They will let you play Xbox Cloud Gaming on a giant virtual screen. Meta is also releasing new camera sunglasses in collaboration with Ray-Ban
Few fans of virtual or augmented reality are new Quest 3 meta They will be caught off guard. The company itself announced months ago that it was preparing a successor for its own Task 2 and advanced some design details.
But today, these new virtual reality glasses are finally official. Mark Zuckerberg was responsible for their presentation at the developer event Metaconnect which takes place these days at the headquarters of the company in Menlo Park, California.
The glasses are an evolution of the previous model, improving on key points to offer a better experience. They have higher resolution and power, keep their weight, reduce size and keep the price relatively affordable, although they cost a bit more than the previous version.
The heart of these new glasses are two screens 2064 x 2208 pixels (30% higher resolution than Quest 2), which are enclosed in a helmet with a more compact and slim design thanks to a new set of lenses. They can be configured with different colored overlays that have also been made from materials that are easier to clean. Order 515 grams, 10 more than the Quest 2, but they’re lighter than the Pro version, with more resolution and power, that Meta released last year.
The glasses include two control knobs that have been redesigned and promise greater precision. They also have the best outdoor cameras for mixed reality applications, in which virtual objects coexist with the video signal of what the user would see if they weren’t wearing the glasses. These cameras now record color video (on the Quest 2, the external video image was black and white).
Meta has acquired several game development studios in recent years to expand its catalog of available titles and experiences, but during the conference it added another use for these new glasses. Starting in December, Quest 3 users will be able to use them to play on Xbox Cloud, Xbox’s cloud gaming service. Microsoft, on a giant virtual screen.
Meta Quest 3 will be available in Spain at the end of the year priced from 549 euros for the model with 128 GB of memory. They can be configured with 512GB for €150.
RAY BAN GLASSES
In addition to the new Quest 3, Meta also took advantage of the Connect event to introduce smart glasses collaboration with Ray-Ban. These are ordinary glasses that have cameras and microphones and with which you can transmit a live video signal or take pictures. Meta launched the first version two years ago, in the midst of the pandemic. The glasses will now be available in more frames and have greatly improved the quality of the videos and photos that can be recorded.
Las Ray-Ban Stories, When the first model was known, they only had a 5-megapixel camera, and as a result, the videos and photos were not very sharp, especially in low-light conditions. The Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses (as this new model is known) instead of sensor integration 12 megapixels, achieving a much clearer picture. They also have better microphones – you can use them as wireless headphones and answer calls with them.
In this version, the light that activates during video recording to alert people around you of your presence is more visible, which is appreciated. As with the previous version, the cameras are very discreet and easy to miss, especially on the black-mounted model.
Meta also integrated a virtual assistants (Meta AI) which you can talk to, but the feature is currently limited to the US.
As in the previous version, the case for the glasses also serves to recharge them, but now includes an indicator that shows the level of charge remaining. The price is similar to the price of Ray-Ban Stories when they hit the market in November 2021. €299 in the US. In Spain, this model starts at €229, but Meta has not yet confirmed when the new ones will go on sale.
NEW QUALCOMM CHIPS
Both glasses use new processors developed Qualcomm, elk XR2 Gen 2 and AR1 Gen 1. These are chips designed specifically for augmented and virtual reality applications that include all the intelligence needed to process information about head movements or video signals from external cameras.
The XR2 Gen 2 is the chip that powers the Quest 3 and has twice the graphics power of the Quest 2’s processor, but that’s not its only virtue. The chip also has lower latency when displaying video content from external cameras in augmented reality applications, simply 12 milliseconds – The same number he brags about Apple and Vision Pro, which will go on sale next year.
The AR1 Gen 1 is the chip used in the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses and is designed with energy efficiency as a key feature. Technically, the chip can be used in cascos low resolution virtual reality, but it is usually found in products like this; ordinary but “smart” glasses equipped with cameras and microphones.
