Mark Zuckerburg has confirmed that the annual XR developer conference Meta Connect 2022 will take place on October 11. The event will mainly focus on the company’s VR products and the metaverse. It seems that the Meta will launch new VR headsets (Yes, plural), and exclusive VR games, and share their progress on the metaverse.
According to an Oculus blog, the company will cover its progress on the metaverse and show what’s coming in the future. Last year, the company made a huge announcement by changing its name from Facebook to Meta. Although nothing can top that announcement, a few exciting announcements are coming this year.
Meta Connect 2022 Schedule: Date, Time, and Where to Watch?
The Meta Connect event will kick off with a keynote from Mark Zuckerburg, which will kick off the day-long event. After that, there will be a Developer State of the Union keynote focusing on Meta’s developer ecosystem. Towards the end, there will be an unscripted chat session with the legendary programmer and consulting CTO John Carmack.
The event will go live on October 11 at 1 PM ET/ 10 AM PT. Users can watch the event on Meta’s official website.
Meta Connect 2022: What to expect?
Meta Quest Pro
Mark Zuckerburg confirmed on the Joe Rogan podcast that Meta would release its next-gen VR headset at the event. According to numerous leaks, this headset is the Meta Quest Pro. The next-gen headset will feature mixed reality full-color passthrough, eye tracking, and face tracking.
Eye and face tracking will help in mimicking the user’s facial expression. Eye tracking will also help with foveated rendering and UI navigation. However, the headset targets high-end users and has an expensive price tag.
According to hardware analyst Bradley Lynch, the Quest Pro bundle could cost $1,500. The bundle will include the headset, controllers, charging pad, and cables. Other sources like The Information claims that the headset will likely be priced at $800.
Meta Quest 3
Recently, Lynch leaked that Meta is working on two new VR headsets besides Quest Pro. According to him, one of these VR headsets is the Meta Quest 3. Lynch even showed off some leaked CAD images of the new headset.
The Meta Quest 3 is slated to launch in 2023, with the second headset coming in 2024. It seems Meta will be releasing a new VR headset every year now. The Meta Quest 3 will be more targeted toward regular consumers and will likely be cheaper than the Quest Pro.
It won’t feature eye and face tracking, but it will have pancake lenses similar to the Quest Pro. Although the product is set to launch in 2023, we might see a tease for the VR headset during the Meta Connect event.
Meta AR Glasses
Meta is also developing multiple different AR glasses under different project names. The company is working on three versions of AR glasses codenamed Orion, Artemis, and Hypernova. Unfortunately, The first version of these AR glasses will only be for developers and early adopters.
The company has only shown simulation footage of what the AR glasses would show. According to Meta, AR glasses have been in development for four years now. So we might even see a viable product during the Meta Connect 2022 event.
New Quest exclusive VR games
Last year during the event, Zuckerburg announced a lot of new exclusive VR games coming to the Quest 2. One of the most anticipated titles announced was the Quest version of GTA: San Andreas. Other than that, Meta also announced a partnership with Vertigo Games for five new VR games. Following last year’s trend, we expect to hear more about new VR games coming to the Quest platform.
To top it all off, the Meta Connect 2022 event will dive deeply into the company’s progress on the metaverse. The company describes the event as a “one-day virtual event that explores the building of the metaverse and the future of augmented and virtual reality.”
