CNBC senior media and tech correspondent Julia Boorstin experienced Meta’s Orion AR glasses prototype, and was impressed by how lightweight they were.

Companies like Meta and Snap aren’t ready to sell their AR wearables to consumers yet—but their latest devices show significant progress.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the Orion glasses are the lenses, which are not made from glass or plastic. Instead, Meta is using a silicon carbide where tiny projections are beamed onto the lenses. This material is supposed to be more durable, lighter and features an ultrahigh index for refraction of the on-board projectors.