Meta’s first AR glasses they will arrive in 2024 and then more advanced ones will come in 2026 and 2028. They are being developed under the code name “Project Nazare” in parallel work with Oculus products, although they undoubtedly have connected technologies.
Everything is part of Marc Zuckerberg’s goal of becoming the “king of the metaverse”, the ambitious strategic commitment of the Facebook parent company that has included even the name change, although it has also been used to try to leave behind the excesses of the privacy social network.
Zuckerberg considers augmented reality glasses to be the holy grail that “will redefine our relationship with technology” in a revolution similar to the introduction of smartphones. He is not the only one who believes it and a similar argument was used by the boss of Apple, Tim Cook, when advancing without giving details or deadlines the development of solutions for the Cupertino firm.
Meta’s AR glasses
TheVerge claims to have had access to Meta’s internal roadmap. Zuckerberg would be pushing and various teams would be competing to deliver the first generation of the device in 2024 and from there produce lighter and more advanced designs. “Zuck’s ego is connected to the glasses”a former employee who worked on the project explained to the media. “He wants it to be an iPhone moment” in reference to the revolution that caused the first Apple mobile.
It remains to be seen. Although Meta can take advantage of some technology from its other company, Oculus, the demos that have been put forward so far, such as playing virtual chess on a real table with someone’s avatar, were not based on any working hardware or software. Meta does not yet have a working prototype and the months until 2024 fly by.
Meta’s CEO sees his glasses as a way to get out of the control of Apple and Google, which together dictate the terms that apps like Facebook must abide by on mobile phones. The first version is designed to work independently of a mobile phone with the help of a phone-shaped wireless device that downloads parts of the computing necessary for the glasses to work.
A standout feature will be the ability to communicate and interact with holograms of other people through the glasses, which Zuckerberg believes will eventually give people a more immersive and compelling experience than video calls that exist today.
In parallel, a second device, codenamed “Hypernova,” will be cheaper and simpler, and will connect with smartphones to display incoming messages and other notifications through a smaller head-up display, similar to Google’s smart glasses. North.
It must be said that Meta has invested billions of dollars in these projects and internal sales expectations are not good in the short term. Another of his projects, the smart Ray-Bans, have sold a third of what was planned. The price of the Meta AR glasses has not been decided, but it is cited that they will be more expensive than the $299 Quest VR.
Meta expects massive sales by the end of the decade, but that remains to be seen. Consumer virtual reality has been a complete flop to date and the huge delay in the launch of Apple’s AR indicates that the segment is not mature. The average user simply does not find any need for it. There is work left for Meta and the rest of the technology companies.
Target the Metaverse
Finish by saying that, according to Zuckerberg, all these technologies will converge in the metaverse, shared virtual worlds that intend to become the next great communication platform at the scale of the world Wide Web. Some even say that the Metaverse will end the Internet as we know it. We don’t see it so close… If it ever happens. In addition, access to the metaverse will not be limited to AR devices and, in theory, can be accessed from VR headsets, PCs or smartphones.
