It is the stock price that stimulates investors, but it is Zuckerberg’s vision for the future of the metaverse that stimulates the public. Then, based on the current hardware equipment, which visions can already be realized, and it is no longer just a propaganda film? With VR headsets, you can choose to watch the night starry sky and a sunset in the house, or you can watch an online concert immersively with three or five friends. The virtual reality represented by VR can take a person to it. Anywhere.
Oculus’s quest series is a well-known product in the field of VR equipment. After Oculus was acquired by Facebook in 2016, it vigorously developed VR hardware devices with the latter’s resource tilt and financial support, and launched the first product of the series in 2019. The Oculus quest 2 was released in October last year, and it took the top spot in the all-in-one VR.
Oculus quest 2, source: Oculus
High-end players are looking forward to when quest 3 will arrive. At this Connect conference, Zuckerberg did not disclose quest pro or quest 3 related information, which also means that if you want to get a VR headset, quest 2 is still the best choice.
In terms of hardware, Quest 2 uses the Snapdragon XR2 processor specifically designed for VR, which is a high-end chip with optimized functions for VR headsets. Compared with the original Quest’s 1440×1600 (2.3 million pixels), Quest 2 has a single-eye resolution of 1832×1920 (3.5 million pixels). With the LCD display, Quest 2 can almost avoid the widespread criticism of VR devices. Screen window effect”.
In terms of appearance, the Oculus design is also more suitable for the wearer. It not only chooses a flexible headband, which reduces the tension while grasping the head, but also comes with two additional headbands: Elite headband and battery panel Elite headband.
In addition to the “Galaxy”, there are countless unique worlds full of adventure waiting for you to explore-Zuckerberg revealed that Arizona Sunshine developer VertigoGames and game maker DeepSilver will launch 5 new games on the quest 2 platform. , The well-known PC VR work “Sword and Magic” will also be launched at the end of this year, and the classic “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas” quest 2 version is also under development.
Virtual socialization close to reality
Although we have not waited for the next generation of quest products, more and more exciting content can also be enjoyed on quest2.
At the Connect conference, several “black technologies” other than hardware were also eye-catching, such as the VR content Horizon Home developed by Horizon. Zuckerberg revealed that this feature will be upgraded and will have the opportunity to play with friends after the update. You can play games, enjoy panoramic video, and remodel the space yourself.
In the virtual world constructed by the VR device, you will no longer be forced to be “alone”, and countless amazing scenery can be invited to watch by friends with one click. You don’t need to envy the “going to Paris to feed the pigeons” in Versailles literature. If your family and friends are rich and free, you can also share it with you when you go to Antarctica to feed penguins. This should be a whim of Xiaozha trapped in the epidemic. .
A high-end VR/AR headset under development, Project Cambria, also brings more imagination. In Zuckerberg’s words, this is not a quest series device, but a product that is compatible with the quest ecology but has a more high-end positioning.
In the preview video of the Connect conference, an avatar instantly follows a real person to make various expressions, achieves eye tracking and real-time simulation of facial expressions, so that the avatar can show the wearer’s more real feelings.
This means that even if you are wearing a VR headset, your micro-expressions can be seen by friends in the online world through sensing. When people share a joke on the Internet, they can get a response by just looking at the other person’s smiling face, instead of expressing emotions through emoij or words.
Emoji simulation of Project Cambria
It is worth noting that the device can also send high-definition full-color images to the eyes through the camera, allowing the wearer to see the surrounding environment while wearing the device. It is not difficult to see that this device pays more attention to combined MR (mixed reality) than pure VR glasses.
On the other hand, the trend toward fine visual fidelity level optics and sensors makes Project Cambria appear as a short focal length headset, which reduces the thickness and is more portable in appearance. Facebook claims that the device will give objects in the physical world more depth and perspective.
The project is still under development, and Facebook promises to release more details next year.
Let the meta universe redefine reality
In daily life, many “small troubles” can also be solved by AR devices. For example, do you often forget where to put things? Will it be dizzy in a strange place? Is it messy because of too many electronic devices?
Compared with the head-mounted display device introduced earlier, Project Aria looks much simpler in appearance-this is an AR glasses. Users can paste identifiable marks on various items to locate and identify the location of the items.
It looks like a pair of ordinary black-rimmed glasses. But as long as you wear it, you can see that the world in front of you seems to have been reconstructed. The sensors configured in Project Aria can capture the images seen and heard by the wearer, and by identifying the wearer’s eye movement and position information, it can also analyze the wearer’s own preferences for the environment. In addition, it is also possible to construct a 3D real-time map in reality through this glasses.
Project Aria schematic
It is worth noting that this device is more research-oriented, similar to an AR glasses research project. More computing power of the device is used to encrypt, store information, and send it to Facebook researchers to further understand how AR plays a role in reality. Subject.
This means that this AR glasses will not face the consumer market, but the functions displayed on it may come to consumers with Facebook’s AR products.
The Project Nazare mentioned by Zuckerberg at the Connect conference may come sooner. It is the first AR full-experience glasses with rich ecology and complete experience, undoubtedly going further in the application of AR. In fact, this is so far Facebook’s first pair of AR glasses for the consumer market.
Through this glasses, the wearer can connect to Whatsapp, chat with friends on a virtual interface, and invite friends to play games together, while the friends appear in front of them as virtual AR images, no longer need to look at them.cell phoneWhile browsing the computer, all the electronic interfaces can be displayed in the AR virtual interface presented by the glasses, can’t wait to turn black together!
In addition, there is also a device worn on the wrist that released a preview together with Project Nazare. This watch-shaped device uses the EMG EMG input of the wrist muscles to convert motor nerve signals into digital commands, which are controlled by meticulous gestures. With AR glasses, for example, only using gestures to imitate writing, you can enter text in the chat window and send it.
Regarding the glasses, Zuckerberg said: “We still have a long way to go, but good progress is being made at the moment.” He hinted to the audience that although it needs to accommodate holographic displays, projectors, batteries, radios, custom-made Silicon chips, cameras, speakers and other hardware, but the AR glasses that will eventually be available will eventually be “polished” to a thickness of about 5mm.
Zuckerberg’s imagination is so beautiful, but in fact, except for the quest2 VR all-in-one machine, most of the scenes are still beautiful imaginations. These scenes that will soon follow in a few years will be “meta universe”. The first step? (IT Times)
