Meta’s annual developer conference, Meta Connect 2024 took place last week where the company made major hardware and software announcements.
Here are the top 5 highlights from the Meta Connect 2024 keynote:
1. Meta Quest 3S
Meta announced the Meta Quest 3S, a new budget-friendly mixed reality headset aimed at offering more affordable access to the Quest ecosystem. Priced at $299.99 for the base version, the Quest 3S retains key features like the powerful Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chip and the Touch Plus controllers found in the Quest 3.
But it makes some compromises, like a slightly lower resolution and a narrower field of view compared to its predecessor, Quest 3, which helps keep the cost down. Despite these limitations, the Quest 3S maintains impressive mixed reality capabilities, making it an attractive option for newcomers to VR and AR.
The new device will be available starting October 15, 2024, and its launch coincides with the discontinuation of the older Quest 2 and Quest Pro models. This marks a shift in Meta’s VR lineup, focusing on more recent technology with enhanced performance. (The Daily Star, Engadget).
2. Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses
Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses received significant software upgrades, bringing new AI features to the wearable. The smart glasses now support live translation in several languages, including English, French, Italian, and Spanish, which is expected to greatly enhance their usefulness for travel and communication.
In addition, the glasses allow users to set reminders using voice commands, such as, “Hey Meta, remind me to buy that book next Monday.” This enhancement makes the glasses an even more powerful tool for productivity on the go. Users can also interact more naturally with the AI assistant, thanks to improvements in natural language understanding.
The updated assistant can recognise more casual phrases, making interactions smoother and reducing the need for formal commands. These features collectively make the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses a more versatile and practical wearable device for everyday use. (Engadget)
3. Orion AR Glasses Prototype
Meta presented its most advanced AR glasses prototype to date, codenamed Orion, which features a lightweight and stylish design, aimed at making AR technology more practical for everyday use. The Orion glasses include see-through lenses, allowing users to seamlessly blend digital overlays with the real world.
The prototype integrates a custom chip and uses generative AI capabilities, allowing users to interact with the world in sophisticated ways, such as making video calls with virtual elements or using visual labels to recognise and describe objects in their environment.
Gesture-based controls, powered by a neural wristband, provide an intuitive way to interact with AR content without the need for a traditional controller. These features make Orion a promising step forward in Meta’s vision for augmented reality, positioning it as an innovative device with the potential to redefine how we interact with our surroundings. (The Daily Star, Engadget).
4. Celebrity AI Chatbots
To make its AI chatbots more engaging and entertaining, Meta has introduced celebrity voice options for its chatbot interactions on popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Users can now select from voices like John Cena, Judi Dench, Awkwafina, Keegan Michael Key, and Kristen Bell, adding a fun and familiar element to chatbot conversations.
This update aims to make interactions with AI more personalised and enjoyable, which could enhance user engagement with Meta’s social apps. Additionally, the AI chatbots have improved capabilities, such as being able to edit photos based on text prompts, allowing users to add or remove objects or alter details like the background of an image.
This combination of new voice options and enhanced functionality positions Meta’s chatbots as a more entertaining and versatile tool for social media users. (The Daily Star, Engadget).
5. Automatic AI Dubbing
Meta has added automatic AI dubbing capabilities to the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, making them even more useful for language translation and cultural exchange. With improved live translation capabilities, the glasses can now handle larger chunks of text more effectively, overcoming the limitations of earlier versions that struggled with longer sentences.
This feature is particularly useful for travellers, as it allows real-time translation of signs, menus, and other written content, breaking down language barriers more smoothly.
The live translation will initially be available in English, French, Italian, and Spanish by the end of 2024, which makes the glasses a handy companion for multilingual environments. This functionality not only enriches the user experience but also showcases Meta’s push toward integrating advanced AI features into wearable technology, providing seamless, real-world applications for AI. (Engadget)
*This is an AI generated story from chatGPT with sources cited.