Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that the company will launch its new high-end VR headset in October, most likely around its Connect VR conference. Zuckerberg while speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast said that the new VR headset, codenamed as Project Cambria will come with “big features” offering users with experience of “social presence.”
Talking further about these features, Zuckerberg said that
the upcoming virtual reality headsets will come with eye and facial tracking
feature. According to him, this will allow the headset user to make an eye
contact in the virtual world.
Further, the face tracking feature will let your avatar
track your face and emote his or her expression in the real time. “Have your
face be tracked so that way your avatar — it’s not just this still thing, but
if you smile or if you frown or if you pout, or whatever your expression is,
have that translate in real time to your avatar,” he was heard saying on the
episode.
Meta this year in May released a video showcasing the
capabilities of its new VR headset. The new headset is expected to cost more
than USD800 which is higher than the current Quest 2 VR headset. While the
device itself remains hidden in the video, the company talks about the
headset’s ability to do full-colour passthrough in high resolution.
Passthrough is a feature that allows headset user to see a
real-time view of the surroundings. It uses the sensors on the headset to judge
what user would see if he or she were able to look directly through the front
of the headset and into the real world around.
The current Quest headsets display passthrough only in shades
of grey. The upcoming VR headset will have the ability to do full-colour
passthrough making the content inside the headset look more real and
interactive.
The company last month announced a price hike of both the
variants of Quest 2 starting August. The 128GB variant of the Quest 2 has been
priced at $399.99, and the 256GB variant has been priced at $499.99.