At an online developer event, Mark Zuckerberg presented the Quest Pro, a new VR headset.
Quest Pro costs $1,499 (£1,499), nearly four times as much as Meta’s current headset, the Quest 2, which has a starting price of $399.
It claims slimmer lenses, a curved battery around the back of the head strap, and self-tracking controllers.
The headset also enables users to see their actual surroundings outside the screen’s edge.
Unlike its predecessor, Quest Pro supports mixed reality, allowing users to view digital information overlaid on the actual world.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, called mixed reality “the next major step for VR.”
The device is more suitable to “high-end, enthusiast, and potentially enterprise users” than mass-market, according to Tuong Nguyen, a Gartner researcher.
The workplace platform Windows 365 will also be accessible on it, according to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, as Meta aims to position mixed reality and virtual reality as both a work tool and a form of pleasure.
The company Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is banking on the development of the metaverse, a virtual environment where users may both conduct their daily lives as avatars and explore fantastical virtual worlds.
Although several IT companies are developing their own metaverses, it will probably be years before any are realized.
There have been conflicting reviews of Meta’s current virtual reality environment, Horizons, and there have also been allegations of violence and sexual assault committed by avatars there.
Andrew Bosworth, the chief technology officer, however, acknowledged that “it will be a while before there are enough headsets out there.”
It appeared as though the technology was being “speed tracked” into people’s hands, according to Paolo Pescatore of PP Foresight. Why rush when there is no demand? he asked.
During the event, there was a lot of discussion on virtual reality apps, some of which have proven to be quite profitable for their creators, such as the VR version of the video game Resident Evil 4, which generated $2 million in sales in its first 24 hours.
Iron Man and Among Us were among the new VR video games that were introduced, along with a future collaboration with Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming. However, there was no news regarding the eagerly anticipated VR version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which some fans had hoped for.
According to Andrew Bosworth, YouTube VR is one of the most downloaded apps from the Quest store.
Vishal Shah, vice president of the metaverse at Meta, stated that the ultimate goal of the metaverse is to feel like any other social encounter, no matter how big or tiny.
