Though Meta Join 2024 lacked a marquee high-end product for the vacation season, it nonetheless included a brand new price range VR headset and a tease of the “magic glasses” Meta’s XR gurus have been speaking about for the higher a part of a decade. As well as, the corporate retains plowing ahead with new AI instruments for its Ray-Ban glasses and social platforms. Right here’s the whole lot the corporate introduced at Meta Join 2024.
Orion AR glasses
In the present day’s finest blended actuality gear — like Apple’s Vision Pro and the Meta Quest 3 — are headsets with passthrough video capabilities. However the tech business finally needs to squeeze that tech into one thing resembling a pair of prescription glasses. We’ll allow you to choose whether or not the Orion AR glasses pictured above cross that take a look at, however they’re definitely nearer than different full-fledged AR units we’ve seen.
First, the unhealthy information. These puppies gained’t be accessible this yr and don’t have an official launch date. A leaked roadmap from final yr prompt they’d arrive in 2027. Nevertheless, Meta stated on Wednesday that Orion would launch “within the close to future,” so take what you’ll from that. For its half, Meta says the full-fledged product prototype is “really consultant of one thing that would ship to shoppers” fairly than a analysis gadget that’s a long time away from delivery.
The glasses embrace tiny projectors to show holograms onto the lenses. Meta describes them as having a big subject of view and immersive capabilities. Sensors can observe voice, eye gaze, hand monitoring and electromyography (EMG) wristband enter.
The glasses mix that sensory enter with AI capabilities. Meta gave the instance of wanting in a fridge and asking the onboard AI to spit out a recipe based mostly in your components. It should additionally help video calls, the power to ship messages on Meta’s platforms and spatial variations of Spotify, YouTube and Pinterest apps.
This yr’s new VR headset focuses on the entry-level rather than early adopters wanting the newest cutting-edge tech. The Meta Quest 3S is a $300 child sibling to final yr’s Quest 3, shaving cash off the higher-end mannequin’s entry payment in trade for cheaper lenses, a decision dip and skimpier storage.
The headset consists of Fresnel lenses, that are acquainted to Quest 2 homeowners, as a substitute of the higher-end pancake ones in Quest 3. It has a 1,832 x 1,920 decision (20 pixels per diploma), a drop from the two,064 x 2,208 (25 PPD) within the Quest 3. Meta says the price range mannequin’s subject of view can also be barely decrease.
The Quest 3S begins with a mere 128GB of storage, which might refill rapidly after putting in just a few of the platform’s greatest video games. However should you’re prepared to shell out $400, you may bump that as much as a extra respectable 256GB. (Alongside the announcement, Meta additionally dropped the 512GB Quest 3 value to $500 from $650.)
The headset might outlast the Quest 3 in a single respect: battery life. Meta estimates the Quest 3S will final 2.5 hours, whereas the Quest 3 is rated for two.2 hours.
These ordering the headset will get a particular Bat-bonus. Quest 3S (and Quest 3) orders between now and April 2025 will obtain a free copy of Batman: Arkham Shadow, the VR motion recreation coming subsequent month.
The Quest 3S is now accessible for pre-order. It begins delivery on October 15.
Out with the outdated
To rejoice the arrival of the Meta Quest 3S, Meta is kicking two older fashions to the curb. The Quest 2 and Quest Professional will be discontinued by the end of the year. The corporate says gross sales will proceed till stock runs out or the tip of the yr, whichever comes first.
The corporate now views the Quest 3S, with its significantly better blended actuality capabilities, as the brand new price range mannequin, so the $200 Quest 2 not has a spot. The Quest Pro, which by no means gained a lot traction with shoppers, has inferior cameras and passthrough video than the 2 Quest 3-tier fashions. The Professional launched two years in the past as a Metaverse-centric gadget — again when the business was pounding that phrase as exhausting because it’s pushing “AI” now. The headset launched at a whopping $1,500 and was later diminished to $1,000.
Though the {hardware} stays the identical, Meta is including new AI options to its tech-filled sun shades. The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses will get an updated AI assistant.
The assistant will now allow you to set reminders based mostly on objects you see. For instance, you can say, “Hey Meta, remind me to purchase that ebook subsequent Monday” to set an alert for one thing you see within the library. The glasses also can scan QR codes and dial cellphone numbers from textual content it acknowledges.
Meta’s assistant also needs to reply to extra pure instructions. You’ll want to fret much less about remembering formal prompts to set off it (“Hey Meta, look and inform me”). It should allow you to use extra informal phrasing like “What am I ?” The AI also can deal with complicated follow-up questions for extra fluid chats with the robotic buddy residing in your sun shades.
Based on Meta, the glasses’ stay translation can also be getting higher. Whereas final yr’s model struggled with longer textual content, the corporate says the software program will now translate bigger chunks extra successfully. Stay translations will arrive in English, French, Italian and Spanish by the tip of 2024.
The corporate stated Met AI now supports voice chats. Though this functionality existed earlier than, it was restricted to the Ray-Ban glasses.
Meta additionally partnered with celebrities to assist draw clients into its chatbots. That’s proper, of us: Now you can hear Meta’s chatbot responses within the dulcet tones of the one and solely John Cena! Different movie star voices embrace Dame Judi Dench, Awkwafina, Keegan Michael Key and Kristen Bell.
Meta’s AI can now edit photographs with textual content prompts, performing duties like including or eradicating objects or altering particulars like backgrounds or garments. AI picture modifying can be accessible on Meta’s social apps, together with Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.
In the meantime, Meta’s Llama 3.2 AI mannequin introduces imaginative and prescient capabilities. It could possibly analyze and describe photos, competing with comparable options in ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude.
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