Would you ditch your laptop for a set of virtual reality goggles?
Meta Platforms Inc. founder Mark Zuckerberg hopes so. In a Facebook post Thursday, he announced his intention to have a soon-to-be-launched virtual reality (VR) headset from the company eventually replace laptops altogether.
Meta – the parent company of Facebook and Instagram – already produces the Meta Quest 2 VR headset. Zuckerberg said that “later this year, we’ll release a higher-end headset, codenamed Project Cambria, which will be more focused on work use cases and eventually replacing your laptop or work setup.”
Meta Quest 2 is used primarily for video games such as the “Horizon Worlds,” virtual reality experience. According to Zuckerberg, the headset “continues to be the leading virtual reality headset.”
A Techradar report found that 8.7 million Meta Quest 2 units were sold last year. As the world continued to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic, personal computer sales shot up in 2021 and around 277 million units were shipped worldwide, said Statista. By this month, sales were down, according to CNBC.
While Zuckerberg champions Meta’s VR offerings, Kotaku reported this week that Meta’s virtual reality-focused department has lost $2.96 billion so far this year. Since 2020, the division has lost around $20 billion.
Zuckerberg said during an earnings call that investments have hindered Meta’s profitability this year.
“I recognize it’s expensive to build this,” he said. “It’s something that’s never been built before.”
Compared to the Meta Quest 2, Project Cambria is designed with work environment efficiency in mind, and will be able to “seamlessly blend virtual reality with the physical world,” said Zuckerberg. Additionally, he said the company is building eye tracking and face tracking into the devices so users’ avatars in the virtual space can make eye contact and facial expressions.
“We’ll share more details about Project Cambria in the months ahead as we get ready to launch it,” Zuckerberg said.
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