Mark Zuckerberg Launchs Quest Pro Headsets Able To Interact In Virtual World

Mark Zuckerberg with new Quest Pro headset. (photo: fb.com)

JAKARTA - Meta Platforms launched its virtual headset and mixed reality, Quest Pro, on Tuesday, October 11 which marks a milestone for Meta's Chief Executive, Mark Zuckerberg, to the high-end market for expanded reality computing devices.

The headset, which was introduced at Meta Connect's annual conference, will launch on October 25 at a price of $1,500. The headset will offer consumers a way to interact with virtual creations that are layered to a colorful display of the physical world around them.

Peluncuran tersebut merupakan langkah penting bagi Zuckerberg, yang tahun lalu mengumumkan rencana perangkat yang disebut Project Cambria. Langkah itu disusul keputusan mengubah nama perusahaannya dari Facebook menjadi Meta yang menandatangkan niatnya dalam memfokuskan kembali raksasa media sosial itu menjadi sebuah perusahaan yang menoperasi pengalaman computasi immersif bersama yang dikenal sebagai metaverse.

Zuckerberg has poured billions of dollars into that vision. Reality Labs, the Meta unit responsible for reviving the metaverse, has spent $10.2 billion in 2021 and has lost nearly $6 billion so far this year.

In his speech at the event, Zuckerberg, partially recorded in videos and partly as an avatar, said he expects a blend of physical and digital worlds to create new uses for computing.

"You'll see a whole new category of things being built," Zuckerberg said.

Quest Pro features several improvements to the Quest 2 Meta headset, which dominates the consumer virtual reality market.

Sneak peek of the future today at Meta Connect 🔮:✅ Our first mixed reality device @MetaQuestVR Pro ✅ The start of a new way to work in the metaverse✅ Cutting-edge @RealityLabs research to build technology that connects peopleRead more 👉 https://t.co/Ryf01kVM4c pic.twitter.com/2c1i7AAm7U

— Meta (@Meta) October 11, 2022

Most notably, this headset has a camera facing outside that captures a kind of 3D live streaming of the physical environment around the wearer, allowing new mixed reality such as the ability to hang virtual paintings on real-world walls or make virtual balls bounce on real desks.

Quest 2, on the other hand, offers a more basic gray-scale version of this technology, called passthrough.

Quest Pro feels lighter and sleeker than its predecessor, with thinsen lenses and batteries placed at the back of the headset, which distributes its weight more evenly while reducing the total load.

For a fully immersive virtual reality, Meta has added a tracking sensor to the Quest Pro that can replicate the user's eye movement and facial expressions. This creates the impression that avatars make eye contact.

Quest Pro Productivity

Meta introduces Quest Pro as a productivity device, aimed at designers, architects, and other creative professionals.

In addition to offering Horizon's own social and workspace platforms, the company has also provided a virtual version of Microsoft Corp's work products such as Word, Outlook, and Teams, a partnership announced by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who joined Zuckerberg's project.

Matthew Ball, a venture capitalist whose writing about the metaverse has drawn Zuckerberg's praise, said he considers such a partnership significant as they suggest the company's commitment to interoperability, or the idea that different systems should connect with each other.

"There's a lot of skepticism in the market, whether the metaverse is operational and open and even possible," he said, noting that Microsoft and Meta compete in some of the products in the expanded reality space.

In the Quest Pro preview a few days before its launch, Meta gave reporters a glimpse of the types of users they had in mind for their productivity levels by featuring apps like the Tribe XR, a virtual training environment for DJs.

The XR probe is already available in virtual reality, but demonstrations show how passingthrough technology allows DJs to use the app to play real-world shows, as that means they can see through their virtual equipment at real party visitors.

Meta plans to sell Quest Pro on consumer channels to get started, adding company-level capabilities such as mobile device management, authentication and premium support services next year.

They said the device was intended to complement and instead replace Quest 2 entry-level, which retails for $399.99.

For now, that means Quest Pro has stopped activating the recommended complex commercial app Meta wants to support its metaverse technology.

The company is still working on mixed reality experiences for the Horizon Workrooms app that will make a person's avatar appear present in the real-world conference room with other users, called the Miraculatory Space.

Headset ini juga akan menambahkan kaki ke avatarnya, karena yang saat ini hanya ditampilkan dari pinggang ke atas, kata Zuckerberg.

However, Quest Pro's price points put it well below the cost of existing companies such as Microsoft HoloLens 2, which was released for commercial use in 2019 and is already present in the operating room and on the factory floor. HoloLens 2 entry-level is sold for $3,500, much more expensive.