Goal: augmented reality glasses debut at R$ 2,500 – 09/27/2023 – Tech

The owner of Facebook, Meta, launched the next generation of its virtual reality glasses, Meta Quest 3, on the market this Wednesday (27), in yet another attempt by the company to consolidate itself in the so-called metaverse — a type of digital world still without many everyday applications outside of playing video games.

The equipment hits the American market for US$500 (R$2,486, excluding taxes). Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement in person at the company’s annual Meta Connect conference.

In addition to the glasses themselves, Zuckerberg mentioned new artificial intelligence and augmented reality projection features. The executive works to show results from investments in this latest technology, which inspired the company’s name change to Meta.

The stakes for the event are high, given that last year investors criticized the parent company of Facebook and Instagram for spending too much on the metaverse. These costs led Zuckerberg to lay off tens of thousands of employees this year.

The event, broadcast on Facebook, experienced technical glitches before it started, such as a half-hour delay, sound problems and a signal interruption. In small print displayed before the exhibition, Meta warned that announcement dates and other information may change over time.

Once the problems were overcome, Zuckerberg promised glasses that were 40% smaller, lighter, twice as powerful and with more sensors.

Meta sells nearly 80% of all VR and AR headsets [realidade aumentada]but the market itself is relatively small compared to smartphones, PCs or game consoles, with less than 9 million units sold last year, according to IDC.

Like the glasses announced by Apple in the first half of the year, Vision Pro, Meta’s headset uses mixed reality to try to make the product more attractive. In this simulation modality, the device mixes stimuli from the real world with projections made by a computer, unlike the total immersion guaranteed by virtual reality.

Meta’s model is cheaper than Apple’s competitor, which is expected to hit the market in 2024 for US$3,500. Zuckerberg’s company has been in this market since 2018, with the Oculus Quest,

“Quest 3 is the first mainstream mixed reality device,” said Zuckerberg. The technology was already available in corporate and industrial environments, using headsets such as Microsoft’s Hololens, used, for example, by Embraer in the construction of airplanes.

However, the Quest 3 does not appear to have the ability to track eye movements, a function available in both the Vision Pro and Sony’s PlayStation VR2 headset, which adjust the screen depending on where the player is looking.

In competition with video games, on the other hand, Meta’s glasses sell for prices similar to those of popular competitors: PS5 and Xbox Series X.

Zuckerberg, in fact, began the presentation with information aimed at the gamer public, such as game release dates (such as Assassin’s Creed Nexus) and graphics processing information for the Quest 3. In the first launches of Meta’s augmented reality glasses, the company tried to move away from video games to sell a broader version of the metaverse.

Even so, the founder of Facebook stated that smart glasses will be the equipment capable of combining artificial intelligence creations with new forms of interaction, such as virtual and mixed reality. This, according to Zuckerberg, would be the way to take the metaverse experience beyond games.

Meta sells almost 80% of all VR and AR headsets, but the market itself is relatively small compared to smartphones, PCs or game consoles, with less than 9 million units sold on the market. last year, according to IDC.

Virtual assistant

Facebook’s parent company also developed a virtual assistant equipped with its Meta generative artificial intelligence model, LLaMA 2. Called Meta AI, the technology was developed in partnership with Microsoft and can access information in real time, with the help of the Bing search engine .

Natural language models like ChatGPT are generally limited to the information available when training the AI.

Meta’s chatbot will be available on different Meta platforms: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Meta Quest 3.

Meta’s assistant will be able to communicate using different characters, such as an AI copy of Gisele Bündchen’s ex-husband, Tom Brady (also a former American football player), supermodel Kendall Jenner and rapper Snoop Dogg. Companies will be able to develop other characters for the platform.

Smart glasses in partnership with Rayban

Meta also announced new smart glasses in partnership with Rayban, more similar to the lenses used in everyday life. The equipment takes photos, records audio, projects holograms and has access to the Meta application, which will include the Meta AI assistant.

“This will be the way to let artificial intelligence see what you see and hear what you hear,” says Zuckerberg.

AI in social media

Zuckerberg also announced that Meta, Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp social networks will have new generative artificial intelligence functions, such as intelligent image editors and sticker generators

It will be possible, for example, to describe a sticker within WhatsApp and receive the described sticker for use in the application.

The updates should arrive on Instagram first, in October.