Meta Quest Pro has just arrived in (online) shops, but the company is already thinking about its successor, the next version of the VR visor line but for everyone, cheaper. During the company’s last earnings call, outgoing CFO Dave Whener said that ‘the next generation of Quest consumer visors’ will be launched ‘later next year’.
Mark Zuckerberg had referred to ‘the next generation of our Quest consumer visor’ earlier in the day, talking about a technical goal that would look at making both eye-tracking and facial tracking possible in avatars to faithfully reproduce facial expressions. Zuck did not name the visor in question, but many think he was referring to the Meta Quest 3. It is unclear exactly when the device might be launched, but in the past the company has introduced new visors in the autumn to coincide with its annual Connect event, as happened a few weeks ago with the Quest Pro. However, this is not the first time Zuckerberg has mentioned the Quest 3.
Earlier this month he told analyst Ben Thompson that a new model was in the works and that it would probably be positioned in the €300 to €500 price range. This would make it more in line with previous Quest visors – the Quest 2 – rather than the latest Quest Pro. Although Quest 3 may be a cheaper device than Quest Pro, there are signs that Meta could incorporate some elements of the high-end VR visor.
As UploadVR pointed out, Zuckerberg stated that facial and eye tracking will be “a big focus” and at least one early rumor suggests that Quest 3 may have ‘pancake’ lenses, to offer optical technology that bends light within the module and return a seemingly ‘natural’, albeit artificial, brightness. It has to be said that, at the moment, the Metaverse is a loss-making investment for Meta. The Reality Labs division has recorded a red balance of USD 3.7 billion. The figure will increase significantly in 2023. Despite this, Zuckerberg wants to continue investing in the platform. At the moment, the company’s virtual worlds have not attracted many users.
