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So I finally got to try these new Meta VR glasses. They were unveiled this year and they're coming out next year. And I couldn't get this one thought out of my head. Which is, I think this is what Apple Vision Pro. 2. could have been if they were actually still working on it. So I made this video a few months ago. I'll link it below the like button, where I basically break down the two different strategies for the, like, faces wearable market, which is there are companies either starting with a full-on VR headset and then working down, starting with. glasses and then working their way up.
Now reporting seems to suggest that Apple is not. working on developing Vision Pro anymore at all. Bummer. But Meta's just out here cooking on both. They have the glasses, some of which have just audio, some of which have cameras, and they're adding more and more to them. But they also make full-on headsets like the Quest, and they're trying to make those smaller and lighter. And that's how we've ended up in the middle here. with this. This is the newest version of what Meta's calling their VR glasses.
Now they're kind of like right in the middle. I don't think I would call these glasses because I think glasses kind of implies. like the regular see-through, like. literally looking through glass, walk around type of glasses, where this, you're looking through a video feed for passthrough, so it's not quite the same thing and you wouldn't wear it everywhere. So I'm comparing it more to headsets. So yeah, while it's sad that Apple's not working on the Vision Pro anymore, what if they were? Then I think this is what that could have looked like. Vision Pro's biggest flaw is size and weight. I mean, it's true about basically all the full XR headsets, honestly, including Quest 3.
People just don't want to wear a headset for a long time because it's so big and bulky. And yes, there's a lot of tech. There's cameras, sensors, displays, computers, batteries, but not all of it has to be on your face. So rule number one of saving weight in a headset on your face: not all the weight has to be in the part that's on your face. So that puck that the glasses are connected to isn't just a battery like on Vision Pro. Meta's put as much of the compute as possible in this smartphone-sized little puck here. So that means the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 3 chip, the 12 gigs of RAM, the 128 gigs of storage, the microSD card slot, it's all in this puck that also has an exhaust area and a
fan system blowing hot air actively out of the top. Now, the length of this cable kind of implies you can put it right in your pocket, but I personally would not want to put this in my pocket with all the hot air that I can feel it blowing. I think I'd take advantage of that belt clip and clip it to the outside of the pants instead, which is maybe a little bit of extra work, but having the hot air blowing out the puck, I think is better than having the hot air blowing on your face. So it all connects to the glasses with a cable that's removable at both ends, so potentially easier to repair and replace. And the glasses still have all the functionality. as before.
They still have all the motion tracking sensors, the eye tracking, the passthrough cameras, et cetera. You can see them on the front. And there's even some sideways and downward-facing cameras on the arms as well, along with those volume buttons. Now you can also clearly see it's built into a more hybrid glasses-ish form factor rather than the full closed-off headset. And that again means a couple things. One is less material again, so less weight. But it also means instead of being fully immersive like a closed-off headset, it's actually a little more like looking through sunglasses while you still have some light from your environment peeking in the top and the bottom.
So like I describe the experience as like looking through a pair of sunglasses. You know how if you're wearing sunglasses, you can kind of look. above or below the frames if you really try? It's like wearing a pair of sunglasses, but the whole sunglasses go into another dimension, basically. So like the official number that they have on paper for these is a 70-degree field of view. by 66 degrees vertical. But that is definitely less than the typical, like, full immersive headset that's doing like 110-degree field of view. So do you notice that difference?. Definitely yes!
Like I said, it's like looking through glasses where you can see around it a little bit, but it is still like the glasses are full. of that second reality. Like it's definitely better than a lot of the other XR glasses I've tried from like XREAL, which are typically closer to like 55 to 60 degrees. But Meta's also decided to make light blockers that are these little flexible rubber things that attach to the eyepieces with magnets, so you can put those on and give yourself a more full darkroom experience if you want to like watch a movie or something where you don't want any of the light from the outside world. And the displays are pretty nice, too.
They're micro OLED displays. They're 2412 by 2288 per eye. and up to 120 hertz. Everything's looking pretty sharp to my eye. These screen recordings, I gotta say, definitely do not reflect that. This is a pre-release device, so the screen recordings aren't perfect yet. I'll give them that benefit of the doubt, but you'll have to take my word on how good it actually looks. They do a few other things to save weight too, like using magnesium in the frames. and instead of having motors to do the IPD adjustment,
you do all of that manually in these. So you literally push and pull the lenses closer together or further apart to match where your eyes are. And there's actually like a setup process. that guides you through that in the software. It's pretty cool. All of that factored in, the glasses themselves are down to. about 100 grams. which is crazy light! It makes it way easier to wear for a longer time and kind of forget about it, like hypothetically watching a movie or using them for work. This is a very clever setup. It feels like the smart thing to do with the current level of tech that we have for a full-on XR headset.
Just the glasses with a compute puck attached. Now, it doesn't solve the. "do I even want a headset in the first place" problem. Like all of the things that it does are still the same as a Quest, the same as a Vision Pro, the same as a Galaxy XR. It has eye tracking built-in and hand tracking for all of the controls to read your gestures, so you never need a physical controller. It has built-in Meta apps like Instagram and WhatsApp and Meta AI. and a web browser, of course. I tend to think the most useful thing for me is the extended desktop function. That's one of the most compelling.
I just like the idea of being able to plug into my computer and have huge triple monitors everywhere I go without actually needing to carry them around with me. Just a nice. personal virtual workspace unlock. And then there's also some games. I don't really think the primary goal of these is immersive gaming, especially when there's way more light coming in from the outside. But it's obviously still very capable of that, and that's been the Quest's strength for a long time. The coolest new feature that I hadn't seen before. is this new keyboard and trackpad thing that they made. So typically.
in these headsets, like, if you select the text field, there's just like a little floating keyboard in front of you, and you have to, like, poke. air keys. But with these, if you happen to be in front of a flat surface in front of you, like a desk, you hit this little button in the corner and it maps a keyboard and trackpad to that surface so that you can touch type. on the desk, actually move your finger around on a virtual trackpad. So now there's like real physical feedback hitting a surface as you're typing instead of air buttons. It's way more satisfying, and it is smart to use a physical surface to just map it instantly. So, yeah, that was, it was really cool to play with this.
Word on the street again is Vision Pro development is over and Apple's, like, pivoting to just start with glasses. But I think if Apple was listening to feedback and reviews for Vision Pro Gen 1, then. this is probably what we could have gotten out of that. So it's interesting where Meta's going. Meta's trying all the things, and this will be out for like 1300 bucks next year, so we've clearly come a long way. Either way, let me know what you think. Would you want to use something sort of in between a headset and glasses like this?
Thanks for watching. Catch you in the next one. Peace!
