Meta Connect ’24: Industry Expert Discusses Quest 3S, AR Smart Glasses, Reality Labs R&D

Meta Connect is approaching. Mark Zuckerberg’s company is generating excitement, with audiences anticipating significant announcements during the September 28th event, which continues to captivate mainstream audiences year after year.

To explore the upcoming Connect 2024 event and some of the announcements that may follow, XR Today spoke with Frank Furnari, the CEO and Founder of ARuVR.

ARuVR is an enterprise platform that enables immersive training content creation and distribution at scale, to create and manage bespoke workplace services without writing a single line of code.

Furnari noted that while the ARuVR platform is hardware agnostic, the firm does “a lot of work with Meta.” Based on this experience, Furnari explored potential updates audiences may experience during Connect 2024.

Quest 3S Predictions

Furnari explained that Meta already has several mid-range and high-range MR devices, such as the original Quest 3 or Quest Pro, which “are very powerful and have got a lot of features. ” However, he noted that some users do not fully leverage all of the features and specifications, leaving room for an entry-level MR headset with a refined design.

“We all know that in some cases the current devices are too advanced; it’s like giving a Ferrari car to a novice driver,” Furnari also remarked; the upcoming Quest 3S is for novice XR adopters in “enterprise institutions, but also consumers.”

Furnari added:

“The aim is to address several key industry challenges for enterprises and consumers, such as affordability and accessibility. By offering a more affordable XR headset, Meta is making its advanced XR technology accessible to a broader audience. This can help bridge the gap between high-end devices and entry-level low-end devices.”

With Meta deploying an accessible MR device for consumers, Meta aims to mirror its success in deploying the Quest 2 that brought VR to the mainstream consumer conversation.

MR has failed to live up to the success of consumer VR, and there are various reasons for this—namely, affordability, accessibility, lack of system-selling content, and tangible use cases.

From a consumer point of view, Furnari predicted that Meta will get much higher engagement with the Quest 3S because “a lower-cost device can enhance use cases such as gaming, entertainment, and social experiences, making them much more mainstream.”

The consumer adoption angle is still essential for the enterprise MR headset market. Furnari remarked that a consumer-grade content creation and community ecosystem will enable adoption “at large scale.”

Speaking on the enterprise side, Furnari said:

“For businesses, a cost-effective XR device can facilitate deployment at scale over several use cases, such as training or remote collaborations, without the heavy investment they typically need to make if they go with high-end devices.”

In addition, Furnari noted that the upcoming Quest 3S device will “democratize XR technology in enterprise and consumer markets.”

What is in Store for Meta’s Next-Gen Smart Glasses?

Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth says the upcoming AR Smart Glasses announcement is “ground-breaking.”

The recent Meta Ray Ban Stories portfolio of lite AR smart glasses beat sales expectations recently. This led to Meta buying a 5 per cent stock share in parent firm EssilorLuxottica and penned a multi-generational deal to develop the product further.

“We all know that the Meta Ray Ban smart glasses have indeed been more successful than expected,” noted Furnari, who explained that previous sales success mixed with the upcoming high-fidelity AR technology and advanced AI engines will create a compelling new device.

However, Furnari doubled down on the importance of Meta AI in its AR smart glasses roadmap. “AI is the missing technology that AR glasses are waiting for,” Furnari said.

With AI integrations, smart glasses navigation will become far more accessible. Furnari explained that alternative methods like voice or hand tracking will flourish due to an AI framework.

Furnari added:

Having AI engines on those devices will make usability very easy, and therefore, the use cases and applications will be much broader than what we have today.

Despite sparse pre-Connect AR smart glasses details, Furnari noted that “the combination of high-end AR technology, AI engines, and design will make we’ll have a bright future these devices.”

The Importance of XR R&D via Major Technology Vendors

Meta Connect 2024 will remain a head-turning event for the XR industry as long as Zuckerberg remains monetarily invested.

The Meta CEO is one of the wealthiest individuals on the planet, so while his immersive space race is focused more on delivering consumer XR devices, to earn his place at the top of Forbes’ richest list, Zuckerberg is banking the XR ubiquity trend.

Therefore, Meta Connect’s importance is vast. To penetrate enterprise and consumer markets with ubiquitous XR products, the firm must remain at the forefront of the R&D race, providing devices with the biggest wow factor and best specs at an affordable price.

Moreover, other consumer-facing firms are also investing in XR—Apple, Samsung, LG, and Sony, just to name a few. Each firm has different levels of enterprise market penetration; however, only one can lead the pack.

This means these major technology firms are highly influential in the XR market. The expensive R&D that such companies can afford to work on leads to products that change the market broadly.

Furnari noted that “large companies play a crucial role in the XR industry and the market; their influence impacts the entire XR ecosystem in several ways. They drive innovation, not only technology but also they drive standards as well.”

Furnari also added:

“They expand and make the market more accessible with more cost-effective devices, and consequentially, they are developing the ecosystem.

The contribution of large companies is vital for the growth and maturation” of the XR market, said Furnari, who also explained that influential firms bring further value via R&D investments, marketing, and sales to “not only advanced the technology but also help create a sustainable and scalable market-paving the way for a more immersive and interconnected future.”