Everything Announced at Meta Connect 2024

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If there is one thing we learned from Meta Connect 2024 is that the tech giant is still in the “metaverse” game, even if it’s not using that word as much as it did three years ago. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg got up on stage Wednesday and helped show off a new Quest 3S VR headset and revised Ray-Ban smart glasses. The big news, however, centered on the prototype “Orion,” the company’s first true pair of AR glasses.

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

Meta’s Quest 3S Is a Cheaper VR Headset for Beginners

If the $500 starting price of the Quest 3 puts you off, Meta’s hoping its $300 Quest 3S will be your ticket into the wonderful world of VR. It houses the same chip and RAM specs as the Quest 3, but the 3S has worse displays and lacks the depth sensor for better hand tracking. Still, Meta promises you’ll still have all the same software capabilities as its older brother.

It will still support the Quest 3’s full game and app library, and anybody who orders a headset between now and next April will get the upcoming game Batman: Arkham Shadow. The Quest 3S starts at $300 for 128 GB, but a 256 GB version costs $400. Also, Meta is dropping the 512 GB Quest 3 price from $650 to $500.

Project ‘Orion’ is Meta’s First Pair of True AR Glasses

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

All Windows 11 PCs Will Be Able to Cast to Quest

Meta announced that it was working with Microsoft to allow any Windows 11 PC to cast the screen to Meta Quest devices. According to the short demo showcased at Connect, it should work like the Apple Vision Pro’s Mac mirroring feature. Your mirrored Windows screen will appear in front of you within a movable window. You’ll be able to use your mouse and keyboard to interact with your laptop as normal. As much as we might want it right now, Meta didn’t offer an expected release date.

You’ll Be Able to Use Quest Travel Mode on Trains

Horizon OS implemented a travel mode earlier this year, seemingly to compete directly with the Apple Vision Pro. During Connect, Meta said it plans to expand the mode to work on trains. Meta said it will soon support video downloads for offline viewing to add to the travel capabilities. The company will also add official support for using the device when lying down.

Meta’s Nixing the Quest 2 and Quest Pro

Photo: Dan Ackerman / Gizmodo

With the Quest 3S, Meta is discontinuing the previous cheapo Quest 2 headset alongside the ultimately too-expensive Quest Pro. Meta said it will sell both devices until the year’s end, or they run out.

You Can Use Your Phone to Scan Your Room and See it on Quest

Zuckerberg told the Connect audience that it was working on a “Hyperscape” beta app that will let users scan any room and then interact with it in a Quest headset. The app recreates environments using 3D volume rendering. We don’t yet have an idea when it could be available, but the company is releasing a few demos showcasing replicas of spaces.

Meta’s Ray-Ban Smart Glasses Are Getting More AI Improvements

The Meta Ray-Bans have proved a surprise hit to everyone, including—apparently—even Meta. The social media giant previously upgraded the glasses with AI vision and speech recognition capabilities. The company will upgrade the glasses with Morse assistant features, like setting reminders. Users will soon be able to scan QR codes or phone numbers from the glasses, ostensibly allowing you to open them on your 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 between English and three other tongues: French, Italian, and Spanish. Meta hinted it’s working on a few other AI vision capabilities. This could work like other attempts at AI wearables like the Humane Pin. Users should be able to ask questions about their environment and receive AI-generated answers. Whether they’ll be accurate is another question entirely.

The Meta Smart Glasses Will Work With Prescription Lenses as Well as Sunglass

Zuckerberg shared that the next versions of the Ray-Bans will integrate EssilorLuxottica’s other types of lenses, like prescription and transition lenses for both indoor and outdoor use. The brands are also planning to release a limited edition clear plastic Wayfarer-type Meta Ray-Bans that might appeal to the older clear Game Boy owners. Those limited edition glasses cost $430, $100 more than typical Wayfarer glasses.

Meta’s Smart Glasses Will Connect With Be My Eyes App

Zuckerberg said he was working with the app makers behind Be My Eyes to integrate the accessibility app with Meta’s Ray-Bans. The app works to connect low-vision or blind people with volunteers through video to describe their environment. This integration would make it work with the cameras on the Ray-Bans, allowing volunteers to see exactly what the app users are looking at.

“Meta AI” Is Going to Take Over Your Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp

While its hardware game seems strong, Meta isn’t done putting AI into all its businesses, especially the social media apps that remain its main moneymakers. The first thing users will see when they try to search on their feeds is an AI voice feature. This will allow the AI chatbots to talk back to users like the recent ChatGPT voice assistant. That feature will roll out to US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand users next month.

Meta AI is also getting vision features. You can use them in the various apps’ chat functions to describe photos. Meta offered the example that it could name the species of an unknown bird you sent to your friends. The chat function can even edit the image based on your prompt. Like Google’s Magic Editor, it can remove unwanted objects from your photos with pixel replacement.

Facebook and Instagram Could Soon be Filled With Even More AI Slop

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

The social giant is planning even more features. The main ones are automatic video dubbing and lip-syncing on Reels. When you’re mindlessly scrolling through videos on Instagram, Meta says you’ll be able to watch them in “your preferred language.”

There’s a New Version of Llama That’s Capable of Understanding Images and Text

Meta’s Llama LLM’s next renditions include smaller and larger models. There are 11B- and 90B-parameter multimodal models capable of understanding images and text. In addition, smaller 1B and 3B models are made for running on mobile devices and not in the cloud. Meta said these models should work with Qualcomm and MediaTek mobile chips.

All the Llama 3.2 models are available through the company’s website and Hugging Face.

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