Meta Platforms’ upcoming virtual reality (VR) headset will debut in October near its annual Connect event, Company Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg told Joe Rogan in a podcast this week.
On the Joe Rogan Experience, the executive said the new VR headset would host numerous updates and features to boost the device’s “social presence” capabilities. Additional functionalities include novel face and eye tracking for real-time control of avatars.
Breaking! The new Quest Pro (Project Cambria) is launching in October. This has just been confirmed by Mark Zuckerberg on The Joe Rogan Podcast. pic.twitter.com/3SJnGTbd9S
— Nathie @ Gamescom (@NathieVR) August 25, 2022
“There’s more nonverbal communication when people are with each other than verbal communication,” he said, referencing Project Cambria while not mentioning the headset’s name.
Explaining further, Zuckerberg said,
“For the next device that’s coming out in October, there’s a few big features […] The ability to now have kind of eye contact in virtual reality. Have your face be tracked so that way your avatar — it’s not just this still thing, but if you smile or if you frown or if you pout, or whatever your expression is, have that translate in real time to your avatar”
Mega Meta Updates, To Date
Following Meta’s massive reveal of the Cambria headset at the 2021 Connect event, numerous updates on the device and its capabilities have surfaced across the internet.
According to reports, the device will also include a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 processor, pancake lenses, 2160×2160 resolution per eye, 90 Hz refresh rates, dynamic foveated rendering, 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM, 256GB storage, and six degrees of freedom (6DoF).
Global media also found the new head-mounted display will cost $800 USD compared to the Meta Quest 2’s $400, following the latter’s price hike, potentially due to ongoing profit losses at its Reality Labs division totalling $10.19 billion, citing rising production and shipping costs.
In May, Zuckerberg teased followers with a video on his Facebook profile with him wearing a blurred Cambria headset, which unveiled updated Presence Platform tools, high-resolution outward-facing sensors, and other innovations.
In November last year, Twitter users leaked several artist renderings of the headset on social media, triggering discussion on the device’s potential capabilities. The renderings were released just a month after Meta’s rebranding at the Connect Event last year, where Zuckerberg teased details of its Project Cambria and Nazare devices powered by VR and augmented reality (AR), respectively.
