It went by at least two different names – Oculus Connect and then Facebook Connect — but whatever the moniker, Meta’s fall event is still a big showcase for the company’s latest and greatest achievements in the virtual reality and mixed reality space. As with last year, we can probably predict the biggest news coming out of Meta Connect 2024 with just two acronyms: AI and AR.
Like every major tech firm this year, Meta will be eager to demonstrate how it plans to stay relevant in an AI-powered future. With seven months to go until the launch of Apple’s Vision Pro, which comes alongside a short-lived surge of interest in augmented reality (AR), Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is likely eager to show off his plans to make AR a reality. reality.
While Zuckerberg isn’t as hot in the metaverse as he was when he renamed his company, the union of AI and AR is still a way to make his dream of sustainable virtual worlds come true. It may look less like it A ready playerbut if AR glasses really take off, it could still allow Meta to control another part of our digital world. And to get them there, it can’t hurt to deliver an updated cheap VR headset.
With all that in mind, here are a few things we can expect to see at Meta Connect 2024, which will almost certainly begin on September 25th and run for two days.
Orion AR glasses
After being killed expensive new generation mixed reality headsetIntended to compete with the Apple Vision Pro, the Meta instead focuses on a pair of augmented reality glasses codenamed Orion as the next innovation. As seen in the background A photo of Mark Zuckerberg (above) and a little later approved byThe Orion looks like a pair of hipster frames.
Unlike Quest 3, which completely consumes your vision and uses cameras to show you a low-quality view of the world, Orion can let you see the real world like regular glasses. But, like Magic Leap and Microsoft’s HoloLens before it, the Meta glasses can overlay holographic images on top of your reality. The main difference, of course, is that it looks less complicated than these devices.
“Glasses, I think, are going to be a big thing,” Zuckerberg said Interview on the Blueprint Podcast (through RoadtoVR). “We are almost ready to demonstrate a prototype version of the fully holographic glasses. We will not sell it widely; we are focused on building a full consumer version rather than selling a prototype.”
At Meta Connect 2022, Zuckerberg demonstrated how the company is thinking about AR glasses, along with an interesting wrist-based controller:
“It’s probably our most interesting prototype we’ve seen to date,” said Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth he said The Verge last year. “I can put myself in trouble for saying this: I think it might be the most advanced piece of technology on the planet in its field. In consumer electronics, it might be the most advanced thing we’ve ever produced. kind of.”
according to leaked Meta roadmapthe company plans to release a new pair of Ray-Ban smart glasses next year, which will add a small built-in screen in addition to its existing camera, speaker, and microphone. This will be followed by Meta’s first consumer AR glasses in 2027. It makes sense that we’ll see some sort of concept device this year. Just as Apple’s Vision Pro was an effective AR/VR concept car to introduce the company’s developers to the concept of “spatial computing,” Meta will need to give developers a way to use its platform to build their own AR experiences. Rival Snap has just debuted its fifth-generation AR Spectaclesand this version is intended for developers (with a subscription fee of $99 per month).
A cheaper Quest 3 variant
Instead of an upgraded headset, all signs point to Meta releasing a stripped down version of the Quest 3 called the Quest 3S. reports Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. Latest leaked images Meta’s own Quest Link app confirmed the headset’s availability. According to Gurman, the company is aiming to make it significantly cheaper than the current version, considering price points of $300 or $400, while still offering an experience close to the Quest 3.
A recent leak suggests that it will start at just $299. A user shared a clip of an Amazon ad that reportedly ran on Peacock and featured the Quest 3S, complete with pricing and storage (h/t). ). According to the ad, the 128GB Quest 3S will cost $299, but other storage options may be available. It could potentially replace the long-remaining Quest 2 in the $299 lineup its 2020 release.
But why would Meta do this? There is a huge performance gap between Quest 3 and Quest 2, which makes life difficult for developers. It would be easier to build games that could scale at two price points with a cheaper device like the Quest 3 potentially using the same processor. according to Bloomberg’s According to Gurman, Meta is also considering releasing some models of the new headset without any bundled controllers, which would further lower the price.
More AI, of course
Expect Meta to show off more ways to use AI between its Quest headphones and Ray-Ban smart glasses. In January, the company introduced multi-modal AI search capabilities in these glasses, allowing Meta AI to ask about objects or landmarks you’re looking at, or for quick translation. Based on our testsalthough these features were surprisingly incomplete.
Meta will likely discuss ways to improve it by implementing existing features Llama 3.1 large language model (LLM), which positions it as an open source competitor to Google and OpenAI’s LLMs. In particular, the company notes that Llama 3.1 offers dramatically improved translation, math, and general knowledge capabilities. Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses certainly have room to introduce new AI capabilities powered by Llama 3.1, but given their limited processing power and battery life, we’ll have to wait for an updated model before we see anything truly innovative.
Karissa Bell contributed to this report.
