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Mark Zuckerberg wants this headset to focus on “social presence.”
This week, during an appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the next iteration of Meta VR headset will be launching this coming October. As part of his ongoing pursuit of the “Metaverse,” Zuckerberg said that this new headset will place a greater emphasis on “social presence,” allowing users to feel like other users near them in virtual reality are really there.
“For the next device that’s coming out in October, there’s a few big features,” Zuckerberg said, describing improved facial and eye tracking functions. “The ability to now have kind of eye contact in virtual reality,” Zuckerberg explained, “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.”
“There’s more nonverbal communication when people are with each other than verbal communication,” Zuckerberg said, stressing the importance of nonverbal cues in social interactions.
Meta’s next VR headset is coming in October https://t.co/NyTYyz4ZFd pic.twitter.com/cF1jSjtR1G
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The precise price of this new device, which remains unnamed as of writing, has not been divulged. It does have a working title, Project Cambria, and according to reports on the project in the last few months, it could cost roughly double what the current Meta Quest headset runs, around $800. In addition to the higher level of technology present in the device, Meta has attributed the price hikes on its device lines to ongoing shipping concerns.
