With the launch of the Quest Pro, its most technologically advanced virtual reality headset to date, Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc. META -0.81% announced its intention to target the professional computing industry, claiming it would be a better way to work than a personal computer.
Along with the new product, which retails for about $1,500, Meta also unveiled agreements with Zoom Video Communications Inc. ZM 2.05% and Microsoft Corp. MSFT 0.15% that are anticipating to increase the use of the company’s VR headsets in hybrid-work circumstances.
VISION
“For virtual reality to really reach its full potential, we need to get to the point where the 200 million people who buy new PCs each year for work can do some or all of their work even better in the metaverse,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during Connect, the company’s annual metaverse event.
The Quest Pro is an example of Meta’s efforts to create a high-end gadget targeted at professionals who are prepared to spend a fortune on the most advanced VR technology. The gadget has a slimmer, more ergonomic form, a better display, and more sensors to monitor users’ facial expressions and motions.
According to Mr. Zuckerberg, the headset is powered by a new Snapdragon XR2+ processor created by Qualcomm Inc. and tailored for virtual reality.
REPORTS
According to Daniel Newman, chief analyst at digital technology consultancy firm Futurum Research, the company’s metaverse move to the enterprise sector makes sense.
“One thousand, five hundred dollars is a lot for a consumer, but it’s probably less than one business trip,” Mr. Newman said. “While video meetings haven’t stopped people from gathering live, there are plenty of meetings that could take place in a highly engaging and collaborative setting like the one Meta is trying to build.”
A year after changing its name from Facebook to Meta to represent its aspirations in virtual and augmented reality, the firm has released the Quest Pro. The corporation gave the project a $10 billion commitment at the time.
CONCLUSION
The company hasn’t disclosed sales of its VR headsets, but through the first half of 2022, revenue for the company’s Reality Labs division, which includes the Quest 2, came in at $1.1 billion, up nearly 37% compared with the year-earlier period, according to the company’s second-quarter report.
Meta also announced a partnership with Microsoft to bring Windows 365 and Teams to the company’s VR headsets next year.
“We think that VR can be very powerful for social connection, and with the Quest Pro, we want to bring more of that into the work context as well where Microsoft already has some incredibly successful products in the market,” Mr. Zuckerberg said.
This will include the ability for people wearing Meta’s face computer to join meetings in Microsoft’s Teams business-communications platform as virtual avatars.
Besides Teams meetings, Meta also announced that Quest users will be able to join Zoom calls using Horizon Workrooms in early 2023. This will allow users to appear in Zoom meetings as their virtual avatars.
“You should be able to take your avatar and virtual goods everywhere that you go,” Mr. Zuckerberg said.
