Meta Quest Pro launches in October
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, revealed the release date and technical details of the Quest Pro during a podcast appearance. The new VR glasses with eye and face tracking will be released in October.
The podcast’s host, Joe Rogan, was allowed to try out the Quest Pro in advance. According to his account, Rogan saw an “impressive” alien avatar in front of him that mimicked his own eye and jaw movements, as well as facial expressions in real time.
For Zuckerberg, these features are the prerequisites of social presence, the feeling of being in the same room with another person. To achieve this “Holy Grail,” eye and face tracking are likely to be standard features of Meta headsets in the future, according to Zuckerberg. This makes access to the metaverse even easier.
Read more about the Quest Pro: Quest Pro: Meta’s new VR headset coming in October
Apple's new VR glasses could be called “Reality One”
Apple has registered several trademarks for its upcoming mixed reality headset. The release of the device with the operating system “RealityOS” is planned for 2023.
According to Bloomberg, Apple has filed for the trademarks “Reality One”, “Reality Pro” and “Reality Processor” through a shell company, which fits the company’s pattern of previous trademark applications.
The trademarks point to two headsets: a standard and a prospective, more technically advanced Pro variant. The “Reality Processor” is expected to refer to a VR/AR chip that, according to an Apple insider, will be based on a modified M2 processor with 16 GB of RAM. With devices like this, it is even more convenient to enter the metaverse.
The VR and AR glasses will be Apple’s first time introducing a new hardware category since the release of the Apple Watch in 2015 – and will likely put it in competition with Meta and Pico.
Read more about Apple’s “Reality One” here: Trademark Filings Suggest Apple May Be Securing ‘Reality’ Names for AR/VR Headset
AR glasses manufacturer Nreal receives million-dollar investment
The AR glasses manufacturer Nreal receives a new investment of 15 million US dollars from the Chinese trading company IICOMBINED. Earlier, Alibaba had already stepped in with 60 million US dollars.
The investment by IICOMBINED, which also owns the Gentle Monster eyewear brand, is an important step for Nreal in the AR market for private users. The company aims to establish itself globally as a leading AR glasses manufacturer.
This fits into the strategy of Hankook Kim, CEO of IICOMBINED and co-founder of Gentle Monster. With the investment, Kim wants to expand the boundaries of fashion and technology: “In the future, we will leverage both parties’ strength and make joint efforts to create more possibilities.” The metaverse has already arrived in the fashion industry as well.
Read more about the investment here: AR glasses maker Nreal raises $15M in funding from IICombined
