Meta (Facebook)’s Next Standalone VR Headset On Track For 2022

Assignment 3? Quest 2 Pro? Project Cambria? Whatever the name, the next virtual reality headset from Meta (ex-Facebook/Oculus) would be very close. Essential analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects a launch in the second half of 2022.

Meta isn’t hiding that it’s been hard at work on its next virtual/mixed reality headset for a long time, be it a successor to the very popular Quest 2 or an additional product meant to coexist with the latter on displays. These discussions culminated in October 2021 at the Facebook Connect conference, with the evocation of a very mysterious next-generation headset codenamed Project Cambria†

Is this the culmination of this project that we will find in stores from the second half of 2022? This is what seems most likely in light of the latest predictions from the very famous analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who says he is certain, based on information obtained from his sources close to the supply chains, that Meta is working on launching a new standalone headset by the end of this year.

As for the specs, Kuo says the headset will have two 2.48-inch screens at 2160 x 2160 pixels per eye (significantly higher than the Quest 2’s 1832 x 1920 px 2) with mini-LED backlighting. The rest of the features reported by the analyst only confirm what Meta had already stated in its statements of intent on Cambria. The displays are thus associated with optical pancakes two elements, instead of the traditional Fresnel lenses used by VR headsets for everyone. This would significantly reduce the weight and thickness of the optical assembly without compromising the width of the field of view. Finally, the helmet will be equipped with a facial expression sensor, which would admittedly be beneficial in the context of the social use of virtual reality – we would of course not come to the end of such an article without writing at least once the term “metavers” , of which Meta wants to be the great champion.

Quest or not Quest, that is the question

Last thorny question: that of the helmet’s name and positioning. Kuo ventures to assume that the final product could take on the moniker Quest 2 Pro. But this would be a strategic turnaround on the part of Meta, who initially claimed that the Cambria project would mark the arrival of an entirely new product line, completely separate from the Quest range.

The original intent may have been to prepare the public for a significantly higher retail price than the Quest 2. However, the fact is that the need to bring the Quest line into a new generation of technology, while keeping it at prices not already be too high. elitist, is likely to become urgent in the coming months. The Quest 2 can indeed experience the full force of the competition from the PlayStation VR2, whose materialization is getting closer and closer — and one that is sure to attract a large audience for whom, whatever the self-proclaimed apostles of the metaverse may think, virtual reality remains inextricably linked to video games today.