Mark Zuckerberg unveiled his company’s newest virtual reality headset, the Meta Quest Pro, on Tuesday, hoping to inspire working professionals to embrace his vision of a “virtual future.”
This is an announcement that was eagerly awaited by lovers of new technologies. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Meta, unveiled his company’s newest toy, a virtual and mixed reality headset called Quest Pro, at Meta’s annual Connect conference. A top-of-the-range technology which is, in fact, nothing of a small toy: its selling price, calculated at 1.500 dollarsis more than three times higher than that of its predecessor, the Quest 2.
This helmet will have the heavy task ofattract “more serious working professionals”, including designers, architects and other creative specialists. “He is work-oriented,” Mark Zuckerberg said at the end of September. “Ideal customers will either be people who just want the most high-end VR device, or people trying to work.”
The headset offers a “color mixed reality experience”, using cameras on the outside of the headset to allow users to see the world around them.
Color Mixed Reality
Some of the new features of the Quest Pro are therefore designed specifically for this audience, particularly in the organization of meetings in virtual reality for people working remotely. The device thus includes face and eye tracking, which can be used to “humanizing” avatars so that remote conversations seem more personal.
The headset also features what Meta calls a “color mixed reality experience”, using cameras on the outside of the headset to let users see the world around them and overlay graphics while wearing the device. A function that the Quest 2 already offered… But only in black and white.
The Quest Pro is also lighter and thinner than its predecessors, with thin lenses and a battery relocated to the back of the helmet, allowing it to better distribute its weight while making it less bulky.
The quest for the metaverse
These researches and investments of Mark Zuckerberg in virtual reality helmets converge towards what he calls the “metaverse”, an immersive version of the internet where the techie hopes to one day see users work and play in augmented reality. They will thus be able to access it in the form of digital avatars thanks, in particular, to the Quest Pro.
A reality that is still only a very distant fantasy for the founder of Facebook, but the latter does not count the billions spent to achieve it. Meta thus stated that investments in its Reality Labs division, responsible for the “construction” of the metaverse, have cut operating profit by $10.2 billion in 2021and $6 billion since the start of 2022.