Facebook parent company Meta has announced new virtual reality glasses (VR glasses). Thanks to the cameras on the outside of the Meta Quest 3, wearers can see the real world through VR glasses for the first time. For example, you can now see virtual furniture and board games with the glasses.
According to Meta, the new Quest 3 is more compact and 40% lighter than the Quest 2. The new VR glasses won’t be available in stores until this fall and will cost $499 (463 euros) in the United States. European retail prices have yet to be announced.
It is no coincidence that Meta already presents the VR glasses. On Monday, Apple will hold its important annual presentation at the WWDC developer conference. The iPhone manufacturer should present its first VR glasses there.
Like the Quest 3, Apple’s glasses should be able to combine virtual reality and augmented reality (AR). With AR, people can see the real world through VR glasses or a phone camera, for example. Virtual objects are then projected onto it.
A good example of AR is the game Pokémon GO. With the phone’s camera, virtual monsters can be tracked down and captured in the real world.
Meta reduces metaverse development
Meta has been active in the VR space for quite some time. A few years ago, CEO and Founder Mark Zuckerberg fully committed to what he called the Metaverse. It’s a virtual world where people can meet, play games or follow social media.
Last year, under pressure from shareholders, it decided to pay more attention to costs. Now much less money is going to metaverse development.
Nevertheless, virtual reality and augmented reality are still considered interesting techniques. The fact that Apple was working on its own glasses has been an open secret for years. This could draw more public attention to these techniques.