Meta, formerly known as Facebook, recently held its annual ‘Connect Developers Conference,’ where Mark Zuckerberg unveiled a host of new software and hardware developments. The conference took place virtually on September and while many expected Zuckerberg to wrap up the discussion on the metaverse, the focus remained on making the metaverse more accessible and user-friendly.
Rather than being purely virtual, Meta plans to create a mixed reality AR platform. As part of this vision, Meta introduced two new hardware devices in collaboration with Ray-Ban: the ‘Meta Quest 3’ and ‘Meta Smart Glasses.
In addition to the hardware announcements, Meta introduced its new chatbot system powered by Llama2 technology. According to Zuckerberg, these virtual 3D avatar-based chatbots, entirely created through AI, will serve as future customer support representatives, receptionists, and spokespersons on company websites.
Ray-Ban’s focus with the Meta Smart Glasses is to provide a heads-up display experience rather than a fully immersive virtual world. These glasses can be worn just like regular eyeglasses and come equipped with a built-in camera for taking pictures and livestreaming. The glasses also feature speakers and microphones for listening to music and using the Meta virtual assistant. Prices for the Meta Smart Glasses start at $299, and pre-orders are currently available.
The Meta Quest 3 is being promoted as the company’s first mixed-reality headset. While Apple’s Vision Pro is not yet on the market, Microsoft’s HoloLens remains primarily within corporate settings, and Google’s Glass project was abandoned long ago without a wide consumer release.
The Meta Quest 3 faces the significant challenge of demonstrating the usefulness and necessity of an AR headset for everyday users. Its popularity will depend on the development of future AR platforms.
The headset is equipped with two cameras that capture the user’s surroundings and overlay virtual content using the new Snapdragon XR 2 Gen 1 processor. This powerful processor can render graphics at a resolution exceeding 4K, a significant improvement over the Quest 2’s limit of 1080p Full HD. The Meta Quest 3 is available for pre-order starting at $499.
