Facebook chief scientist says ‘true AR glasses’ at least five years away

Facebook Inc is about five to 10 years away from being able to bring to market “true” augmented reality glasses, its chief scientist told Reuters, as the company released plans to launch a first generation product next year.
The world’s biggest social media company announced on Wednesday that it was partnering with Ray-Ban maker EssilorLuxottica for its 2021 smart glasses launch.
It also announced a research project, Project Aria, to collect data that would support the development of more advanced glasses down the road.
Michael Abrash, who heads Facebook Reality Labs Research, said fully interactive display and audio capabilities could not yet be crammed into lightweight devices like glasses, which he estimated should be around 70 grams (2.5 oz) to be viable.
Those capabilities include the ability for people to jointly see and interact with persistent shared virtual objects, like a virtual whiteboard on which they could collaborate, he said.