A month before its official presentation, the Meta Quest Pro is revealed in a video and images. The opportunity to have a small preview of what the famous virtual reality headset has in store for social interactions in the metaverse.
The appearance of the Meta Quest Pro has been carefully kept secret by Meta. Well, not so carefully since a prototype was forgotten in a hotel room. So says Ramiro Cardenas on Twitter, who was able to take – blurred – photos and a video of the future virtual reality headset. Although it is feared that it is a fake, the box is similar to that of the previous model and seems official. The headset and controllers also resemble those of the Meta Quest 2, but the design has been reworked to provide a finer rendering. The black shifters don’t appear to feature the hollow loop of its predecessor. The lenses on the front of the device have also been reduced.
Meta Quest Pro: a release in October 2022
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled in Joe Rogan’s podcast that the next virtual reality headset du group will be arriving in October. It will probably be unveiled during the Connect conference, in which the group will present its new products in VR and AR. “For the next device coming out in October, there are some great features”, he said at the start of the podcast. He also referred to the presence the news social functions of the high-end model, which will be enabled by eye and face tracking. The goal is to offer its avatar more expressiveness, for users to actually discuss face-to-face. “Make your face follow so that your avatar isn’t just this still thing, but whether you’re smiling or frowning or pouting or whatever your expression is.”
2023 is shaping up to be the year of virtual reality (VR for Virtual Reality in English) and augmented reality (AR for Augmented Reality in English). These two technologies will be at the heart of metaverse – or metaverse –, the famous entirely virtual universe prepared by Meta and countless “trendy” companies, at the center of all fantasies and desires. Several digital giants are also working hard on the subject, starting with Apple, which should soon release a revolutionary headset, announced – and hoped – as as innovative as the iPhone in its time. Sony is also on the move, with its PS VR2, which will mainly target gamers – but not only. While waiting for these future champions, it is Meta who occupies the field with his famous helmets Quest, previously sold under the Oculus brand. And Mark Zuckerberg’s group does not intend to leave the field open to its declared competitors. As told in Bloomberg Mark Gurman, the journalist well known for his indiscretions on Apple, Meta has in his boxes a new top-of-the-range model which should be released at the end of the year, the Quest Pro.
Meta Quest Pro: virtuality more real
Known under the code name of Project Cambria, the Meta Quest Pro will immediately target the high end. Equipped with new very high definition cameras, a much more powerful chip, screens providing better rendering and greater storage capacity than the Quest 2 released at the end of 2020, it would be much more efficient, in particular by ensuring a more precise eye tracking. If Mark Gurman does not give precise details in his article, we know that Meta has great ambitions for the Quest Pro. Mark Zuckerberg had already announced during the presentation of the financial results of his company, in April 2022, that this helmet will be rather intended for professionals and that it could replace a laptop PC or a work environment. The firm had already unveiled Infinite Office, a series of functions deployed on the Meta Quest 2 to allow the user to evolve in a “real” office in virtual and/or augmented reality.
There is no doubt that the Quest Pro will be a key element for the development of its famous metaverse, if only as a technological showcase. Because according to Bloomberg’s predictions, this new helmet will not be within everyone’s reach. In addition, the Meta Quest 2, usually sold around 350 euros, will see its price increase by 100 euros! It goes to 449 € in 128 GB and 549 € in 256 GB! The Meta Quest Pro could therefore reach or even cross the symbolic bar of 1,000 euros. A “premium” price, up to Meta’s ambitions, but which should not be very far from the price of Apple’s future headphones…