Zuckerberg confirms that Meta's next VR headset will launch in October and will focus on "social presence"

Meta will launch its next VR headset this October at the Connect conference. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced it last Thursday, directly on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast on Spotify.

He said the new VR headset, a successor to the popular Oculus 2, will focus on "social presence," with features like eye-tracking and face-tracking. Zuckerberg said the headphones are designed to capture users' facial expressions and replicate them on their avatars in real time to enhance non-verbal communication. He also said that unlike Meta's AR glasses, the new headset will have some mixed reality capabilities.

Also in Joe Rogan's podcast, Zuckerberg repeatedly stressed that virtual reality can "unlock" the feeling of being in the presence of another person.

“When you're on a video call, it doesn't really feel like you're there with the other person. Instead virtual reality manages to give the real sensation that the interlocutor is present, that he is really physically present, ”she said.

Since the company was renamed from Facebook to Meta, several steps have been taken to reformulate the entire company as a "metaverse" company rather than a social media company. The strategy has also been changed, building a universe of multiple virtual worlds for all users. There is skepticism about the premise and motivation behind messaging, but the company has moved on and made efforts to better blend the different types of experiences it is developing. Horizon Worlds, for example, is a bespoke social platform for VR headsets available in select countries. However, it has been criticized for the graphics, so claims about the upcoming VR headset that capture facial expressions will be put to the test.

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