Last Tuesday, Meta held its regular Meta Connect conference for VR and augmented reality developers. At the meeting, Meta’s general manager unveiled the Meta Quest Pro, a new VR headset that will cost $1,500 and ship on Oct. 25.
The new headset will ship much more expensive than the Meta Quest 2. I can only attribute this to Meta’s decision to produce the headset for a different audience. Whereas Meta Quest 2 was a headset for everyone that regular users could afford, the new headset, judging by the presentation, is aimed more at corporate use.
They created a Snapdragon mobile computer chip for it, developed with Qualcomm, which helps the device play better graphics. Also, the new helmet has a whole bunch of different unique features.
New controllers have also been improved. They include built-in sensors, better hand tracking, and new lenses to improve the reading experience. What allowed the headset to introduce new mixed-reality features?
The company announced that this helmet would have to combine the functions of mixed reality and virtual reality. For instance, one of the company’s functions was the possibility of creating additional virtual monitors for your computer.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also spoke at the presentation about the partnership with Meta, which aims to bring some of the company’s collaborative apps to Quest VR devices.
The new Meta Quest Pro will feature the Teams chat app and Microsoft 365 suite of software, and the Xbox cloud gaming service. Of course, how convenient will it be for users to use the same Word or Excel in virtual reality?
“You’ll be able to play 2D games with the Xbox controller projected onto the huge Quest screen,” Nadella said. “It’s early days, but we’re excited about what’s in store for us.” Meta shares were down about 4.5 percent in midday trading to $127.85, underscoring investors’ subdued reaction to the new VR headset.
