Mark Zuckerberg says Meta's newest VR headset is coming in October
Meta's newest headset will focus on "social presence."
On Thursday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed on a podcast that Meta's next VR headset will launch in October. However, as we've reported, this new headset will likely cater to the businessman instead of the gamer.
Zuckerberg spoke with comedian Joe Rogan on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast for nearly three hours about Meta, virtual martial arts, and other topics. The show opened with Rogan describing his experience with a new VR headset, prompting Zuckerberg to reveal that Meta's new headset will release this October.
Here's hoping it's received better than this ridiculous metaverse selfie Zuckerberg took.
"For me, this is all about helping people connect," Zuckerberg said. The chief executive at Meta brought up features focused on "social presence," such as the headset's ability to track facial expressions and the ability to simulate eye contact with users.
"There’s more nonverbal communication when people are with each other than verbal communication," Zuckerberg said.
This seems to refer to Project Cambria, a hybrid AR/VR device fitted with internal sensors aimed at professionals. It is one of four headsets Meta plans to launch by 2024. Initially, Cambria was set to release last year, was pushed back into the fall and costs $800. But considering that Meta recently raised the price on the Quest 2 VR headset by $100, the pricing could be up in the air for now.
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Project Cambria has outward-facing cameras that allow "full color-passthrough" to display virtual overlays on real-world surroundings with the idea of replacing the typical workstation with virtual facsimiles. Meta employees have referred to the headset as a "laptop for the face."
Despite not getting too into Quest VR headsets on the podcast, Zuckerberg did briefly mention that the next iteration of the VR gaming headset is going to be a "big step above the Oculus 2." We expect to hear more about the new headsets at Meta's upcoming Connect Conference, which will take place sometime in the coming weeks.