CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerbergunveiled the company’s latest virtual reality helmet this Thursday: Meta Quest 3. They will have a starting price of $499 AND it will be the first set with “high resolution color mixed reality”.
As can be seen in the presentation video, the Quest 3 is a 40% thinner compared to its predecessor, Quest 2. It appears to have at least three cameras on the front that can enhance the experience, where a user can see the real world around them while wearing headphones and interacting with apps.
The video noted that it had improved perception of natural depth. for the user and promoted graphical improvements for the games. “High-fidelity color transfer, innovative machine learning, and spatial understanding enable you to interact with virtual content and the physical world simultaneously, creating limitless possibilities to explore,” Meta said in a statement.
Meta’s Quest 2 headphones were released in the fall of 2020 with a starting price of $299. These are an introductory cost of $200 more above that price.
The Quest 3 will come with a next-generation Qualcomm chipset, according to the post. Meta said it will provide more details on Sept. 27 at the Connect conference.
With Apple and the metaverse in the crosshairs
The announcement comes as Apple is expected to unveil its competing VR set next week as part of the company’s June WWDC event.
The iPhone maker’s consumer headphones, which may also incorporate augmented reality technologies, will work with hundreds of thousands of iPad apps and cost at least $3,000.
Meta first announced it would debut the Quest 3 this year as part of the company’s third-quarter 2022 earnings, when it said the company’s cost of revenue would grow in part due to “Reality Labs hardware costs fueled by the launch of our next generation of consumer Quest headsets late next year.”
Meta continues to spend a lot on the metaversethe yet-to-be-developed digital universe that requires access to virtual reality and augmented reality technologies.
The company’s Reality Labs unit, which is developing VR and AR technologies, reported an operating loss of $3.99 billion in the company’s first quarter and generated $339 million in revenue.
In July 2022, Meta raised the price of the base Quest 2 from $299 to $399, citing increased manufacturing and shipping costs for the device. Thursday it said it will lower the price of those headphones to $299 starting June 4th.
Last October, Meta introduced its Quest Pro VR headset aimed at businesses rather than consumers. Although the Quest Pro originally retailed for $1,499.99, Meta dropped the price of the device to $999.99 in March and also dropped the price of a more expensive version of the Quest 2 headset with additional storage from 499.99 to 429.99.
Last December, VR headset sales in the US were down 2% in 2022 compared to a year ago 1.1 billion, indicating that immersive technology is still far from being a success in mainstream consumer electronics.
Source: Clarin
Linda Price is a tech expert at News Rebeat. With a deep understanding of the latest developments in the world of technology and a passion for innovation, Linda provides insightful and informative coverage of the cutting-edge advancements shaping our world.