Meta Connect 2024 just wrapped up, unveiling a slew of new hardware products from the tech giant, alongside meaningful upgrades to its AI model—Llama. The event showcased the company’s recent efforts towards extending its lead in mixed reality and augmented reality, as well as its stronghold in generative AI models. One thing that became clear from the event was that Meta has no plans to stop bringing AI into consumer-grade products. Here, let’s take a look at all the products that Meta unveiled at the Meta Connect 2024 event.
Meta Quest 3S Launched
Meta has recently focused on making its headsets more accessible, and with the Meta Quest 3S, it achieves this with the same performance and mixed reality capabilities as the Meta Quest 3 but at a lower price of $299.99. Meta claims that buying the Quest 3S would be the ideal move for someone trying to get into mixed reality or simply looking for an affordable upgrade from their Meta Quest or Meta Quest 2 headsets. Meta has also introduced several new features (which the Meta Quest 3 will also receive), including a redesigned Meta Horizon OS for spatial computing, with better support for 2D apps like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Meta states that it has also enhanced the spatial audio and improved Passthrough’s contrast and colour for greater realism and immersion.
Meta Quest 3 Price Drop
With the launch of the Meta Quest 3S, Meta has also reduced the prices of the Meta Quest 3. Now, the 512GB Meta Quest 3 starts from $499.99 USD instead of the original price of $649.99 USD.
Meta Orion AR Prototype Glasses Revealed
Meta began developing its AR glasses, now called Orion, five years ago, and the company has finally revealed the much-anticipated pair, albeit still in the prototype stage. But what are AR glasses? Meta explains that you can use the Meta Orion glasses’ large holographic displays to place 2D and 3D content in your physical world (while seeing through the glasses). In addition to AR capabilities, Meta has harnessed its AI expertise to bring contextual AI experiences.
However, the primary advantage of these glasses lies in their lightweight and comfortable design, unlike bulkier headsets. The Orion AR glasses come equipped with an input and interaction system that analyses voice, eye, and hand tracking to manage tasks in a physical environment. Meta describes Orion as “a product that combines the benefits of a large holographic display and personalised AI assistance in a comfortable, all-day wearable form factor.”
Updates to Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses
Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses have been a popular product, and now Meta is adding even more features to them. Firstly, Meta is introducing the ability for your glasses to remember details about you, such as recalling where you parked. Additionally, you can set reminders, for example, to remind you about a task. You can also ask the glasses to send messages on WhatsApp and Messenger, allowing you to send texts hands-free.
Meta also claims that it is adding video support to Meta AI, enabling the glasses to serve as a companion when exploring a new place by providing insights. A potential game-changer is that the glasses will soon feature real-time language translation, allowing you to hear the translated language through the glasses when someone speaks in a foreign language. Lastly, a new special transparent edition of the glasses is being released, showcasing the technology inside.
Llama 3.2 AI Model
Meta’s Llama 3.2 is a collection of small AI models and medium-sized vision LLMs (11B and 90B), along with lightweight, text-only models (1B and 3B) that can run on mobile devices. However, the primary advantage of this free AI model is its visual capabilities. These models enable various use cases for VR, robotics, and more. “This is our first open source, multimodal model, and it’s going to enable a lot of interesting applications that require visual understanding,” Zuckerberg said. Considering Meta’s success in tapping into the consumer market with apps like WhatsApp and Instagram, Llama 3.2 could prove to be a significant asset for the company.
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