Meta Time
Last week was Meta’s annual unveiling of all things cool and interesting that they are working on (or at least what they are ready to talk about). And yes, it was all about headwear:
Meta VR Glasses
Probably the most significant announcement was regarding the Meta VR Glasses. While Meta is not ready to launch them yet (next Spring is the promised launch window), there was plenty to show off. The key is in the name, glasses. These are no longer a large, bulky VR headset, but rather a relatively slim pair of glasses. Don’t get me wrong, they won’t be mistaken for ordinary glasses – not that slim – but they are now of a form factor where consumers that take them on their travels, such as airplanes, to relive the boredom of a trip without having to use up half your carry-on luggage space.
And they weigh far less – an estimated five times lighter than the Meta Quest 3 headset. That too is a big deal in terms of wearing these for longer periods of time without developing sumo-wrestler-esq neck muscles. The “screen” is a 5K, apparently cinema-grade, display with support for Dolby Vision and Atmos spatial and all the computing power is offloaded into a connected puck that can run for up to three hours between recharges.
At launch there are expected to be 75 games that you can play with hand gestures (probably not ideal for that airplane scenario perhaps) as well as every game available on the Quest headsets. However, the real focus for these glasses is to create a virtual workplace – you can connect them to your Mac or PC, using a virtual keyboard and mouse (or your real ones if you prefer). And… of course, Meta AI/Muse will be available
The Circana Take:
- These are a Big Deal. Previously the VR market appeared to be bifurcated into big headsets for games, or productivity/movie glasses. The new Meta VR Glasses are promising to combine both into one device for the first time without the bulk of many other glasses.
- Yes, they are going to be pricey at an estimated $1300… but I do not expect that to be a major deterrent for the core audience. The combination of a productivity tool and an entertainment device in one will prove popular with the current VR customer base, as well as many road warriors looking to eke out more productivity on a plane (not to mention sneak in the odd game or two – no one is looking!)
- Meta’s new VR Glasses are what Apple should have launched. That’s a bit of an unfair statement as technology needed to catch up with design aspirations, but the fact of the matter is, Meta has launched the first next-gen glasses while Apple gives off the appearance of having moved on to other product areas.
Meta Ray-Ban…audio?
Meta launched audio-only smart glasses, dumping the camera (at least in this iteration) to try to alleviate the “pervert glasses” issues. The on-stage pitch was a brave attempt – that these are a step beyond the camera glasses when in reality, we’ve had audio-only glasses for many years. Indeed, Meta’s rise in brand ownership among smart glass customers has come at the direct expense of Amazon which had… audio-only glasses.
But there’s a difference: while there is no camera, these new glasses are obviously infused with Meta AI which means they certainly add a lot more use cases than the old guard of previous audio attempts. They ship mid-October priced at $349 and come in a classic Ray-Ban style called Clubmaster, as well as Burbank.
The Circana Take:
- It’s a good move for the company. The camera was becoming an issue that could have slowed overall growth of the market. Adding an audio-only version or two (the camera glasses are still alive and well) broadens the market appeal. Not for nothing, but it also allows Ray-Ban to save a little face perhaps, as the brand surely didn’t want to be too associated with the tech-lash occurring over the camera versions. Now both companies are covered, offering customers the option of with, or without a camera.
- The slightly lower price point also helps broaden the potential market for Meta which is key, because while selling the hardware is nice, the greater goal is solidifying Meta AI/Muse’s growth in the market.
And finally… Cute is back
At the end of the conference’s keynote – and in the true Steve Jobs tradition of “one more thing” – Mark Zuckerberg briefly showed off a smart pendant called Muse Charm. It’s a dedicated piece of hardware that contains your personal Muse agent, dressed up as a cute little figure. Think Tamagotchi meets the AI world. We’ll be writing more about this soon as we believe that it has some interesting potential and appeal. But for now, suffice to say that Meta has found a way to break out beyond smart glasses into a (somewhat) new category of hardware… one big step ahead of Sir Jony Ive who is rumored to be working on a similar form factor for OpenAI.