Reporting by XinZhiyuan
Edit: Peach La Yan
【New Zhiyuan Introduction】The new Meta headset you are looking forward to is coming. However, the next generation of Oculus VR headsets will be quest 2 pro, not quest 3.
Quest 3 didn't come? I heard that Meta's next-generation VR headset is called quest 2 Pro.
Tianfeng International analyst Guo Mingxi said that it was previously predicted that Meta would launch high-end VR glasses that were regarded by the outside world as Oculus Quest 3 this year, and now this high-end glasses are called Oculus Quest 2 Pro.
In addition, according to The Information, Meta's plan to develop its own device chips is not smooth.
Meta Quest 2 Pro
Facebook may have included the Oculus brand under Meta's wing. But so far no Meta-branded VR product has been released.
That is said to change this year. But the earliest is not earlier than summer.
Last year, at the annual Connect 2021 conference, Meta released the Cambria headset. Zuckerberg said Cambria is not a Quest 3, but a new, upgraded high-end product. The price will be higher.
Cambria will be sold as an upgraded version of Quest 2 alongside Quest 2.
Kuo said the next generation of Oculus VR headsets will be quest 2 Pro, not quest 3. Although the product is not really "next generation" from the name Quest 2 Pro, the Pro will still include features that the existing Quest 2 does not have.
He said the Quest Pro 2 will use a mini LED display, which will have a better brightness display than the Quest 2. In addition, the dimensions of each monitor are expected to be 2.48 inches and the resolution of 2160 x 2160 per eye is expected.
The Quest Pro 2 will also use a 2P Pancake lens instead of continuing to use the 2nd Generation 1P Fresnel lens. At the same time, the Quest 2 Pro can also recognize facial expressions, which is also not achieved by the existing 2 generations.
Although there are many clues about the details of the Quest 2 Pro, its price is still unknown. The Quest 2 Pro is likely to be the Oculus VR headset leaked in November 2021. The videos that have been revealed suggest that Meta will apply some new designs and updated controllers.
Meta chip plans to be postponed
The Meta Quest 2 Pro is really something to look forward to, but it's a while to wait if you want to use Meta's custom chip.
Recently, The Information exclusively reported that Meta is struggling to develop its own device chips.
Meta has long wanted to replicate the success of other companies by building its own chips and powering the next generation of AR/VR devices.
Obviously, the facts are not as good as they are at the moment.
Meta's second-generation Ray-Ban STORIES smart glasses were supposedly intended to use the company's latest chip, called Brasilia.
Later, Alex Himel, Meta's vice president of augmented reality, finally decided to continue to use the more familiar Qualcomm chip to ensure the smooth progress of the project.
Take the most popular Meta Quest 2 headset on sale, which is powered by Qualcomm's XR2 chip.
Facebook Agile Silicon Team (FAST) is an internal group of Meta companies formed in 2018 to work on custom silicon chips.
Meta originally created the Brasilia chip to get rid of Qualcomm's dominance, achieve self-reliance, and reduce dependence on external companies.
If Brasilia is successfully applied, it will bring many advantages, such as directional audio and the ability to take high-quality photos.
This capability is better than Meta's current siyidai Ray-Ban Stories. Currently, Apple and Google have had success on M1 and Tensor chips, respectively.
In January this year, The Meta, which has not been renamed for two months, stopped developing VR and AR operating systems.
In fact, it was reported that Meta notified the laboratory staff in charge of VR and AR equipment in November 2021 that it would stop the development of XROS.
For a long time, the Oculus Quest VR device has used VROS based on Google's Android operating system.
However, Meta was clearly keen to create an operating system for its own device from scratch, and the project was internally known as XROS.
Zuckerberg's desire to develop a standalone operating system dates back more than a decade. He found himself just an app developer, and the giant behind the operating system was in charge.
According to people familiar with the matter, Meta's VR device may still have to rely on the "magic" Android system in a short period of time. While using the Android system can save Meta money and engineering resources in the short term, it also comes with risks.
ALL in metaverse, how far away?
When it comes to metaversities, hardware is the threshold for most people.
As far as the current AR/VR headset market share is concerned, Meta has eaten the largest piece of cake.
The explosion of VR began in 2014. At the time, Meta (Facebook) acquired the two-year-old Oculus for $2 billion.
For a time, almost all the tech giants were actively involved in investing in the VR/AR track.
In addition to Facebook's acquisition, Samsung launched GearVR, Google led magic Leap and launched the DayDream platform, Microsoft launched HoloLens, Sony released PS VR and many more.
Oculus Quest 2 has indeed attracted a lot of enthusiast netizens, and 4K screens have gradually become the industry standard.
Just as Christmas 2021, Oculus Quest 2 sales peaked and became the most popular gift for Christmas. Oculus, meanwhile, surpassed TikTok in downloads.
However, in addition to hardware, Meta's obsession with developing operating systems and even custom chips is also crucial to its entry into the metaverse.
As The Information says, even if we won't see the Brasilia chip anytime soon, its design efforts won't be in vain.
Some features of the chip could be cpoyed into future chips, including the legendary Meta's smartwatch, which uses a custom chip called Carson.
The future can be expected~
Resources:
https://www.gfinityesports.com/tech/meta-quest-pro-release-date-news-price-specs/
https://uploadvr.com/project-cambria-apparent-detailed-renders/
https://www.inputmag.com/tech/meta-custom-silicon-chips-ar-vr