2023-11-06 08:25:37
I am typing these words while sitting on my plush couch. The fire crackles in the fireplace and feels cozy. In front of me stood a huge piece of floor-to-ceiling glass – a piece of glass so impressive that it would have been worthy of Kevin McCloud’s tut-tuting at the camera. It outlines a magnificent winter scene. Snow-capped mountain peaks. The bliss of isolation. I was immersed in the beauty, with feathery snowflakes drifting lazily in the air. Needless to say, I have worked in worse places. To my right, a man suddenly appeared. He muttered in German. I waved at him awkwardly and continued working. I’ve had Meta Quest 3 for a few weeks now, and I find myself falling more and more into it every day. At first, I played games, watched Netflix, and enjoyed the reactions of my VR-newbie friends and family, who squealed with delight at the shenanigans it diligently delivered. But over time, I’ve come to realize that the Quest 3 was the first head-mounted display I’d ever used that truly changed my perspective on what this technology was really regarding. I used to think virtual reality and mixed reality headsets were just novel gaming gadgets. Yes, that includes the previous Quest 2, which has sold 18 million units to date. But the Quest 3 finally hits the sweet spot in terms of resolution, field of view, and power, delivering an immersive experience at a price that’s hard to beat. This is somewhat surprising, as Apple’s upcoming Vision Pro has long been credited with ushering in this new era of widespread face-mounted technology. However, the Quest 3 is already available, priced from £480. The future is already here, and it’s (relatively speaking) affordable, especially if you’re desperate to get away from your family this Christmas. A whole new world Since Mark Zuckerberg announced his move to Meta for Facebook, he has been unstinting in sharing his vision for a Metaverse—a world where people can work, play, collaborate, and interact with each other wherever they are. The fantasy of consuming tons of . The Quest 3 is the headset yet that has the best chance of realizing this vision, better than any other headset before it. With three times the resolution of the more expensive Quest Pro and 10 times that of the Quest 2, the pass-through camera is a device you’ll enjoy using for hours.
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#Officially #equipment #Chinese #Year #Unboxing #headmounted #device #Meta #Quest #Taiwan
Tag:
metaverse
virtual assistants will surge into WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
2023-09-27 19:36:41
The Meta Group unveiled the AI Studio chatbot creation platform, as well as the Meta Quest 3 mixed reality headset and RayBan Meta smart glasses.
And if “Max the cook», «Lorena the traveler», «Lily the editor» or «Victor the sports trainer» become your next contacts on WhatsApp… even if they don’t really exist? The Meta group unveiled Wednesday during its Meta Connect conference a series of virtual assistants with a strong personality with which Internet users will be able to converse and ask for advice for their daily lives.
Blending the boundaries between real and virtual, the Californian group asked celebrities to lend their features to these artificial intelligences. Naomi Osaka, Paris Hilton, Snoop Dog, Kendall Jenner, and American content creators MrBeast and Charli d’Amelio took part in the game. In 2024, these robots will have a voice.
Also read: Gafam is increasing its launches of products powered by generative AI
This series of “chatbots» (conversational robots) is the first demonstration of the capabilities of AI Studio, a platform which will soon allow developers to create their own virtual assistants, which will work on the group’s messaging systems. “I don’t believe there will be just one big, centralized artificial intelligence in the future. We will instead interact with a series of AI for specific uses», Explained CEO Mark Zuckerberg on stage.
A cautious deployment
Meta indicates that in the first half of 2024, influencers will be able to use these AIs to interact with their fans. And in the future, businesses present on Instagram will be able to use it to partially automate their customer service. Mark Zuckerberg, however, exercised great caution. This last option is in the preliminary testing phase with a handful of brands, and it will not be open to all of Meta’s professional customers anytime soon.
«The safety of these AI is a critical aspect“, he stressed, explaining that these chatbots should not damage the image of a company by talking nonsense. “We’re going to roll out these products much more slowly than usual, and make sure they’re beneficial. But I remain optimistic, and I am sure that we will see incredible new use cases emerge.»
The Meta group will nevertheless put online at the end of the year, in beta version, its Meta AI assistant, a sort of ChatGPT connected to the Internet thanks to a partnership with Microsoft’s Bing search engine. Meta AI can be queried during any conversation on Messenger or WhatsApp. It will also be able to generate images and stickers on demand using the Emu (Expressive Media Universe) model.
Smart glasses
Meta AI will also be integrated into RayBan Meta Smartglasses, the group’s new connected glasses produced in partnership with the EssilorLuxoticca group. In 2024, these smart glasses will be able to understand what the wearer sees, and recognize a monument, translate a menu, or indicate how to repair a leaking faucet. The questions, processed by Meta AI, will be asked orally.
The new connected RayBans designed by Meta CARLOS BARRIA / REUTERS
These connected RayBans, which will also allow you to make live videos on Instagram, will be sold in the United States on October 17 starting at $299. “We want to offer affordable products. This is as important to us as being at the cutting edge of technology“, said Mark Zuckerberg.
A low-cost mixed reality headset
Meta’s CEO repeated the same message during the presentation of the Meta Quest 3 mixed reality headset, due in the United States on October 10 for $499. A price that mightn’t be further from the $3,500 of Apple’s Vision Pro, which will be released in early 2024… “These technologies must be accessible to all“, he proclaimed on stage.
Read alsoThe Vision Pro headset rekindles the rivalry between Apple and Meta
Meta Quest 3 is the group’s first standalone mixed reality headset, “wireless or external battery“. Users will see both the real world (their living room, their office, etc.) and virtual elements like a video game. Tools for professionals will also be available.
For Mark Zuckerberg, these three announcements foreshadow the convergence between mixed reality, connected glasses, and artificial intelligence. The word “metaverse”, dear to the founder of Facebook and for which the group invests more than 10 billion dollars per year, has been uttered numerous times.
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#virtual #assistants #surge #WhatsApp #Instagram #Messenger
Any Surface Becomes a Keyboard with Meta’s Virtual Reality Headset
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
2023-08-31 15:28:15
Mark Zuckerberg just released a video of a highly anticipated feature that lets you use any surface, like a desk or table, as a keyboard in VR. Finger tracking with the Meta Quest 2 is said to be accurate enough to reach 120 words per minute.
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How do you write in the metaverse? When it comes to only a few characters, it is possible to use a virtual keyboard by pointing at the letters with its controllers or its hands. For a longer text, it is possible to connect a physical keyboard to enter text as with your computer. However, Meta is working on a new feature that completely bypasses the physical keyboard by using any surface as a keyboard.
In a video posted on his personal Instagram account, Mark ZuckerbergMark Zuckerberg wears a Meta Quest 2 headset and writes directly on a desk, without a physical keyboard. In his helmet, he sees a virtual copy of his hands as well as the desk on which is placed a completely virtual keyboard.
“ View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mark Zuckerberg (@zuck)”
Up to 120 words per minute!
Thanks to the hand-tracking cameras integrated into the headset, the system can follow the movements of his fingers and know what key he presses. Mark Zuckerberg says he managed to reach 100 words per minute, while Andrew Bosworth, technical director at Meta, reached almost 120 words per minute. For comparison, the average typing speed is around 40 words per minute. Meta has been working on this kind of technology for years, and researchers had already demonstrated a similar feature in 2020, but back then you had to wear gloves with markers.
Unable to know at this time when this feature might be available. The upcoming Meta Quest 3 will have higher quality cameras, so tracking should be more accurate and more suited to this feature. However, the fact that Mark Zuckerberg is testing it on the Meta Quest 2 gives hope that it won’t be limited only to the new helmet.
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#Surface #Keyboard #Metas #Virtual #Reality #Headset