sensors & Smarter Compute
More? Yep. Sensor updates galore: light sensors (calibrated, of course), a nosepad mic for clear audio—noise be damned—and a heart rate sensor because tracking that thumping chest magic is a must. Oh, and the compute on these bad boys has had a glow-up too with Meta’s custom coprocessor doing all sorts of tricks:
– Visual-Inertial Odometry (don’t ask me to spell that again) for spatial go-where-you-please awesomeness
– Eye watching—like gaze, blinks, and pupil watching (is it just me or is pupil a weird word?)
– Hands doing jazz hands in 3D for motion data and things
– SubGHz radio tech that jumps between devices faster than you can say “boom!”
### And It’s Light
Magic meets practicality: they weigh like…74-76g. You know, just floatin’ on your nose. In case you’re wondering what that means, regular glasses? 20-50g. Meta’s made eight sizes ’cause apparently not all noggins are the same, who would’ve thought? They even fold, like secret spy gear. Soo, not a peep on battery life yet, but there is a USB-C plug on one arm. A non-cocktail moment, perhaps battery-related?
### Human Perception Meets Machine Vision
This thing not only reads the room but your vibes too. Like, while you’re making coffee, it’s eyeballing your heart rate…you get me? Plus, it captures where you’re moving with its less-than-a-ninja gadget set: CV cameras, a magnetometer, two IMUs, and a barometer (science-y!). That’s like big data for human research, and what’s critical for future AR specs.
### The Road to AR Glasses
Meta hints that Aria Gen 2 is laying the path for tomorrow’s tech, a new computing platform, doncha’ know. Supplanting the smartphone—that little pocket computer—is still kinda far on the horizon. Some AR glasses out there have displays, processors, juice packs—and Meta’s tinkering with that too via this Orion prototype doohickey. Meta’s Andrew Bosworth, some big cheese, says there’s an AR device ballparked above a smartphone price, headed our way this decade.
More to come at this CVPR 2025 shindig in Nashville (yes, where country music lives—must be a nice setting) come June. Gonna have some eye-popping, mind-bending demos by then. Until then, who knows?
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That’s the scoop, smooth as a rocky road! Enjoy the chaos.
