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If youre excited, or even just a little curious, about the future of augmented reality, Metas Orion prototype makes the most compelling case yet for the technology. For Meta, Orion is about more than finally making AR glasses a reality. Its also the companys best shot at becoming less dependent on Apple and Googles app stores, and the rules that come with them. If Orion succeeds, then maybe we wont need smartphones for much at all. Glasses, Zuckerberg has speculated, might eventually become the main way we do computing. At the moment, its still way too early to know if Zuckerbergs bet will actually pay off. Orion is, for now, still a prototype. Meta hasnt said when it might become widely available or how much it might cost. That's partly because the company, which has already poured tens of billions of dollars into AR and VR research, still needs to figure out how to make Orion significantly more affordable than the $10,000 it reportedly costs to make the current version. It also needs to refine Orions hardware and software. And, perhaps most importantly, the company will eventually need to persuade its vast user base that AI-infused, eye-tracking glasses offer a better way to navigate the world. Still, Meta has been eager to show off Orion since its reveal at Connect. And, after recently getting a chance to try out Orion for myself, its easy to see why: Orion is the most impressive AR hardware Ive seen. Metas first AR glasses Meta has clearly gone to great lengths to make its AR glasses look, well, normal. While Snap has been mocked for its oversized Spectacles, Orions shape and size is closer to a traditional pair of frames. Even so, theyre still noticeably wide and chunky. The thick black frames, which house an array of cameras, sensors and custom silicon, may work on some face shapes, but I dont think they are particularly flattering. And while they look less cartoonish than Snaps AR Spectacles, Im pretty sure Id still get some funny looks if I walked around with them in public. At 98 grams, the glasses were noticeably bulkier than my typical prescription lenses, but never felt heavy. In addition to the actual glasses, Orion relies on two other pieces of kit: a 182-gram wireless compute puck, which needs to stay near the glasses, and an electromyography (EMG) wristband that allows you to control the AR interface with a series of hand gestures. The puck I saw was equipped with its own cameras and sensors, but Meta told me theyve since simplified the remote control-shaped device so that its mainly used for connectivity and processing. When I first saw the three-piece Orion setup at Connect, my first thought was that it was an interesting compromise in order to keep the glasses smaller. But after trying it all together, it really doesnt feel like a compromise at all. The glasses were a bit wider than my face.Karissa Bell for Engadget You control Orions interface through a combination of eye tracking and gestures. After a quick calibration the first time you put the glasses on, you can navigate the AR apps and menus by glancing around the interface and tapping your thumb and index finger together. Meta has been experimenting with wrist-based neural interfaces for years, and Orions EMG wristband is the result of that work. The band, which feels like little more than a fabric watch band, uses sensors to detect the electrical signals that occur with even subtle movements of your wrist and fingers. Meta then uses machine learning to decode those signals and send them to the glasses. That may sound complicated, but I was surprised by how intuitive the navigation felt. The combination of quick gestures and eye tracking felt much more precise than hand tracking controls Ive used in VR. And while Orion also has hand-tracking abilities, it feels much more natural to quickly tap your fingers together than to extend your hands out in front of your face. What its like to use Orion Meta walked me through a number of demos meant to show off Orions capabilities. I asked Meta AI to generate an image, and to come up with recipes based on a handful of ingredients on a shelf in front of me. The latter is a trick Ive also tried with the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, except with Orion, Meta AI was also able to project the recipe steps onto the wall in front of me. I also answered a couple of video calls, including one from a surprisingly lifelike Codec Avatar. I watched a YouTube video, scrolled Instagram Reels, and dictated a response to an incoming message. If youve used mixed reality headsets, much of this will sound familiar, and a lot of it wasnt that different from what you can do in VR headsets. The magic of AR, though, is that everything you see is overlaid onto the world around you and your surroundings are always fully visible. I particularly appreciated this when I got to the gaming portion of the walkthrough. I played a few rounds of a Meta-created game called Stargazer, where players control a retro-looking spacecraft by moving their head to avoid incoming obstacles while shooting enemies with finger tap gestures. Throughout that game, and a subsequent round of AR Pong, I was able to easily keep up a conversation with the people around me while I played. As someone who easily gets motion sick from VR gaming, I appreciated that I never felt disoriented or less aware of my surroundings. Orions displays rely on silicon carbide lenses, micro-LED projectors and waveguides. The actual lenses are clear, though they can dim depending on your environment. One of the most impressive aspects is the 70-degree field of view. It was noticeably wider and more immersive than what I experienced with Snaps AR Spectacles, which have a 46-degree field of view At one point, I had three windows open in one multitasking view: Instagram Reels, a video call and a messaging inbox. And while I was definitely aware of the outer limits of the display, I could easily see all three windows without physically moving my head or adjusting my position. Its still not the all-encompassing AR of sci-fi flicks, but it was wide enough I never struggled to keep the AR content in view. What was slightly disappointing, though, was the resolution of Orions visuals. At 13 pixels per degree, the colors all seemed somewhat muted and projected text was noticeably fuzzy. None of it was difficult to make out, but it was much less vivid than what I saw on Snaps AR Spectacles, which have a 37 pixels per degree resolution. Metas VP of Wearable Devices, Ming Hua, told me that one of the companys top priorities is to increase the brightness and resolution of Orions displays. She said that theres already a version of the prototype with twice the pixel density, so theres good reason to believe this will improve over time. Shes also optimistic that Meta will eventually be able to bring down the costs of its AR tech, eventually reducing it to something similar to a high end phone. What does it mean? Leaving my demo at Metas headquarters, I was reminded of the first time I tried out a prototype of the wireless VR headset that would eventually become known as Quest, back in 2016. Called Santa Cruz at the time, it was immediately obvious, even to an infrequent VR user, that the wireless, room-tracking headset was the future of the companys VR business. Now, its almost hard to believe there was a time when Metas headsets werent fully untethered. Orion has the potential to be much bigger. Now, Meta isnt just trying to create a more convenient form factor for mixed reality hobbyists and gamers. Its offering a glimpse into how it views the future, and what our lives might look like when were no longer tethered to our phones. For now, Orion is still just that: a glimpse. Its far more complex than anything the company has attempted with VR. Meta still has a lot of work to do before that AR-enabled future can be a reality. But the prototype shows that much of that vision is closer than we think.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/metas-orion-prototype-offers-a-glimpse-into-our-ar-future-123038066.html?src=rss
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Google has released ChromeOS M130 to the stable channel, which means an update is now making its way to your Chromebook if you haven't gotten one yet. The latest version of the OS comes with a lengthy list of new features, starting with a Focus panel where you can quickly enable or disable Do-not-Disturb mode, create new or select from existing Google Tasks, as well as play music with focus sound or YouTube Music Premium if you have a subscription. Google is also making it easier to insert emojis, GIFs and even Google Drive links with the M130's new Launcher + f shortcut. In addition, the Quick Insert physical key on the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus will be available on more devices coming out next year. To cut the time you need to find specific files, Google has added a Suggestions section in Tote, the space where you'll find your most recently downloaded items and latest screenshots. You'll now also be able to access all your starred Drive files right on the ChromeOS shelf, even when you're offline. And if you want to pick up from where you'd left off every time you switch on your computer, then you can enable "Welcome Recap" in Settings, which will let you preview and instantly restore apps and tabs from your previous session. In case you use your Chromebook to record videos or audio, you can take advantage of ChromeOS M130's studio-style mic function that adds "advanced balancing, reconstruction of fine details and room adaptation" to the standard mic function's noise cancellation and de-reverberation effects. Plus, you can use Google's AI-powered Recorder app, which is debuting with the new OS and which has speech-to-text capabilities that can create transcripts labeling each speaker, as well as summarize recorded content. The ChromeOS M130 also integrates appearance effects into the platform's video call controls, adds support for multiple calendars and allows you to move Picture-in-Picture (PiP) windows to one side of your screen to free up space. Finally, if you have a Chromebook Plus device, you'll be able to access an AI-powered feature called "Help me read" that makes it easy to find information in any text you're reading on your browser and in your Gallery. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/chromeos-update-makes-it-easier-to-avoid-distractions-120030197.html?src=rss
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Addressing the needs of someone, Nintendo has announced its own music streaming service on a mobile app for both Android and iPhone. Encompassing the music of Nintendos own gaming properties, from Mario to Metroid, Nintendo Music has a user interface that pretty much looks like Spotify. Its a new addition to Switch Online subscribers, so its not free, but its a convenient extra if youre already paying. Nintendo Music will even suggest and curate music based on your Switch activity. One unique feature here is spoiler prevention. If you add a game, the app hides tracks and details that could give away a surprise twist, unexpected final boss or other potential spoilers, like that nihilistic ending of Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. Mat Smith The biggest tech stories you missed Playdate is officially getting a season two with about a dozen games next year Samsung could launch its extended reality wearable device next year The next version of Android will arrive in early 2025 Get this delivered daily direct to your inbox. Subscribe right here! ChatGPT Search will do the legwork for you Attempting to combine the best of chatbots and web search. OpenAIs latest feature searches the web in response to your natural language queries, delivering fast, timely answers with links to relevant web sources. OpenAI says the feature looks for original, high-quality content from the web, integrating it into conversational answers. This includes trusted news media sources and data providers, like AccuWeather. Continue reading. How to use Apples AirPods Pro 2 as a hearing aid If you have mild to moderate hearing loss. Engadget Now iOS 18.1 is available to the masses, Apples new hearing aid feature is ready for use. With an up-to-date iPhone and those earbuds, you can employ hearing assistance tools without visiting a doctor or buying pricey dedicated hearing aids. After making sure your iPhone and AirPods Pro 2 are updated, the test itself is a little hidden away inside the Health app. Heres how to find it. Continue reading. Microsofts Recall AI tool gets delayed again. Déj vu for Recall. After a delay in June and a second in August, Recall now wont be available to test until December. Microsoft is once more pushing back testing of the feature intended for its Copilot+ PCs, according to The Verge. Pitched as a sort of photographic memory for Windows, its meant to improve the search process on PCs. But since that demands a high degree of access to your data, it has been the target of privacy and security concerns. Continue reading.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-nintendo-made-its-own-music-streaming-service-111636065.html?src=rss
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