Everything Meta Announced At Connect 2024

Meta announced so much at its Connect 2024 conference that you may have missed some of it.

But never fear! Here's a brief summary of every important Meta Connect 2024 announcement. For full context and details, click the articles linked.

Headsets & Accessories

Meta launched a new headset, simplified its Quest 3 lineup, discontinued Quest 2 and Quest Pro, and launched new official accessories.

A New Headset: Meta Quest 3S

After months of leaks, Meta finally announced its new headset: Quest 3S.

Effectively, Quest 3S is a cheaper Quest 3 with a bulkier design, inferior lens clarity, and lower resolution.

Quest 3S has the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset and color passthrough mixed reality capabilities as Quest 3, but uses the old fresnel lenses and fixed single panel from Quest 2 to achieve a starting price of $300.

All purchases of Quest 3S until May will come with Batman: Arkham Shadow.

Quest 3 128GB Gone & 512GB Price Cut

Meta is discontinuing the 128GB base model of Quest 3 and cutting the other 512GB model to its $500 price.

Until stock is gone, the 128GB model is on clearance sale for $430.

Like with Quest 3S, all purchases of Quest 3 until May will come with Batman: Arkham Shadow.

Quest 2 & Quest Pro Discontinued

Quest 2 and Quest Pro will no longer be available when stock runs out or at the end of the year, whichever comes first.

Quest 2 was the first mainstream VR headset and Quest Pro was an innovative failure.

Quest 3S will take Quest 2's place in Meta's lineup. But there's no direct replacement for Quest Pro. When it's gone, Meta will no longer offer a headset with eye tracking or face tracking.

Quest 3 Open Facial Interface

One aspect of Quest Pro that Meta will offer a replacement for is its open periphery design, because it's releasing an official Open Facial Interface for Quest 3.

Instead of being a halo strap, the official Open Facial Interface still presses against your face. But the space between the interface and the headset itself is empty, allowing you to see the real world.

Quest 3S Breathable Facial Interface

Quest 3S is getting its own exclusive facial interface accessory.

The "Breathable" Facial Interface makes the tradeoff of not being opaque to "help you keep cool while working out or playing intense games".

Meta's Simplified Lineup

When Quest 2, Quest Pro, and the 128GB Quest 3 are gone, Meta's headset lineup will be simplified to:

Quest 3S (128GB): $300
Quest 3S (256GB): $400
Quest 3 (512GB): $500

New Horizon OS Features & Apps

YouTube Cowatching

Official YouTube cowatching will finally launch as a beta next week.

YouTube cowatching will take place in Horizon Home, meaning you'll see other people as their Meta Avatar alongside you.

Horizon Hyperscape: Photorealistic Scenes On Quest 3

Quest 3 owners in the US can try photorealistic scenes via Meta's new Horizon Hyperscape demo app.

UploadVR's Don Hopper tried Horizon Hyperscape and found it to be significantly higher quality than Gracia, with a "stark difference" in visual clarity.

New Amazon Prime Video App With Downloads

Amazon launched an all-new Prime Video Quest app that supports passthrough and downloads.

Prime Video is the first major streaming service officially available on Horizon OS to support downloads, making it ideal for use on airplanes with the Travel Mode Quest headsets now have since May.

Automatic Pairing With Windows 11 Laptops

Quest headsets will be able to extend Windows 11 laptops by just looking at them, without installing any software, later this year.

Meta says this will be possible thanks to a partnership with Microsoft.

Your laptop's screen will turn off and be replaced by a giant virtual screen, and you'll be able to spawn entirely virtual extra monitors.

New Meta Avatars

The new Meta Avatars system with overhauled graphics will launch on Tuesday.

And some time next year, Meta will allow users to generate a new outfit by typing, leveraging generative AI.

In Horizon Worlds, Meta says it will also support "fantastical avatars", non-human forms which users can unlock in specific worlds.

Passthrough API

In a surprise announcement at Connect 2024 today, Meta revealed that it will give developers access to the passthrough cameras of Quest headsets via a new API next year.

Meta hasn't yet said whether there'll be any restrictions to the Passthrough API, but we'll keep a close eye on the company for any further details of this exciting upcoming capability, which could unlock entirely new use cases for Quest headsets.

AI NPCs In Horizon Worlds

Meta says Horizon Worlds creators will be able to add AI NPCs to their worlds next year.

These AI NPCs will be able to "engage in conversations, help people out, and even compete in games",

"Whether it's a friendly fishing enthusiast or a fantastically evil boss, you will be able to customize NPCs using our avatar and voice tech, and it's all multiplayer ready.

We'll also support world understanding and complex action chaining, so NPCs can be a really rich part of the world you created."

"The Future Of Horizon OS" Tease

Meta teased "the future of Horizon OS", showing a concept of a complete redesign.

Meta didn't give even a rough timeline for the new Horizon OS interface, and what was shown appears to be a concept.

Two New Games & Supernatural Multiplayer

Triangle Strategy VR Port

Triangle Strategy, a turn-based tactical RPG from Square Enix, is being adapted for VR this year on Quest.

On Quest, Triangle Strategy's VR adaptation promises a "whole new look" across the battlefield, letting you reach out to units and issue commands directly.

Home Sports

Home Sports is a new mixed reality multi-sports game that rolls five sports into one collection on Quest 3.

An exact release date remains unconfirmed. Resolution states Home Sports "will be launching soon" for the Meta Quest 3 family.

Supernatural Multiplayer

Supernatural Together is a new expansion that adds group-based workouts to the fitness app on Quest.

Team Workouts feature special Challenge Zones and Victory Tunnels that "require teamwork and coordination to complete."

Horizon Store & App Development

2D Android Apps On Horizon Store

Meta Horizon Store, the app store on Quest headsets, will allow developers to submit 2D Android apps.

Meta will be hoping this brings some of the most useful and entertaining apps from the Google Play Store. However, the lack of Google Play Services will make it challenging for some apps to be ported.

Meta Spatial SDK

Meta Spatial SDK lets developers easily build apps for Quest's Horizon OS with traditional mobile development tools, without a game engine.

It provides rendering, optional passthrough, controller and hand tracking, support for flatscreen and immersive media playback, physics, and spatial audio.

Ray-Ban Meta Glasses

The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are getting a swathe of new software features, as well as new transitions lenses styles.

New Software Features

The following features are coming "soon":

Meta AI Reminders
More Natural Visual Meta AI
Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, and iHeart Controls
QR Codes & Phone Numbers

And these features are coming "later this year":

Live Translation
Meta AI Video Vision

New Transitions Styles

Further, EssilorLuxottica and Meta launched new style options with Transitions lenses:

Skyler Shiny Black with Amethyst Transitions
Headliner Shiny Caramel with Sapphire Transitions
Headliner Low Bridge Fit Shiny Black with Sapphire Transitions
Headliner Matte Black with Gray Transitions
Wayfarer Matte Black with Graphite Green Transitions

Orion True AR Glasses Prototype

Meta showed off integrated prototype AR glasses with a field of view that's remarkable given their form factor.

However, the Orion glasses won't be sold as a product, as Meta admitted each costs on the order of $10,000 to produce. The company said Orion will be used as a demonstrator and internal development kit, describing it as "a time machine that lets us live in the future".