Meta announces the $1,499 Quest Pro
TechCrunchFEB 21 2023
On Tuesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled his company's new $1,499 Oculus Quest Pro virtual reality (VR) headset during the live-streamed Connect 2022 conference.
Unlike its Quest 2 predecessor, the Quest Pro headset — available starting Oct. 25 — has outward-facing cameras that capture a 3D live stream of the surrounding physical world, creating a mixed reality for the wearer.
The announcement comes as Meta's stock — down 60% so far in 2022 — continues to suffer amid ongoing competition from TikTok in the advertising market and recent privacy updates from Apple that restricts Meta's ability to target iPhone users.
Just because Zuckerberg changed Facebook's name to Meta and poured billions of dollars into his VR dreams doesn't mean it's necessarily a good thing. Besides the obvious issues of the new Quest VR being an overpriced and unimpressive gadget, the bigger concern is one of privacy: Is drawing on a mediocre virtual whiteboard really worth allowing Meta to collect data on the most minute details of your face?
With the business world already shifting to at least a partial work-from-home model, we should embrace the possibilities created by Meta's Quest VR in the workplace. With graphics and eye-scanning technology quickly improving, we'll soon be able to transport ourselves into a personable, realistic office setting with our peers without the hassle of a commute. This is an exciting device.