The upcoming Meta Quest headset, which is expected to launch this year, will be thinner, twice as powerful and slightly more expensive than the Quest 2. This includes high-end plans as well, according to a leaked internal hardware roadmap presentation obtained by The Verge. , smartband-controlled and ad-supported AR glasses by 2027.
According to the presentation, ‘Quest 3’ will also include a new ‘Smart Guardian’ system that allows users to roam safely in ‘mixed reality’. This will precede a more “accessible” headset codenamed Ventura, which is set to release in 2024 at “the most attractive price point for the VR consumer market.”
That Ventura description brings to mind John Carmack’s October Meta Connect keynote. In it, he emphasized pushing for “ultra-cheap, ultra-lightweight headsets” targeting “$250 and 250 grams.” Carmack complained that Meta “didn’t build that headset today, but I keep trying.” A few months later, Carmack announced he was leaving the company, complaining that he was “clearly not compelling enough” to change the company for the better.
A third planned Meta VR headset, codenamed La Jolla and ‘in the future’ after Ventura, is the company’s long-planned photorealistic ‘codec avatar’. It has enough power and resolution for According to a presentation by VR’s Meta VP Mark Rabkin, the headset is similar to the Quest Pro in that it focuses on “how to put it on your head” and “use it for work… texts and such.” increase.
Facebook on your face
But all of these VR-focused headsets may just be the way to go with Meta’s innovative see-through augmented reality glasses. Going down this path, the company initially plans to build on the “Rayban Stories” glasses that will be released in 2021. It primarily focuses on smartphone integration with simple voice commands and built-in cameras.
The 2022 presentation showed a prototype of Meta’s wristband AR control.
By 2025, that basic design will evolve into glasses with an integrated display that can show incoming text messages and translate text in real time. These glasses will also make use of the planned “Neural Interface” band. A smartwatch-style wrist device that Meta has demoed in the past can read wrist and finger movements to enable features like a floating virtual D-pad and keyboard.
These glasses are in a separate product line from a more advanced and expensive set of AR glasses, codenamed Orion, designed to project high-quality holograms over the real world. The glasses, which are not scheduled to be released to the public until 2027, rely in part on advertisements that are projected over the user’s view of the real world.
According to The Verge, “I think it’s easy to imagine what an ad would look like in a space when you’re wearing AR glasses,” AR Meta VP Alex Himmel told employees. As a company, we need to focus on a lot and get closer to 100%. “
This seems a little worrying coming from a company known for the creepy side of ad tracking technology. Taking your smartphone out of your pocket can seem as weird as using a phone booth.
News of Meta’s VR/AR product plans says the company will lose more than $1 billion a month to its VR/AR-focused Reality Labs division in 2022, laying off 13% of its workforce a few months later. received and brought. Recent investments have not paid off.
