Review: Augmented Reality Glasses Meta 2

With HoloLens in March 2016, Microsoft already brought a new type of product into the hands of developers who were prepared to put at least $3,000 on the table. With HoloLens, the manufacturer promised a seamless connection between the real world and virtual objects for an unprecedented gaming experience and work environment. However, Microsoft likes to put an important fact into the background in his presentations: the glasses have an extremely small field of view, i.e. a very small area in which virtual objects can be displayed. Meta wanted to do this better with the Meta 2 and is now shipping its AR glasses with a larger Field of View and a lower price.

Unlike HoloLens, you need to connect a powerful PC to your glasses because they are not completely self-sufficient. If you can live with this limitation and want to dive into the AR world as a developer, you might already have an eye on Meta 2. In this review, we clarify whether the investment is worthwhile.

Meta 2: Sharp display with too high latency

When virtual objects merge with the real world, much will change in our society. If everyone is still looking at the ground on the train in 2018, perhaps all people will wave around wildly in the air in 2028, because they call up the news with their AR glasses, play games or simply pass their time on Facebook. However, we will only achieve this future if courageous developers experiment with this not yet fully mature technology today and show investors what will be possible with AR in the future.

The merging of the real and virtual world is achieved by a clean representation of the objects, whereby these must be correctly anchored in the world. The Meta 2 creates a very nice, clear, opaque and sharp display (2.5K/60Hz) of the “holograms”, but the tracking is clearly lagging behind. When you move your head, you don’t get the impression that the objects are actually in the world, but rather that they waft sluggishly around a certain point. Apparently, the used tracking of meta is too slow and this results in a very strongly noticeable latency. In the following animated image, we hold an object at one point and move the head quickly from left to right. Theoretically, the object should remain in our hands, but the object is clearly trailing:

TrackingMeta22

Even with the latest software update (2.5), the problem has not improved and we can hardly imagine that the manufacturer can bring tracking to eye level with HoloLens through future updates.

I have a kink in the optics

The curved front of the Meta 2 and the shape of the lenses lead to a large field of view (manufacturer information: 90 degrees), but also to the fact that you can no longer see the world naturally in the background. The curvatures of the lenses distort your vision, making it hard to think of using them as an additional monitor when working. Too bad, because actually, Meta seems to want to market exactly this purpose prominently. Because so far there are only demos in which you grab balls and the Meta 2 workspace, which should show you how people will spend their time on the PC in the future.

Meta Workspace

On the positive side, however, the workspace is already a very nice demonstration, which can be operated not only with the hands but also with keyboard and mouse. You can already show a browser or monitor and start working right away, even if this does not yet have any practical use.

Meta 2: Tracking

As already mentioned above, the meta 2 has too high a latency in tracking. But not only the representation suffers, but also the input. While Microsoft uses hand tracking more for command input via gestures, you should be able to touch, grip and deform objects with Meta 2. In theory, the idea sounds great, but in practice, it’s just annoying. The hands are sometimes recognized late, the objects are usually further away than one estimates and a haptic feedback is missing anyway since no additional controller or a feedback system are used.

In addition, Meta has chosen a difficult area for use. While Microsoft can rely on the HoloLens for use in large rooms, the meta has to make do with the short cable to the workstation. This area is naturally very small and an accurate representation of objects in the immediate vicinity requires extremely accurate tracking. The closer we are to the holograms, the faster we notice the mistakes. Of course, you can argue that you could turn around, but then the workspace demo doesn’t make sense anymore. The 2.7-meter short cable means that you can’t place the objects too far away from you.

Meta 2 Display

The Meta 2 is not yet the expected competitor to Microsoft’s HoloLens. The representation of the holograms over a reflective layer on the glasses is not witchcraft. The great art is to let the technology take a back seat and the Meta 2 can’t do that because of the bad tracking we have tested under various conditions. The company provides all necessary SDKs for developers and the glasses can be ordered for almost 1500 US dollars at the moment. However, even as developers, we would prefer to use HoloLens despite the smaller field of vision.