While Meta Connect 2024 didn’t have the high-end product of the holiday season, it still included a new budget VR headset and a tease of the “magic glasses” that Meta’s XR gurus have been talking about for the better part of a decade. In addition, the company continues to plow ahead with new AI tools for its Ray-Ban glasses and social media. Here’s everything the company announced at Meta Connect 2024.
Orion AR glasses
Today’s best hybrid gear — like Apple’s Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3 — are headsets with pass-through video capabilities. But the tech industry ultimately wants to squeeze that technology into something like prescription glasses. We’ll let you judge whether the Orion AR glasses pictured above pass that test, but they’re certainly closer than other full-fledged AR devices we’ve seen.
First, the bad news. These puppies will not be available this year and do not have an official release date. A leaked roadmap from last year suggested they would arrive in 2027. However, Meta said Wednesday that the Orion will launch “very soon,” so take what you will from that. On the other hand, Meta says a full product prototype “really represents something that can be shipped to consumers” rather than a research device that is decades away from shipping.
The glasses include small projectors to display holograms on the lenses. Meta describes them as having a large field of view and immersion capability. Sensors can track voice, eye gaze, hand tracking and wristband electromyography (EMG).
The glasses combine that sensor input with AI capabilities. Meta gave the example of looking in the fridge and asking the built-in AI to spit out a recipe based on your ingredients. It will also support video calls, the ability to send messages to Meta forums and local versions of Spotify, YouTube and Pinterest.
This year’s new VR headsets are focused on the entry level rather than beginners looking for the latest technology. The Meta Quest 3S is a $300 baby to last year’s Quest 3, shaving money off the top model’s entry fee for cheaper lenses, a dip in resolution and skimpier storage.
The headset includes Fresnel lenses, common to Quest 2 owners, instead of the high-end pancakes on the Quest 3. It has a resolution of 1,832 x 1,920 (20 pixels per degree), down from 2,064 x 2,208 (25 PPD ) on the Quest 3 .Meta says the viewing area of the budget model is also a bit low.
The Quest 3S starts with just 128GB of storage, which can quickly fill up after installing a few big platform games. But if you’re willing to shell out $400, you can bump that up to a more respectable 256GB. (Along with the announcement, Meta also dropped the price of the 512GB Quest 3 to $500 from $650.)
The headset may surpass the Qust 3 in one way: battery life. Meta estimates that the Quest 3S will last 2.5 hours, while the Quest 3 is rated at 2.2 hours.
Those who order the earphones will receive a special Bat bonus. Quest 3S (and Quest 3) orders between now and April 2025 will receive a free copy of Batman: Arkham Shadowa VR action game is coming next month.
The Quest 3S is now available for pre-order. It starts shipping on October 15.
Go out with the old one
To celebrate the arrival of the Meta Quest 3S, Meta is kicking two older models to the curb. Quest 2 and Quest Pro will be discontinued at the end of the year. The company says the sale will continue until inventory runs out or the end of the year, whichever comes first.
The company now views the Quest 3S, with its much better mixed reality capabilities, as a new budget model, so the $200 Quest 2 no longer has a place. The Quest Pro, which has never been popular with consumers, has a lower-quality camera and video than the two Quest 3-tier models. Pro was launched two years ago as a Metaverse-centric tool – back when the industry was hitting that term hard as it is pushing “AI” now. The headset was launched at a whopping price of $1,500 and was later reduced to $1,000.
While the hardware remains the same, Meta is adding new AI features to its tech-packed glasses. Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses will get an updated AI assistant.
Assistant will now let you set reminders based on what you see. For example, you can say, “Hey Meta, remind me to buy that book next Monday” to set up an alert for something you see in the library. The glasses can also scan QR codes and call phone numbers from the text they recognize.
The Meta Assistant must also respond to additional environmental commands. You’ll have to worry a bit about remembering the official commands to activate it (“Hey Meta, look and tell me”). It will allow you to use a common phrase like “What am I looking at?” AI can also handle complex follow-up questions for fluid conversations with the robotic companion that lives on your screen.
According to Meta, the live rendering of the glasses is also getting better. While last year’s version had a problem with long text, the company says the software will now translate large sections successfully. Live translation will arrive in English, French, Italian and Spanish by the end of 2024.
The company said Met AI now supports voice chats. Although this ability existed before, it was limited to Ray-Ban glasses.
Meta has also partnered with celebrities to help attract customers to its chatbots. That’s right, folks: Now you can hear Meta’s chatbot responses to the dulcet tones of the one and only John Cena! Other celebrity voices include Dame Judi Dench, Awkwafina, Keegan Michael Key and Kristen Bell.
Meta’s AI can now edit photos with text commands, performing tasks such as adding or removing objects or changing details such as backgrounds or clothing. AI photo editing will be available in Meta’s social media apps, including Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.
Meanwhile, Meta’s Llama 3.2 AI model introduces the ability to see. It can analyze and describe images, competing with similar features in ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude.
Get all the news from Meta Connect 2024!