In keeping with a report from The Data citing two Meta workers, Meta has canceled its plans for a premium mixed-reality headset. It appears the corporate informed Actuality Lab workers to halt work on the product this week after executives, together with CEO Mark Zuckerberg, reviewed the undertaking.
It’s unsure whether or not the system was destined to be a sequel to the Meta Quest Professional or a totally new product, however it’s clear that creating a competitor for the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional was the aim of the undertaking.
Some sources report that Meta wished to maintain the price of its headset under $1,000, however it proved unattainable given the present value of the micro-OLED shows it wished to make use of — that’s the identical tech contained in the Imaginative and prescient Professional. The 2 workers additionally say the undertaking started in November 2023, just some months after the Imaginative and prescient Professional was introduced.
Contemplating Quest Professional is now discontinued and Imaginative and prescient Professional gross sales don’t appear to be doing very nicely, it’s doable Meta merely determined the market doesn’t need one other costly headset proper now. The corporate is barely abandoning this explicit mixed-reality undertaking, nevertheless, and plans for the Quest 4 are reportedly nonetheless on monitor for a 2026 launch.
It’s a disgrace that we are able to’t all have ultra-high-definition headsets proper now, however show tech all the time comes down in value over time, so maybe in a number of years, micro-OLEDs would be the norm for VR. As for the spatial computing and productiveness aspect of issues, it’s clear that headsets must get considerably lighter and extra comfy earlier than individuals can actually think about carrying them for hours a day whereas they work.
Meta may need canceled plans for a business product for now, however hopefully, its groups will preserve engaged on the analysis wanted to make these developments occur.
