At its annual Connect conference on Wednesday, Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms unveiled Orion, the first functional prototype of augmented reality glasses. The California company outlined its goals for products that would bring the virtual and physical worlds together.

"This is the physical world with holograms overlaid on it," Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said after pulling out the chunky black glasses from a metal case dramatically brought to him on stage.

"For now, I think the right way to look at Orion is as a time machine," he said. "These glasses exist, they are awesome and they are a glimpse of a future that I think is going to be pretty exciting."

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Orion is the most sophisticated AR glasses that Meta has produced to date, fusing the immersive qualities of augmented reality with the appearance and feel of a standard set of glasses.

The glasses are powered by specially engineered silicon that was created by Meta and are composed of magnesium alloy. Through voice, hand-tracking, and a neural interface based on the wrist, users will be able to communicate with the glasses.

The glasses combine cutting-edge augmented reality technologies that project 2D and 3D content directly into the user's surroundings with transparent lenses that allow users to maintain eye contact and monitor their surroundings. Orion's release, according to Meta, is a step toward accomplishing a major objective: making sure users are no longer forced to choose between being present in their actual environment and receiving digital information, reports Auganix.

According to Zuckerberg, Meta intends to focus on making it more affordable, sleeker, and smaller before selling it to customers.

According to Meta, there are three primary reasons why AR glasses are key to unlocking the next great leap in human-oriented computing.

• They enable digital experiences that are unconstrained by the limits of a smartphone screen. With large holographic displays, you can use the physical world as your canvas, placing 2D and 3D content and experiences anywhere you want.

• They seamlessly integrate contextual AI that can sense and understand the world around you in order to anticipate and proactively address your needs.

• They’re lightweight and great for both indoor and outdoor use, and they let people see each other’s face, eyes and expressions.

Meta also unveiled a new Quest mixed-reality headset and additional AI chatbot features for its services. On Wednesday, Meta's stock hit a record closing high of $568.31, up 0.9%.