AR Development

Earlier this year, Meta unveiled Aria Gen 2, the next iteration of its research glasses. At the time, Meta was pretty sparse with details, however now the company is gearing up to release the device to third-party researchers sometime next year, and in the process, showing what might come to AR glasses in the future.

Meta revealed more about Aria Gen 2 in recent blog post, filling in some details about the research glasses’ form factor, audio, cameras, sensors, and on-device compute.

Although Aria Gen 2 can’t do the full range of augmented reality tasks since it lacks any sort of display, much of what goes into Meta’s latest high-tech specs are leading the way for AR glasses of the future.

Better Computer Vision Capabilities

One of the biggest features all-day-wearable AR glasses of the future will undoubtedly need is robust computer vision (CV), such as mapping an indoor space and recognizing objects.

In terms of computer vision, Meta says Aria Gen 2 doubles the number of CV cameras (now four) over Gen 1, features a 120 dB HDR global shutter, an expanded field of view, and 80° stereo overlap—dramatically enhancing 3D tracking and depth perception.

To boot, Meta showed off the glasses in action inside of a room as it performed simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM):

New Sensors & Smarter Compute

Other features include sensor upgrades, such as a calibrated ambient light sensor, a contact microphone embedded in the nosepad for clearer audio in noisy environments, and a heart rate sensor (PPG) for physiological data.

Additionally, Meta says Aria Gen 2’s on-device compute has also seen a leap over Gen 1, with real-time machine perception running on Meta’s custom coprocessor, including:

• Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO) for 6DOF spatial tracking
• Advanced eye tracking (gaze, vergence, blink, pupil size, etc.)
• 3D hand tracking for precise motion data and annotation
• New SubGHz radio tech enables sub-millisecond time alignment between devices, crucial for multi-device setups.

And It’s Light

Aria Gen 2 may contain the latest advancements in computer vision, machine learning, and sensor technology, but they’re also remarkably light at just 74-76g. For reference, a pair of typical eyeglasses can weigh anywhere from 20-50g, depending on materials used and lens thickness.

The device’s 2g weight variation is due to Meta offering eight size variants, which the company says will help users get the right fit for head and nose bridge size. And like regular glasses, they also fold for easy storage and transport.

Notably, the company hasn’t openly spoken about battery life, although it does feature a UBS-C port on the glasses’ right arm, which could possibly be used to tether to a battery pack.

Human Perception Meets Machine Vision

Essentially, Aria Gen 2 not only tracks and analyses the user’s environment, but also the user’s physical perception of that environment, like the user preparing a coffee in the image below.

While the device tracks a user’s eye gaze and heart rate—both of which could indicate reaction to stimulus—it also captures the relative position and movement through the environment, which is informed by its CV cameras, magnetometer, two inertial measurement units (IMUs) and barometer.

That makes for a mountain of useful data for human-centric research projects, but also the sort of info AR glasses will need (and likely collect) in the future.

The Road to AR Glasses

According to Meta, Aria Gen 2 glasses will “pave the way for future innovations that will define the next computing platform,” which is undoubtedly set to be AR. That said, supplanting smartphones in any meaningful way is probably still years away.

Despite some early consumer AR glasses out there already, such as XREAL One Pro, packing in thin displays, powerful processors, and enough battery to run it all-day isn’t a trivial feat—something Meta is trying to address both with Aria as well as its Orion AR prototype, which tethers to a wireless compute unit.

Still, Meta CTO and Reality Labs chief Andrew Bosworth says an AR device based on Orion is coming this decade, and will likely shoot for a price point somewhere north of a smartphone.

We’re likely to learn more about Aria Gen 2 soon. Meta says it’s showcasing the device at CVPR 2025 in Nashville, which will include interactive demos. We’ll have our eyes out for more to come from CVPR, which is taking place June 11th – 15th, 2025 at the Music City Center in Nashville TN.

Late last year, Sightful announced it was cancelling its unique laptop with built-in AR glasses, instead pivoting to build a version of its AR workspace software for Windows. Now the company has released Spacetop for Windows, which lets you transform your environment into a private virtual display for productivity on the go.

Like its previous hardware, Spacetop works with XREAL AR glasses, however the new subscription-based app is targeting a much broader set of AI PCs, including the latest hardware from Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus, Acer and Microsoft.

Previously, the company was working on its own ‘headless’ laptop of sorts, which ran an Android-based operating system called SpaceOS. Sightful however announced in October  2024 it was cancelling and refunding customers for its Spacetop G1 AR workspace device, which was slated to cost $1,900.

At the time, Sightful said the pivot came down to just how much neural processing units (NPU) could improve processing power and battery efficiency when running AR applications.

Now, Sightful has released its own Spacetop Bundle at $899, which includes XREAL Air 2 Ultra AR glasses (regularly priced at $699) and 12-month Spacetop subscription (renews annually at $200).

Additionally, Sightful is selling optional optical lenses at an added cost, including prescription single-vision lens inserts for $50, and prescription progressive-vision lens inserts for $150.

Recommended laptops include Dell XPS Core Ultra 7 (32GB), HP Elitebook, Lenovo Yoga Slim, ASUS Zenbook, Acer Swift Go 14, and Microsoft Surface Pro for Business (Ultra 7), however Sightful notes this list isn’t exhaustive, as the cadre of devices which integrate Intel Core Ultra 7/9 processors with Meteor Lake architecture (or newer) is continuously growing.

Key features include:

• Seamless access to popular apps: Spacetop works with consumer and business apps
  that power productivity every day for Windows users
• Push, slide, and rotate your workspace with intuitive keystrokes
• Travel mode that keeps your workspace with you on the go, whether in a plane, train, coffee shop, Ubering, or on your sofa
• Bright, crystal-clear display that adjusts to lighting for use indoors and out
• Natural OS experience, designed to feel familiar yet unlock the potential of spatial computing vs. a simple screen extension
• All-day comfort with lightweight glasses (83g)
• Massive 100” display for a multi-monitor / multi-window expansive workspace
• Ergonomic benefits help avoid neck strain, hunching, and squinting at a small display

Backed by over $61M in funding, Sightful was founded in 2020 by veterans from PrimeSense, Magic Leap, and Broadcom. It is headquartered in Tel Aviv with offices in Palo Alto, New York, and Taiwan. You can learn more about Spacetop for Windows here.