Meta Connect 2023: Quest 3 VR, Ray-Ban smart glasses and Meta AI

Tech giant Meta made the future a lot more exciting following its annual Connect conference last week.

On the 10th anniversary of Connect, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared how the rise of AI and metaverse technologies are reshaping the way we experience our physical and digital worlds.

Zuckerberg shared Meta’s progress on three fronts.

Watch Meta Quest 3 

Meta Quest 3

Meta Quest 3, a mainstream headset built for mixed reality, is the company’s most powerful headset yet.

With double the graphic processing power of Quest 2, it features the new Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 platform Meta developed in collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies.

And it’s completely standalone: no PC, no console, no battery packs – nothing to break the feeling of presence. It understands your physical space, so you can play with the world around you.

More than 100 new and upgraded titles are coming to Quest 3 this year, and many of them will incorporate mixed reality.

Because Quest 3 is backward-compatible, you get access to a vast library of 500+ VR and MR experiences on day one.

And with Xbox Cloud Gaming coming to Quest in December, you’ll be able to play Halo Infinite, Minecraft Legends, Forza Horizon 5, and hundreds of other high-quality Xbox games – all on a massive 2D screen you can take with you anywhere.

 Starting at $499.99 USD [about R9 600], Quest 3 ships October 10, and pre-orders are open.

Artificial Intelligence

While it’s been an amazing year for AI, most people today still haven’t experienced this new technology firsthand.

Meta talked about the Llama ecosystem of large language models and unveiled its image generation model at the Connect conference.

READ: LLaMA vs ChatGPT?: Meta’s solution to AI dangers

Emu (short for Expressive Media Universe) uses your text prompts to generate high-quality, photorealistic images in just seconds.

“We also introduced restyle and backdrop – two new features coming soon to Instagram that use the technology from Emu to let you transform your photos or even co-create AI-generated images with friends.

“We’re experimenting with forms of visible and invisible markers to help people distinguish AI-generated content,” Meta said.

AI Studio

Meta said, unlike most others in the industry, it does not believe there will be one single super-intelligent AI that everyone uses.

“Rather, we think you’ll want different AIs for different things, like finding information, communicating, being entertained, playing games, helping you get work done, and more. You might even want to create your own AI that’s aligned with your goals, whether you’re a small business, a creator, or anyone really.

“That’s why we’re building AI studio—a new platform for creating AIs that can help you get things done and just have fun. People will be able to interact with these AIs across the whole Meta universe of products. They’ll have profiles on Instagram and Facebook, and you’ll be able to chat with them in WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram. Eventually, they’ll be embodied as avatars in the metaverse too.

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Ray-Ban | Meta Smart Glasses

Meta also introduced the Ray-Ban | Meta Smart Glasses built in partnership with EssilorLuxottica, designed so you can stay connected and capture the moment without having to stop and take out your phone.

“We’ve upgraded them from the first generation in basically every way, and for the first time, you’ll be able to livestream directly from your smart glasses to your friends and followers on Facebook and Instagram.”

This is also the first smart glasses to ship with Meta AI built in.

“Starting in the US in beta, you’ll get our state-of-the-art AI hands-free, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, in real-time. And next year we’ll roll out a free update so your smart glasses will be able to understand what you’re looking at and help you out.

“If you want to know what building you’re standing in front of or get a translation of a sign on the fly, your Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses will have the answer,” Meta said.

Meta said smart glasses will be an important platform in the future not only because they’re a natural way to see digital holograms in the physical world, but also because soon you’ll be able to let your AI see what you see and hear what you hear—which will make your smart glasses more useful over time.

Starting at $299 USD [about R5 700], the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses collection will launch on October 17, and they’re available for pre-order.

Technologies

Meta said while it is delivering new technologies “the world has never seen before,” it is equally focused on making those advances available for everyone.

“There’s a long road ahead, but we look forward to traveling it with the developer community and all of you,” Meta said.

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