If you simply think that Meta is just a giant in the VR field, then there is a high probability that you have fallen into a misunderstanding - in addition, Meta is also an invisible AR glasses giant.
Recently, foreign media reported that Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have sold 1 million units. According to various sources, once the glasses were launched, the product market performed strongly and was quite popular with users.
In fact, in the strict sense, the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are not real AR glasses, they do not support AR functions, and they do not have glasses screens. However, Meta's first AR glasses are just around the corner. Not long ago, Meta teased its next major product, the first AR glasses.
In the future, will Meta's first real AR glasses continue the popularity of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses? It remains to be tested by the market. However, it is undeniable that Meta's comprehensive "all-take-all" behavior in the field of XR headsets has also caused a lot of pressure on other manufacturers.
01. The invisible AR glasses giant
A few days ago, a foreign media released a feedback article on the trial experience of Ray-Ban Meta. The article mentions that the third-party estimate of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses has sold 1 million units.
It is understood that in September last year, at the Meta developer conference "Meta Connect", Meta continued to cooperate with Ray-Ban (Ray-Ban) and launched the new Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.
In terms of appearance, Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have a tough sunglasses design, and have three colors of blue, black, and brown for consumers to choose from, and LED indicators and cameras are distributed in the left and right corners of the glasses to remind others that they are recording videos.
At the same time, the smart glasses are equipped with Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses with a 12-megapixel camera, which supports 60 seconds of video recording in 1080P 60fps format, and can take photos of up to 3024 x 4032 pixels.
It is worth noting that the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chip. At the same time, it is also the first smart glasses with built-in Meta AI. This makes the glasses support Meta AI, an AI assistant function, which can wake up the assistant for assistance functions by shouting "Hey Meta".
Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses can be used to take photos and videos, listen to music and podcasts, make phone calls, and more, and even support ChatGPT-like conversations in beta in the United States. In addition, he identifies buildings in front of him, signs, and how to repair the faucet in front of him, and also supports functions such as live streaming.
However, the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses do not currently support AR functions, nor do they have functions such as glasses screens, 3D shooting and recording. However, there is information that in Meta's last earnings call, Zuckerberg even mentioned that many styles have been sold out.
In fact, Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses can be regarded as Meta's second generation of smart glasses. In September 2021, Meta and Ray-Ban jointly released the first generation of smart glasses, but the response was not good.
At present, the popularity and sales of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses have far exceeded expectations, undoubtedly making up for the dismal first generation and laying a good foundation for the next generation. However, strictly speaking, Meta's first real AR glasses are yet to be unveiled, but they are not far off.
Not long ago, Meta teased its next major product, the first AR glasses. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of its RealityLabs division, Meta released a blog post in which Meta mentioned the AR glasses.
Meta said that Quest3 provides an engaging mixed reality experience, allowing users to fully immerse themselves in the physical world and digital content at the same time, while Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses allow users to enjoy the practicality and entertainment of MetaAI, and AR glasses will integrate these two technology paths to achieve the "best of both worlds".
02.XR all-encompassing
Today, Meta is in the field of XR in the "all-inclusive" throughout the year, not only in AR, but also in VR and MR.
From the exploration of the acquisition of Oculus, to the Quest series' position as a giant in lightweight mobile VR, to the Ray-Ban series of smart glasses, and the recently teased AR glasses. Over the past few years, Meta has carried out comprehensive exploration in the three major fields of VR, MR and AR, and has released more than 10 smart hardware.
For example, in September 2018, Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg officially announced the launch of the Oculus Quest VR all-in-one at the Oculus Connect 5 conference, and it was launched the following year.
For another example, in September 2020, Meta officially released the Quest 2 VR all-in-one machine. It is reported that the Quest 2 adopts a lighter design, equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 processor, and is equipped with 6GB of running memory; It adopts a monocular 1832*1920 display resolution, a binocular 3664*1920 display resolution, and introduces eye movement and gesture tracking to enhance the interactive experience. Agency data shows that the Quest 2 has sold more than 14.8 million units since its release.
In June last year, Meta was the first to release the new Quest 3 ahead of Apple's WWDC23 conference. At the same time, Meta released the first MR device for the consumer market. It can switch from the virtual world to the virtual and real world with simple operations, and the experience is very similar to that of the Apple Vision Pro.
Zuckerberg has said he initially expected the Quest to be more valuable for most people because it's "seven times cheaper" than the $3,500 Apple Vision Pro. However, after testing a competitor's product, he came to the conclusion that the Quest was "a better product."
In addition to hardware, Meta also has a huge move on the operating system. Not long ago, Meta announced that it was changing the name of its Quest software platform to Meta Horizon OS, and the news that it was open to third-party headset manufacturers such as Asus, Lenovo and Microsoft became a "thunderbolt" in the XR circle.
In this regard, Zuckerberg said that this cooperation will reproduce the competitive landscape between Android and iOS in the smartphone era, but this time the battlefield is in the field of virtual reality headsets.
At the moment, it seems that Meta, which is galloping in the XR field, will put a lot of pressure on other manufacturers.