2023-09-07 14:30:00
Smart glasses Quest Pro
The new campaign also focuses on Meta’s VR glasses.
(Foto: IMAGO/Cover-Images)
New York A surgeon looks through data glasses at the animation of an eyeball, applies the scalpel – and a cut later is in the operating room, bent over a real patient. The eye surgeon is one of three testimonials explaining how virtual reality (VR) is helping them in their professional lives. This is what Meta’s latest campaign looks like, which the company presented in New York on Wednesday evening.
The Facebook group wants to demonstrate where the virtual world, the so-called metaverse, is already being used today. The focus here is particularly on education. As in the case of the eye surgeon, prospective doctors should be able to train without risk. VR can also simulate complications.
One of the protagonists of the commercials is British footballer Marcus Rashford, who initially trained in the virtual world after his shoulder injury before being able to return to the pitch. Finally, a welder explains how he can use VR glasses to expand his skills from home. The campaign aims to show what is possible with virtual reality and with Meta’s VR glasses, the Quest – not in the future, but already today.
Meta wants to show that the billions invested in the “Reality Labs” department are worthwhile. The division is said to be at the heart of the company’s realignment towards the Metaverse business. In 2021, Facebook even renamed itself. Hopes are high: the financial service Bloomberg Intelligence forecasts sales of up to 800 billion dollars for the market in 2024.
It’s an expensive bet for Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg: “Reality Labs” has already accumulated a loss of around $ 31 billion. Expenditure for the division is expected to increase significantly again this year.
Meta: Apparently new data glasses planned
The Quest data glasses are an important part of the new campaign. According to rumours, which the platform “The Verge” also reports onMeta is working with the electronics group LG on a new version of the Quest Pro, which is due to be launched in 2025.
Mark Zuckerberg
The Meta Boss has made an expensive bet on the Metaverse.
(Photo: AP)
The glasses could be a direct competitor to Apple’s Vision Pro, which is expected in the coming year. Both devices have in common that they should be so-called mixed reality glasses that combine elements from the real and the virtual world in the wearer’s field of vision. However, the products will differ in price: while the new Quest is reported to cost around $2,000, the Vision Pro would be significantly more expensive at $3,500.
Zuckerberg’s bet on the Metaverse was initially met with great skepticism, and the huge investment scared investors away. In 2022, Meta lost two-thirds of its market value.
In the current year, the situation looks different: With the recent hype about AI applications such as ChatGPT, the group has received tailwind. Since January, the share price has risen by more than 137 percent, largely catching up on the losses from 2022.
More: This is how the financial world gropes its way into the metaverse
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