As we know, Mark Zuckerberg decided to bet everything on the metaverse, hence the change of name of his Facebook company to Meta. But you still need to have the right peripherals and, for now, the company only offers Meta Quest virtual reality headsets (new name for Oculus). For Zuckerberg, augmented reality glasses are the holy grail in this field, and engineers at Meta are hard at work bringing a pair to market.
According to sources close to Meta, interviewed by our colleagues from The Verge, the objective is to offer a first generation in 2024, followed by a second in 2026 and a third in 2028. Note that Meta has teamed up with Ray -Ban to launch connected glasses, now available in France, but that these have absolutely no augmented reality function.
Zuckerberg’s goal is to make his company innovative again after many setbacks over privacy issues and various scandals. The metaverse and augmented reality glasses are thus the means to relaunch the company, but also to overcome the constraints of Google and Apple, on which Meta depends for the distribution of its applications.
Meta hasn’t yet released specs on the glasses, codenamed “Project Nazare.” They would be independent of the smartphone and would include a separate box, to carry out some of the necessary calculations, with a wireless link. Mark Zuckerberg wants the glasses to offer a full augmented reality experience, with 3D graphics, a wide field of vision and an attractive design. A cocktail so ambitious that it is very likely that the engineers will not be able to honor all these requests quickly.
A first version of very expensive glasses
In addition, the Nazare project glasses should cost much more than the Meta Quest virtual reality headset (349 euros). Their first iteration would therefore not be intended for the general public. It would include expensive components (micro-LED screens) and would only offer four hours of battery life. This is why the company is also working, under the code name Hypernova, on another project for glasses that would work with a smartphone to display messages and notifications. Meta could also launch a control bracelet based on the revolutionary technology acquired from the start-up CTRL-Labs as well as a new version of the Ray-Ban Stories glasses.
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But nothing says that the 2024 objective can be reached. The launch of augmented reality glasses has already been delayed and Meta had to abandon the idea of designing a specific operating system. Engineers now plan to use Android as a base, as is already the case with the Meta Quest headset.
Zuckerberg is currently putting pressure on the employees in charge of the Nazare project, which has led to many departures and job changes. Will the 2024 target be reached? Perhaps, but it may still be a long time before the general public has access to augmented reality glasses signed Meta.
Source : The Verge