03-01-2023 08:21 AM
Meta has revealed their roadmap for the next 4 years of AR and VR.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/2/28/23619730/meta-vr-oculus-ar-glasses-smartwatch-plans
On the VR side:
Coming this year will be the Quest 3. They say it will be two times thinner, at least twice as powerful and slightly more expensive than the Quest 2. Considering the Quest Pro is only 50% faster than a Quest 2 (according to Meta), that's pretty good value. It's going to have similar mixed reality features as the Quest Pro. "You can walk effortlessly through your house knowing you can see perfectly well. You can put anchors and things on your desktop. You can take your coffee. You can stay in there much longer"
Next up is codename Ventura in 2024. This is intended to "pack the biggest punch we can at the most attractive price point in the VR consumer market". It sounds like they are making it as a cheaper alternative, to try to get back to the original cheaper Quest 2 popularity.
The third VR headset is codename La Jolla. It will be some time after 2024 (they said "way out in the future"). It's going to have their photorealistic avatars and sounds like the target audience is similar to the Quest Pro. "We want to make it higher resolution for work use and really nail work, text and things like that"
(I'd be happy if they just release a headset with display port, no mobile phone requirement and stop breaking controller compatibility)
03-01-2023 09:55 AM
That's a lot of devices incoming. 😲
03-01-2023 10:43 AM
There's also 3 AR glasses (this year, 2025 and 2027 (but Meta staff get that one in 2024) and a smart watch in 2025.
On a more negative side (for consumers, but a positive for Meta):
“We should be able to run a very good ads business,” he said. “I think it’s easy to imagine how ads would show up in space when you have AR glasses on. Our ability to track conversions, which is where there has been a lot of focus as a company, should also be close to 100 percent.”
Hmm, glasses they want us to wear all day that superimpose ads onto the real world... I'm less enthusiastic about that.