The tech giant continues to develop VR hardware and experiences, although that no longer appears to be its primary focus.
While Meta billed itself not long ago as a virtual reality-focused company, today’s announcements at Meta Connect, the company’s annual developer conference, indicate that the tech giant is is increasingly focusing on augmented reality (AR) and AI.
Most notably, the company introduced Llama 3.2, the latest version of its family of large open source language models. The new models are multimodal and able to respond to both text and images. Neither is yet available in the European Union, which recently promulgated new regulations around AIbut CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during the keynote address that he was “eternally optimistic that we can solve this problem.”
On stage in Menlo Park, California, Zuckerberg described the company’s commitment to open source as part of a broader, intractable trend — one that will benefit both developers and users of AI. “We have reached an inflection point for the industry…we all know where this is going,” he said.
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The entrepreneur took to the stage today wearing a loose black T-shirt emblazoned with the words “aut Zuck aut nihil”, a pun on the famous Latin phrase “aut Caesar aut nihil”, which roughly translates to “either Caesar or nothing”. .’ (A bit of shameless selfishness or a wry allusion to his larger-than-life aspirations? It’s up to you.)
Like most big tech players, Meta made AI a priority after the launch – and subsequent explosion – of ChatGPT almost two years ago. According to Zuckerberg, the company has made significant progress: Meta AI now has around 500 million users, a “staggering” number in the words of Jeremy Goldman, an Emarketer analyst specializing in marketing and technology. “Meta has grown from just a social media company to an AI powerhouse.”
Other AI-related announcements at the event include AI-generated avatars for creators and automatic dubbing between English and Spanish on Instagram and Facebook Reels. Meta AI also now features voices – similar to recent improvements to ChatGPT – inspired by celebrities like John Cena, Judi Dench and Awkwafina.
“It’s easy to see why something like this would be attractive to a brand or creator trying to reach a broader audience,” said Minda Smiley, a senior analyst at Emarketer specializing in the social media industry.
The company is also releasing upgrades to its AR smart glasses, developed in partnership with Ray-Ban. The updates are designed to be more attractive and natural for everyday use. A user might, for example, simply look at an assortment of fruits and ask, “Hey Meta, what kind of smoothie can I make with these?” A real-time translation function for English, French, Spanish and Italian is also added to the glasses.
Such practical use cases make Meta’s smart glasses “the Trojan horse of consumer AI,” according to Tipatat Chennavasin, general partner at Venture Reality Fund, which invests in Web3 and emerging technology companies in phase startup.
Zuckerberg also unveiled Orion, a new model of smart glasses that Meta is currently only offering to a small cohort of developers.
Although AI and AR took center stage at Meta Connect, the tech titan made it clear that it is not abandoning its metaverse business.
The company launched the Quest 3S headset, which will cost $299 — a relatively paltry cost compared to Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro headset, which launched earlier this year but has lagged in sales.
Alongside the Quest 3S is big brother Quest 3, a fancier model that will cost between $649 and $499.
When Facebook rebranded as Meta in 2021, it made developing the metaverse – primarily VR experiences and hardware – a priority. Meta has invested heavily in its Quest headset, generating initial excitement among brands keen to explore VR marketing. However, many quickly – and quietly – backed away as consumer interest failed to materialize. The mixed reception to Apple’s Vision Pro underscores a common view: VR headsets are still too bulky and uncomfortable for prolonged use. But with the launch of the latest iteration of its Quest headset, it’s clear that Meta plans to move forward with its metaverse dream.
But some experts doubt these efforts will ever succeed. “VR headsets, despite Meta’s claim, will not be widespread,” said Mike Proulx, research director at Forrester. “They are too bulky and people can only tolerate them for short periods of time.”
Given VR’s limited appeal, it’s unlikely many advertisers will turn their heads at the announcement of the new Quest headset, according to Emarketer’s Smiley. “The technology offers a lot of experimentation and potential for marketing, but… it’s not something your average marketer is paying a lot of attention to right now, because it hasn’t yet reached the general public.”
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In addition to the updated Quest headsets, new and improved avatars for Horizon Worlds, Meta’s flagship VR platform.
Zuckerberg introduced hyperspaces for virtual reality, which he described as “photorealistic” environments. They look like early iterations of a Star Trek-style Holodeck. As an example, he showed a virtual hyperspace modeled after the recording studio where Green Day recorded their 19TK album, Dookie.
Zuckerberg closed his speech with a short monologue about the company’s vision for the future. “All of this is coming together to build what I believe is the future of human connection and the next generation of computing platforms,” he said. “It’s such an exciting time to be building.”
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