New document reveals how Facebook’s Project Aria AR glasses work and look

• Facebook’s Project Aria AR glasses look like normal glasses, but there’s a lot going on under the hood.
• It’s powered by a Qualcomm chip and uses the same camera sensors as the Oculus Quest 2.
• Project Aria is not a commercial product and is used to help develop future AR devices.

Facebook announced Project Aria, its experimental AR glasses in September 2020. It has since provided very few details on Project Aria, other than saying that it is not a commercial product and will in fact help Facebook to create future AR devices. That’s not to say we’re not interested in what these smart glasses can do. A manual downloaded from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) website detailed what Project Aria smart glasses look like and how they work.

This FCC manual spotted by Protocol is actually dated August 28, 2020, so the AR glasses may have undergone some modifications. But it still gives an overview of how it works and what its features are. The Aria project is codenamed Gemini according to the document. AR glasses look like any other normal pair of glasses, but they come with a lot of features that obviously make them different.

First of all, you can’t squeeze the temples of the AR glasses, but there are a few important buttons on them. On the right side, the status LED indicator, proximity sensor and power button are placed together. At the bottom of the right arm is the mute switch which is used to record and mute. On the left arm of the AR glasses is the capture button for the built-in camera sensors. Project Aria uses the same camera sensors as the Oculus Quest 2, according to the protocol. The AR glasses are also powered by a Qualcomm chip.

What is the Aria project for?

To charge and transfer data, the AR glasses use a magnetic connector. There is also a companion app for the glasses that displays the battery status, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, as well as the data collected. As Facebook previously explained, the AR glasses will be used to capture video and audio as well as eye tracking and location information of the wearer. The glasses have computing power that will encrypt and store information which will then be used to see how AR works in the real world.

Facebook connected glasses with Ray-Ban

Facebook has previously stated that the AR glasses are not a commercial project but it is considering launching a pair of smart glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban. Facebook is still silent on the details and all we know is that it will feature the classic Ray-Ban design and “let you do some pretty cool stuff”.

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