Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thursday that Meta Quest 3, a new mixed and virtual reality headset, will be launched at the end of the year.
The announcement comes just days before rival firm Apple is set to unveil its Reality Pro headset at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday, 5 June.
It also follows the 25 October debut of the Meta Quest Pro, the enterprise-focused iteration of Meta’s Quest headset product lineup. Lauded as a contender to the Pico 4 Enterprise, HTC VIVE Elite Pro, and others, the Quest Pro will now see its consumer-facing sibling enter global markets this year.
Zuckerberg Comments on Meta Quest 3
The company released a statement after the video presentation on Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms Instagram Channel. It it, Meta explained the new device will feature “higher resolution, stronger performance, breakthrough Meta Reality technology, and a slimmer, more comfortable form factor.”
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Speaking further, he added the headset would feature high-resolution colour mixed reality features. The device would also boast a 40 percent slimmer and “more comfortable” form factor with “better displays and resolution.”
Meta’s latest hardware will feature pancake optics to boost high-fidelity resolutions.
The upcoming head-mounted display (HMD) would also offer Qualcomm’s next-generation Snapdragon XR2+ chipset for “[twice] the graphics performance.”
“[The Meta Quest 3 is] our most powerful headset yet. Coming this fall,” he stated.
Zuckerberg explained further the Quest 3 would remain reverse compatible with the entire Quest 2 library of games, experiences, and apps, “with more titles coming.”
“[The] Quest 3 will be the best way to experience mixed and virtual reality in a standalone device,” he claimed.
Meta Quest 3 will be sold in all the countries that already support Meta Quest. The 128 GB headset starts at $499.99 and will come with additional options to increase the storage “for those who want some extra space.”
Meta Quest 3: A Deeper Dive
In a subsequent press release, Meta explained that the device would also feature its “breakthrough Meta Reality technology.”
The tech giant aims to release further information about the headset at the Meta Connect 2023 on September 27. The announced date is weeks before its typical timeframe in October from previous events.
Meta Reality Technologies
Meta’s new Reality Platform will allow users to blend the physical and digital worlds “seamlessly.” With the new technology, creative immersive content will interact with physical space to navigate spaces “in natural, intuitive ways.”
The company explained further,
“High-fidelity color Passthrough, innovative machine learning, and spatial understanding let you interact with virtual content and the physical world simultaneously, creating limitless possibilities to explore. Now you can play a virtual board game on your kitchen table with Demeo, decorate your living room with virtual art courtesy of Painting VR, or dive into a fully immersive world to do things that are simply not possible otherwise”
Additional upgrades include redesigned Touch Plus controllers with new form factors, which will exclude the former model’s tracking rings. This aims to accomplish a more natural feel and reduce its form factors. This will also add TruTouch haptics and optimal Direct Touch hand tracking capabilities “out of the box.”
