Meta first announced its next hardware release, codenamed Project Cambria, at the 2021 Connect conference. Since then, it has been revealed that its focus will be on work use cases instead of gaming. Now, we finally know when the headset will arrive.
On The Joe Rogan Experience, Mark Zuckerberg said that Meta’s next device is coming out in October, and he discussed some of its capabilities, including full face tracking that allows users to make eye contact and face expressions.
Rogan himself apparently spent some time with the headset and was impressed by its accuracy. That’s good news for those who would like to collaborate across large distances because nonverbal communication cues can help people have a better understanding of the intended message.
Based on a Bloomberg report and the discovery of one data miner, the Project Cambria may be released as the Meta Quest Pro. It would make sense for Meta to include the Quest brand in its name since the Meta Quest 2 is the most popular VR headset today.
Besides full face tracking, the upcoming headset will likely get higher resolution displays, with some rumors pointing to MiniLED or MicroOLED technology. It will also almost certainly offer vastly improved performance to take full advantage of the extra resolution.
All the technology packed inside the headset won’t be cheap, however. After the recent price hike, the Quest 2 now starts at $400. We know that the Pro model will be substantially more expensive, so it’s possible that its price will exceed $1,000. With the cost of living crisis intensifying, it will be interesting to see how many customers will accept the price to join Zuckerberg in the metaverse.
