Meta's AR glasses are designed with advanced waveguide technology, specifically geometric waveguides, to project images onto lenses with minimal light leakage, addressing social acceptability issues and enabling a more natural appearance.

This design aims to eliminate the intrusive 'light leakage' effect, allowing users to maintain eye contact and have better social interactions, which was a major flaw in earlier smart glasses.

Meta's Ray-Ban Display exemplifies practical, visually unobtrusive AR glasses that resemble ordinary eyewear, marking a significant step in making AR technology more socially acceptable.

The article highlights the development of non-sci-fi AR glasses, emphasizing Meta's innovations as a key example of how AR can be seamlessly integrated into everyday eyewear.

The geometric waveguide technology employs precise mirrors, akin to a periscope, to reduce light loss and leakage, but faces manufacturing challenges such as thickness and limited field of view, with SCHOTT currently being the only company mass-producing these lenses.

Meanwhile, Apple is taking a different approach by focusing more on software integration, leveraging its existing visionOS system—similar to that used in Vision Pro—paired with iPhones and Macs, rather than developing a standalone device.