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Meta Reveals Orion AR Glasses, Offering A Glimpse Into The Future
The prototype was showcased at the Connect conference, bringing the company’s vision of blending virtual and physical worlds closer to reality.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has unveiled a working prototype of its augmented-reality glasses — named Orion — at its annual Connect conference. At the event, CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined his vision to use the AR device to blend the real world with the virtual:
“This is the physical world with holograms overlaid on it,” Zuckerberg said as he slid the glasses from their metal case. Describing Orion as “a time machine” he added, “These glasses exist, they are awesome, and they are a glimpse of a future that I think is going to be pretty exciting”.
The Orion AR glasses are built from magnesium alloy and run on custom silicon chips developed by Meta. They offer users control via hand-tracking, voice commands, and a wrist-based neural interface. Zuckerberg said Meta plans to further refine the glasses, making them smaller, more affordable, and ready for mass production in the near future.
So far, sources have revealed that Meta aims to release its first consumer version of the Orion AR glasses by 2027, once the technology has become more cost-effective.
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In addition to Orion, Meta introduced a more modest mixed-reality headset called the Quest 3S, with a starting price of $300. The company also rolled out several new AI tools, including chatbot updates and the ability for Meta AI to auto-insert personalized images into Facebook and Instagram feeds. An audio upgrade also allows users to choose celebrity voices, like Judi Dench or John Cena, for the Meta AI assistant. “I think voice is going to be a way more natural way of interacting with AI than text,” Zuckerberg said.
Finally, Meta has introduced three new versions of its Llama 3 AI models. The company continues to invest billions in AI and metaverse technologies, pushing its capital expenditure forecast for 2024 to a record $37-40 billion.
News
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget
The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
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