Mark Zuckerberg says on an earnings call that the next-generation VR headset is targeted more at office workers than gamers.
Is it possible to replace a laptop with a virtual reality headset? Mark Zuckerberg seems to believe it can be done. Project Cambria, which should be available later this year, was described in more detail by the company’s CEO on Wednesday.
According to Zuckerberg, the headset “will be more focused on work use cases and eventually replace your laptop or work setup.”
Since current VR headsets have a variety of drawbacks, such as short battery lives or the need to be tethered to a PC, their goal is certainly ambitious. Zuckerberg spoke about how he thinks Project Cambria can replace laptops during the earnings call.
“This premium device will have improved ergonomics and full color passthrough mixed reality to seamlessly blend virtual reality with the physical world,” he said. “We’re also building in eye tracking and face tracking so that your avatar can make eye contact and facial expressions, which dramatically improves your sense of presence.”
There will be a notable improvement with “full color passthrough”. Furthermore, currently available Meta Quest headsets feature passthrough, which lets you see what’s happening around you in real life even while wearing the headset. The headset feeds you video through the exterior cameras. Nonetheless, black and white images will appear, and can appear grainy or warped.
This problem appears to be fixed by Meta’s Project Cambria. Additionally, video calls and VR sessions with coworkers will be more immersive with the VR headset. It remains to be seen if the product can handle other tasks mostly performed on work laptops, such as word processing and spreadsheet creation.
Project Cambria is also intended to be a work tool, not a gaming tool. In addition to having a high price, the next-gen VR headset will cost significantly more than the $299 Meta Quest 2 headset.
Project Cambria is being developed in a bid by Zuckerberg to replace the current internet with a VR world based on his metaverse concept. Horizon Worlds, which allows users to meet and play games in virtual reality, is the company’s first foray into a metaverse.
VR headsets are currently required to play Horizon Worlds. The social platform is going to have a web-based version, so users won’t need a VR headset to use it.
“We plan to launch a web version of Horizon later this year that will make it easy for people to step into metaverse experiences from a lot more platforms,” Zuckerberg said.
He recommended that Horizon Worlds users use a VR headset for the best VR experience. “But making this available everywhere will mean you can interact with anyone on whatever device or platform that they want to use,” Zuckerberg added.
