Technology company Meta (formerly Facebook, Inc.) held its annual “Connect” event last September 24 and 25 where it featured what it described as the “technologies of the future.” Founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg opened the occasion and told the in-person and online audience that “a lot of the things we’ve been talking about like glasses, mixed reality, (and) AI (artificial intelligence) is happening. We can start to see how computing and the future of human connection are going to look and it’s pretty awesome.”
Along with other Meta leaders, Zuckerberg unveiled the company’s latest offerings as well as ongoing developments and plans. The CEO’s keynote speech began with the introduction of the new Meta Quest 3S, a virtual reality headset developed by the company’s division Reality Labs. According to him, the third-generation device has the same processor and defining features as its predecessor, the Quest 3. And while users can still use their hands to navigate experience using the device, Meta has made Touch Plus controllers available to provide precision to the high-resolution, colored, mixed-reality experience it offers. The Quest 3S has three storage options:128GB, 256GB, and the top-of-the-line 512 GB model that comes with 4K display.
Zuckerberg shared that the Quest 3S is a “fully immersive experience in one device” as users “can now run everything from 2D mobile apps to remote desktops for PCs (personal computers).” In a release, Meta explained that it rebuilt the Meta Horizon OS for spatial computing to support apps like Facebook and Instagram, aside from “adding better spatial audio and improved Passthrough’s contrast and color.” All these will allow users to “lean back and enjoy… content on nice big screens,” maintained Zuckerberg.
The CEO revealed an upcoming remote desktop that they are working on with technology firm Microsoft. “Quest is going to be a natural extension of your PC,” he explained during a demo of how any Windows 11-powered PC can pair with the virtual reality headset. The Quest 3-dedicated Hyperscape app can let anyone explore photorealistic spaces.
Zuckerberg also let the audience in on some ongoing developments of the company, including a multi-modal artificial intelligence feature that is capable of understanding images and text. The company is adding an edit capability that can let anyone change a photo through natural language. He discussed about natural conversations-related developments with Meta AI across apps like IG, Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp. “Voice is going to be a way more natural way of interacting with AI than text,” he opined. “And probably will be one of the most frequent ways that we will interact with AI.”
Another Meta 2024 highlight is the onstage conversation between Zuckerberg and two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion Brandon Moreno to demo the smart glasses and a translation software Meta is developing. The pair wore a pair of Ray-Ban smart glasses and sampled the AI automatic dubbing feature being developed by Meta. Moreno spoke in Spanish, while Zuckerberg responded in English, with the entire exchange translated seconds after one party spoke.
The Ray-Ban Meta glasses are being developed by the company and, reports the brand’s website, will have the capacity to take pictures and videos hands-free, do a livestream, take audio or video calls, and ask Meta AI questions. In a company release, Meta said that innovations like the Ray-Ban Meta glasses have showed the “the good that can come from letting people stay more present and empowered in the physical world, while tapping into all that the digital world has to offer.”