Everything Announced at Meta Connect 2024

If we learned anything from Meta Connect 2024, it’s that the tech giant is still in the “metaverse” game, even if it doesn’t use the word as often as it did three years ago. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stage Wednesday to help unveil the new Quest 3S VR headset and Ray-Ban’s upgraded smart glasses. The biggest news, though, was the “Orion” prototype, the company’s first true pair of AR glasses.

Like Meta Connect 2023, this year’s conference featured Zuckerberg showing off his company’s efforts to combine AI with its mixed reality ambitions. At the same time, Meta is making big plans to fill its social media apps with AI, whether you like it or not.

Meta Quest 3S is a cheaper VR headset for beginners

If the Quest 3’s $500 price tag puts you off, Meta hopes the $300 Quest 3S will be your ticket into the wonderful world of VR. It has the same chip and RAM specs as the Quest 3, but the 3S has worse displays and lacks a depth sensor to better track hand movements. Despite that, Meta promises you’ll still get all the same software capabilities as its big brother.

It will still support the full library of Quest 3 games and apps, and anyone who pre-orders a headset between now and April next year will get access to the upcoming game Batman: Arkham Shadow. The Quest 3S starts at $300 for 128GB, but the 256GB version costs $400. In addition, the Meta is reducing the price of the 512GB Quest 3 from $650 to $500.

Project Orion is Meta’s first pair of true AR glasses

The big reveal of Meta Connect was the culmination of Zuckerberg’s longtime dream of a “metaverse.” The “Orion” is Meta’s first real pair of AR glasses, though it’s still in prototype mode. They’re thick-frame glasses with a single waveguide-type screen that shows a heads-up display. They include other AR features, such as hand and eye tracking using seven sensors built into the frame. The device combines a wristband and a “computational puck” to handle all the gesture interpretation and processing for the glasses.

All Windows 11 PCs will be able to stream content to Quest

Meta has announced that it’s partnering with Microsoft to enable any Windows 11 PC to mirror its screen to Meta Quest devices. According to a brief demo shown at Connect, it should work like the Mac screen mirroring feature in the Apple Vision Pro. Your mirrored Windows screen will appear in front of you in a floating window. You’ll be able to use your mouse and keyboard to interact with your laptop normally. While we may want this right now, Meta didn’t provide an expected release date.

You will be able to use Quest travel mode on trains

Horizon operating system implemented travel mode earlier this year, apparently to compete directly with Apple’s Vision Pro. At Connect, Meta said it plans to expand the mode to work on trains. Meta said it will soon support downloading videos for offline viewing to expand travel options. The company will also add official support for using the device while lying down.

Meta is abandoning Quest 2 and Quest Pro

With the Quest 3S, Meta is discontinuing its previous budget Quest 2 headset along with the ultimately overpriced Quest Pro. Meta has said it will sell both devices until the end of the year, or they will go out of stock.

You can use your phone to scan your room and see it in Quest

Zuckerberg told the Connect audience that he’s working on a beta app called “Hyperscape,” which will let users scan any room and then interact with it on the Quest headset. The app recreates environments using 3D volume rendering. We have no idea when it might be available yet, but the company has been sharing a few demos showing off replicas of the spaces.

Ray-Ban Smart Glasses by Meta Get More AI Improvements

This Meta Ray Bans turned out to be a surprise hit for everyone, including — apparently — even Meta. The social media giant had previously improved the glasses by AI Vision and Speech Recognition capabilities. The company will upgrade the glasses by adding Morse assistant features, such as setting reminders. Users will soon be able to scan QR codes or phone numbers from the glasses, which will supposedly allow them to be opened on the phone. Meta added that it will also integrate with some audiobook and music apps, including Spotify, Amazon Music and Audible.

A few more features are coming later this year. Users will be able to translate live from English to three other languages: French, Italian, and Spanish. Meta has hinted that it is working on a few more AI vision capabilities. This could work like other attempts at AI wearables, such as Humanitarian pin. Users should be able to ask questions about their environment and get answers generated by AI. Whether they will be accurate is another question.

Meta Smart glasses will fit both prescription lenses and sunglasses

Zuckerberg said that future Ray-Bans will feature other EssilorLuxottica lens types, such as prescription lenses and transition lenses for indoor and outdoor use. The brands also plan to release a limited-edition clear plastic Meta Ray-Ban Wayfarer, which may appeal to older owners of clear Game Boy glasses. These limited-edition glasses are priced at $430, $100 more than the typical Wayfarer.

Meta smart glasses will connect to the Be My Eyes app

Zuckerberg said he is working with the creators of the Be My Eyes app to integrate the accessibility app with Meta’s Ray-Bans glasses. The app connects visually impaired or blind people with volunteers using video to describe their surroundings. This integration would allow it to work with the cameras in the Ray-Bans glasses, allowing volunteers to see exactly what the app users are looking at.

“Meta AI” Will Take Control of Your Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp

While its hardware may seem powerful, Meta does not intend to stop at implementing AI in all of its operations, especially social media applications which remain its main sources of income. The first thing users will see when they try to search their channels is an AI voice feature. This will enable AI chatbots to respond to users, just like they recently ChatGPT Voice Assistant. This feature will roll out to users in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand next month.

Meta AI is also getting visual capabilities. You can use them in the chat features of various apps to describe photos. Meta gave an example that it can name the species of an unknown bird you sent to a friend. The chat feature can even edit the image based on your prompt. Like Google’s Magic Editor, it can remove unwanted objects from photos by swapping pixels.

Facebook and Instagram may soon be filled with even more AI junk

Those who noticed that their Facebook feeds were filled to the brim with AI fluid know that Meta is testing ways to add even more AI-generated content. Meta said it is working on a system that will generate content based on what you have already viewed. The company said that content will be “based on your interests.” Other content will be “presented to you” based on what Facebook already knows about your interests.

The social giant has even more features planned. The most notable ones include automatic video dubbing and lip-syncing in Reels. While you’re mindlessly scrolling through Instagram videos, Meta says you’ll be able to watch them in “your preferred language.”

There’s a new version of Llama that can understand images and text

The next versions of Meta Llama LLM include smaller and larger models. There are 11B- and 90B-parameter multimodal models that can understand images and text. Additionally, the smaller 1B and 3B models are designed to run on mobile devices, not in the cloud. Meta said these models should work with Qualcomm and MediaTek mobile chips.

All Llama 3.2 models are available via company website AND Face hugging.