If you thought Meta had already said it all after announcing LLaMA, its new ChatGPT-based AI, we’re sorry to tell you that you were wrong. In an internal presentation with its employees echoed by The Verge, the company has shared what will be its roadmap with virtual and augmented reality hardware during these five years.
One of the big bombshells announced by Meta is the development of a full-fledged augmented reality glasses to be launched in 2027. According to its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s intention is for these glasses to become the company’s next flagship in the hardware world and become as popular as Apple’s iPhone.
The augmented reality glasses will have the ability to project avatars as high-quality holograms superimposed on the real world, although the price tag is expected to accompany the features (i.e., they will be very expensive). Meta employees will be lucky enough to test the glasses in 2024, three years before it reaches the general public as part of the company’s “Innovation” line.
But that’s not all; this year, Meta will launch the second generation of Ray-Ban Stories, the smart glasses developed together with Luxottica (Ray-Ban’s parent company), and the new Quest 3, which would be much thinner and more powerful than its predecessors, the Quest 2. In addition, looking ahead to next year, the company plans to launch a new model of virtual reality glasses codenamed “Ventura”, which would be sold at a more affordable price, according to Meta.
And if that wasn’t enough, Meta plans to launch the third generation of Ray-Ban Stories in 2025, which will feature a special viewer designed to scan QR codes, view incoming texts and translate messages in real time, among other functions. The company says users will be able to control the glasses with just the movement of their hands and, when the time comes, will also be able to type using a virtual keyboard.
Meta is not the only company to announce the future of its virtual and augmented reality hardware this week. Xiaomi and HTC, among other companies in the technology sector, presented their new devices this Tuesday at the Mobile World Congress 2023 in Barcelona.