Next month, two major players in the social media landscape, Meta and Snap, are gearing up to showcase their latest advancements in augmented reality (AR) glasses, marking a significant step in what they envision as the future of computing.
The first reveal is expected on September 17th, when Snap CEO Evan Spiegel will introduce the fifth generation of Spectacles at the company’s annual Partner Summit in Los Angeles. Just a week later, on September 25th, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will debut Meta’s first AR glasses, codenamed Orion, during the Connect conference in Menlo Park.
While both companies have taken different approaches to developing AR glasses, they face a common hurdle: the technology is not yet ready for widespread consumer use. As a result, insiders report that neither Snap nor Meta plans to sell the glasses they’ll be showcasing next month. Instead, Snap will follow its 2021 strategy by providing the new Spectacles to a select group of developers and partners. The company is reportedly producing fewer than 10,000 units of this latest model, while Meta is expected to manufacture even fewer of its Orion glasses.
