While Meta's path to the metaverse hasn't gone as smoothly as expected, with over $10 billion in lost funding, Reality Labs, the 'reality lab' within the company that conducts research into AR/VR technology, may also be shutting down some projects, and plans for hiring have slowed.
However, just because things aren't going well doesn't mean they're going nowhere - Meta recently opened its first physical Meta Store, and new headset devices have been revealed.
▲Meta Store, image from: Meta
The high-end headset that Meta will be launching soon is called 'Project Cambria' and the current experience demo 'The World Beyond' using the device was created using the Presence Platform, a platform built by Meta.
▲Image from: Instagram
The platform is also built to help developers better build mixed reality experiences that blend the physical and virtual worlds. Therefore, one of the key words in 'Project Cambria' is 'mixed reality'.
▲ Image via: Instagram
As you can see from the demo scenes, the high-end headset allows for a variety of virtual and realistic experiences: you can pet and interact with a virtual creature; you can remotely play chess 'face-to-face' on a virtual board with a user who is also wearing the headset; and you can follow a virtual trainer who can also exercise.
▲Image from: Meta Quest
Not only that, but when wearing 'Project Cambria', you can sit at a virtual desk and go to a realistic book to write; you can even read text and even work on your work through the mixed reality created in the headset using just a real keyboard.
Some Meta employees believe that 'Project Cambria' could be described as a 'facial laptop', and it is said to have similar specs to a Chromebook.
▲Image from: Meta Quest
Although the exact parameters and performance are not yet fully known, this high-end headset is not only a "cloud gaming station" that can be used to play games, but also a "cloud workstation" that can be used to work, compared to Meta's current similar type of device, Quest 2.
▲Image from: Meta Quest
You can actually experience the mixed reality experience built by Presence Platform on Quest 2 as well, and The World Beyond will be available on Quest soon via App Lab. But on 'Project Cambria', you can get better graphics and experience.
"Project Cambria's more advanced hardware specifications allow for a higher fidelity of image, coupled with a higher resolution image sensor and full color pass-through signal transmission, allowing for a "better world" to be seen from the head-up display.
▲Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth's announcement on Twitter, image via
However, the product hasn't officially launched yet, and it's unknown if the actual experience will actually be as good as the demo, but it's safe to say that 'Project Cambria' offers a better mixed reality experience than Quest 2, and will be relatively more expensive.
▲ Image via: Instagram
Also, this headset is just one of several virtual reality headsets that Meta plans to launch in the coming years. Could the future be better connected to the real world and the virtual world through Meta's devices? What other possibilities are possible with the Meta universe? We'll have to wait for the answers it will give in time.