On Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg released a demo video that featured its new high end mixed reality headset. He wore the headset which is called Project Cambria as of now and explained some of its features. The headset projected 3D digital images over what is seen in the real world using a “passthrough” feature. Although no date was mentioned, the headset is expected to be released this year.
In the video, Mark Zuckerberg plays with and pets a virtual creature that looks like a rabbit. It also shows a virtual workstation in front of a user who then looks down at a notepad and there’s writing on it. The image quality is clear and the text can be read. A virtual workout instructor demonstrating what looks like yoga poses appears in the same space as the headset’s wearer. The design of the headset is blurred.
Meta’s World Beyond has been built on the company’s Presence Platform. The Presence Platform that was introduced in fall 2021 has been designed such that developers can create mixed-reality experiences. Project Cambria can support full-color passthrough. Its cameras have a higher fidelity, when compared with the Quest headsets currently offered by Meta.
Meta’s World Beyond will also be available for Quest headsets through App Lab. However, these headsets will not be able to offer the full-color experience, as of now. Quest headsets display passthrough in shades of grey with their current sensors.
In an earlier report, Meta had described Project Cambria as “a laptop for the face.” The current Cambria headset that could be renamed in future and would also see more advances in development, in 2024. Two new Quest models will also be released in future.
Meta CTO recently posted on Twitter that a SDK update would be available next week. It would include “the full set of Presence Platform tools powered by machine perception and AI–Passthrough, Spatial Anchors, Scene, Interaction and Voice SDKs, and our recently updated Hand Tracking API.
