Meta Connect 2022: Meta Quest Pro, More Social VR and a Look Into the Future

2 years ago 121

The future just got a little closer to the present.

Today at Meta Connect, Mark Zuckerberg joined leaders from Reality Labs at Meta and a few special guests to showcase our progress in making the metaverse a reality. We highlighted the incredible success of Meta Quest 2, discussed how virtual reality is becoming more social, and showcased innovations for fitness, gaming and work. We also revealed Meta Quest Pro, a breakthrough device that’s bringing the physical and digital worlds one giant step closer together.

Introducing Meta Quest Pro

In recent years, we’ve shared a few details about our next VR device, which we called Project Cambria. Today, we’re dropping the codename and introducing Meta Quest Pro. This high-end headset will begin shipping on October 25, priced at $1,499.99 USD. You can pre-order your Meta Quest Pro on meta.com.

Meta Quest Pro is the first in a new line of advanced headsets built to expand the possibilities of virtual and mixed reality. Its pancake lenses fold light over several times, reducing the size of the headset while showing sharper visuals. A new, curved battery on the back helps make Meta Quest Pro a more balanced and ergonomic headset overall.

High-resolution outward-facing cameras capture 4X as many pixels as Meta Quest 2 and make Meta Quest Pro our first full-color mixed reality device. Imagine the possibilities when the physical and digital worlds can finally interact seamlessly, without you craning your neck to look down at a phone.

It’s also the first headset we’ve built that integrates inward-facing sensors to capture natural facial expressions and eye tracking. Raise an eyebrow, smile or simply make eye contact with someone, and your avatar will do the same. All of this helps improve social presence — the feeling that you’re right there together with someone no matter where in the world you are.

This is a big step forward in realizing the promise of the metaverse, and there’s so much more to cover, so get all the details on our Meta Quest blog.

New Partnerships to Advance the Future of Work

Meta Quest Pro was designed with productivity in mind and will be a major upgrade for those who use VR as a tool for work, but hardware is only part of the equation. We’re equally focused on creating and supporting software that improves the way you work.

Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella joined Mark to announce a new partnership that will bring powerful new work and productivity tools to Meta Quest Pro and Meta Quest 2 next year, including apps for Microsoft Windows 365 and Microsoft Teams and the ability to join a Teams meeting from inside Meta Horizon Workrooms.

Read more about our partnerships and other news about the future of work on the Meta Quest blog.

New Social Experiences in VR and Beyond

When Meta Quest 2 launched two years ago, the majority of people’s time in VR was spent alone. Now, the majority is spent in multiplayer and social apps.

Today we announced we’re developing Meta Horizon Worlds on the web so you can eventually pick up your phone or laptop and visit friends who are hanging out in VR, and vice versa. We also announced new social innovations we’re working on with the YouTube VR team. If you’re hanging out with friends in Meta Horizon Home, you’ll soon be able to watch YouTube videos together.

We previewed our next generation of Meta Avatars that will be more expressive and detailed — and announced full-body avatars in VR, starting in Meta Horizon Worlds. Outside of VR, we’re bringing avatars to video chat, starting in Messenger and WhatsApp, so you can express yourself and react without turning your camera on.

Get a deeper rundown of all our VR platform news on the Meta Quest blog, including updates on fitness and our multi-year collaboration with NBCUniversal to bring iconic comedy and horror content to life through experiences in the metaverse.

Reality Labs Research Updates

Beyond everything we announced today, we also shared updates on our research toward the foundational technologies for future devices and the metaverse, including:

Our work to use artificial intelligence and electromyography to create more intuitive, human-centered interfaces
Project Aria and our partnership with Carnegie Mellon University to help people with visual impairments better navigate their surroundings indoors
Two technologies to build and manipulate 3D objects in the metaverse: neural radiance fields and inverse rendering
Photorealistic Codec Avatars, including more robust facial expressions and Instant Codec Avatars that are faster and easier to make

With Reality Labs, we’re inventing a new computing platform — one built around people, connections and the relationships that matter. Visit Tech at Meta for the full story on our latest research.

Read more Meta Connect news in the posts below:

The post Meta Connect 2022: Meta Quest Pro, More Social VR and a Look Into the Future appeared first on Meta.

Read Entire Article