Although Meta previously confirmed it would launch Project Cambria sometime this year, it wasn’t clear exactly when we’d be seeing the release of what many hypothesize could be dubbed Meta Quest Pro. Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the company is releasing its next headset in October, which likely means Cambria/Quest Pro is right around the corner.
“For the next device that’s coming out in October, there are a few big features,” Zuckerberg said, speaking to Joe Rogan at the beginning of the nearly three-hour podcast.
The Meta CEO was careful not to name the device, although the feature description and launch window make it undoubtedly Project Cambria that’s being discussed here.
“The one you’re talking about, basically social presence, and the ability to now have eye contact in virtual reality, have your face be tracked so that way your avatar is not just like this still thing, but if you smile or if you frown or if you pout—or whatever your expression is—to actually have that, in real time, translated to your avatar… obviously our facial expressions are […] huge; there’s more nonverbal communication when people are with each other than verbal communication,” Zuckerberg said.
Project Cambria is the company’s next high-end standalone VR headset, which is notably kitted with color passthrough sensors which allow it to do augmented reality stuff like playing immersive games and social experiences in the setting of your own living room.
Like Zuckerberg mentioned in the JRE podcast, the headset is also dialing in on social presence thanks to eye and facial tracking, something that will see the high-end device priced at “significantly higher” than $800, putting it more in the realm of enthusiasts and developers.
There’s still a ton to learn about Cambria (likely Quest Pro) in the coming weeks, as we still don’t have a clear idea of headset’s internals—and that’s despite a prominent alleged leak from Bradley Lynch that suggest the following specs:
- 2,160 x 2,160 MiniLED Backlit LCD Panels (2)
- Custom Pancake Lenses (2)
- 16MP Color Camera for Color Passthrough
- Eye + Face Tracking (IR Camera based)
- Qualcomm XR2+ Gen 1 SoC
- 12GB LPDDR5 RAM
- 256GB SSD
- WiFi 6E Support
- ~5000 mAh battery
Again, we can’t verify these claims, so please take it with a grain of salt as we await official news over the next few weeks before its October launch.
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