Though Meta Join 2024 lacked a marquee high-end product for the vacation season, it nonetheless included a brand new finances 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 every little thing the corporate introduced at Meta Join 2024.
Orion AR glasses
At the moment’s greatest blended actuality gear — like Apple’s Imaginative and prescient Professional 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 decide whether or not the Orion AR glasses pictured above move that take a look at, however they’re actually nearer than different full-fledged AR units we’ve seen.
First, the unhealthy information. These puppies received’t be accessible this yr and don’t have an official launch date. A leaked roadmap from final yr recommended they’d arrive in 2027. Nonetheless, Meta mentioned on Wednesday that Orion would launch “in the near future,” so take what you’ll from that. For its half, Meta says the full-fledged product prototype is “truly representative of something that could ship to consumers” fairly than a analysis system 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 area 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 elements. It’s going to additionally assist video calls, the flexibility 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 fairly than early adopters wanting the most recent 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 alternate 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 finances mannequin’s area of view can be barely decrease.
The Quest 3S begins with a mere 128GB of storage, which might refill rapidly after putting in a number of of the platform’s largest video games. However for those who’re keen to shell out $400, you possibly can 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 could 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 previous
To have a good time the arrival of the Meta Quest 3S, Meta is kicking two older fashions to the curb. The Quest 2 and Quest Professional can be discontinued by the tip of the yr. 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 a lot better blended actuality capabilities, as the brand new finances mannequin, so the $200 Quest 2 not has a spot. The Quest Professional, 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 system — again when the business was pounding that phrase as arduous because it’s pushing “AI” now. The headset launched at a whopping $1,500 and was later lowered 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 good glasses will get an up to date AI assistant.
The assistant will now allow you to set reminders based mostly on objects you see. For instance, you may say, “Hey Meta, remind me to buy that book next Monday” to set an alert for one thing you see within the library. The glasses may scan QR codes and dial telephone 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 tell me”). It’s going to allow you to use extra informal phrasing like “What am I looking at?” The AI may deal with advanced follow-up questions for extra fluid chats with the robotic good friend residing in your sun shades.
In line with Meta, the glasses’ reside translation can 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. Reside translations will arrive in English, French, Italian and Spanish by the tip of 2024.
The corporate mentioned Met AI now helps voice chats. Though this functionality existed earlier than, it was restricted to the Ray-Ban glasses.
Meta additionally partnered with celebrities to assist draw prospects into its chatbots. That’s proper, people: Now you can hear Meta’s chatbot responses within the dulcet tones of the one and solely John Cena! Different superstar voices embrace Dame Judi Dench, Awkwafina, Keegan Michael Key and Kristen Bell.
Meta’s AI can now edit pictures with textual content prompts, performing duties like including or eradicating objects or altering particulars like backgrounds or garments. AI photograph 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.
Atone for all of the information from Meta Join 2024!
