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　　"Meta Quest Pro is up for pre-order today - for $1499.99."

　　After watching a lot of mobile phone manufacturers' conferences, the announcement of prices is often the highlight. Whether it's a high-quality Apple, or a "one-man show" by Lei Jun, Yu Chengdong, and Luo Yonghao, everyone's routine is similar - blow a wave of products, put a question mark on the price on the ppt, pause for a few seconds, announce the price, and then applaud from the audience. thunder.

　　Getting used to this kind of scene, when Mark Zuckerberg said "$1499" calmly and coherently at the rate of a robot at MetaConnect last night, you would have thought he was just introducing a headset. A trivial new material used on nose pads. A second later, when the price of $1,499 was printed on the PPT, you realized that the most unexpected scene appeared in the more than one hour speech.

　　The price of Meta's previous product, the Quest 2, is $399 ($299 before the price increase this year). Overseas analysts and technology media have already expected the price of the Quest Pro to increase, but the general forecast is $600-800, even if the wildest The prediction of this product is that the price of this product may exceed $ 1,000, but no one can think that the final price will be as high as $ 1,500 - on this level, Zuckerberg slaps all analysts and the technology media in the face.

　　Such pricing is unexpected, but the logic behind it is actually not complicated. The positioning of Quest and Quest 2 is for ordinary consumer users, and the price of three or four hundred dollars needs to be subsidized by Meta's own pocket - this has long been no secret in the industry. The Quest Pro, which has the same price as the top iPhone 14 Pro, is obviously not a "toy" for ordinary consumers, but for enterprise users and a small number of XR enthusiasts who are not bad money.

　　This can also be verified in the usage scenarios highlighted by Zuckerberg. At the meeting, Zuckerberg strongly promoted the XR office, and even announced a cooperation with Microsoft to jointly explore the work scene in the metaverse world. In an interview with The Verge, Zuckerberg said, "If I could give all of our engineers a piece of equipment that would increase their productivity by 3%, I would definitely spend that $1,500."

　　Enterprise users are indeed not bad at $1,500, but it is unknown how many enterprises are willing to pay for XR as they would buy an office computer. The last mixed reality giant to take the high-end ToB route was Microsoft, with both generations of HoloLens selling for more than $3,000. According to the data analyzed by the outside world, the first-generation products released in 2016 have only sold about 50,000 units so far, while the second-generation products have been released for three years, and the cumulative sales are about 200,000 units.

　　Microsoft, the "number one player" in the enterprise-level market, has done this. Meta has embarked on this old road, where is its confidence?

　　" Best "

　　As soon as the price of Quest Pro was announced, the comment area of the live broadcast platform was in an uproar. Some netizens questioned: "The price is very different from expectations, and the upgrade is not 4 times worse than Quest 2."

　　Zuckerberg targeted the audience at this price to "people who want the best VR gear," and the Meta Quest Pro is a high-end headset that's positioned as a productivity tool, unlike previous Oculus series." If I could give all of our engineers a piece of equipment that would increase their productivity by 3%, I would definitely spend $1,500," Zuckerberg said in an interview published by The Verge.

　　On the Quest Pro, Meta is packed with almost the best hardware and technology available for XR devices today.

　　First of all, the biggest upgrade of the Quest Pro this time is the "full-color transparent transmission function", which uses four cameras outside the device to capture the external space and display it to the user wearing the device, superimposing the digital content on the user's reality. In order to provide a mixed reality experience, users can observe the surrounding physical environment in full color, combine the real physical environment with virtual elements to socialize, work and collaborate, and build a more three-dimensional mixed reality world.

MetaQuest Pro

　　This is also Meta's first full-color mixed reality device. On the previous Quest 2, users could only use Passthrough to view the outside world of the device in black and white.

　　In terms of optical imaging, compared to the Quest 2, the Quest Pro uses a more advanced pancake lens, which can reduce the weight of the device. In addition, the device's interpupillary distance (IPD) adjustment range is 55-75 mm, allowing users to get a better visual experience and reduce eye fatigue. The latest VRLCD display technology gives Quest Pro a 25% increase in full-field visual clarity in the center view, a 50% increase in the peripheral area, and a 1.3x increase in color gamut compared to the Meta Quest 2.

　　On the processor, the Quest Pro uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ chip, with 10 advanced VR/MR sensors, spatial audio, 256GB of storage space, and 12GB of RAM. Both controllers are also equipped with a Snapdragon 662 processor and three cameras.

　　At the same time, the headset's internal sensors can also provide facial expression capture and eye tracking, which means that when the user raises an eyebrow, grins, or even makes eye contact, the avatar's avatar does the same.

　　But more powerful features also brought new problems: battery life has shrunk significantly. Compared to the 2-3 hours of battery life on the Quest 2 headset, the battery life of the Quest Pro headset is reduced to 1-2 hours, which is for the target audience - "enthusiasts, industrial consumers and those trying to get work done". It is difficult to satisfy them with battery life.

　　But it still makes a lot of sense for this "best VR device" to appear at this time. For Meta, this high-end device can complement the product line and mark the concept of "VR is the next generation of PC". According to reports, Meta executives previously revealed in a press conference that they plan to start selling the Quest Pro in consumer channels, while adding enterprise-level features such as mobile device management, authentication and advanced support services in the next year. They say the device is designed to complement rather than replace the $399.99 entry-level Quest 2.

　　But such a high price doesn't mean Meta wants to make money with hardware. In the interview, Zuckerberg said, “It’s fair to say that we charge more for the device than we put into it, but if you take everything like research and development into account, it’s impossible to calculate. Our overall strategy is not about Make money on hardware, but let it help grow the ecosystem, and the business model will be based on software and services.”

　　For the entire VR hardware industry, all aspects of this product also represent the best level that the VR industry can currently put into the market, giving the market a "proof".

　　Marriage with Microsoft to create a more realistic virtual office

　　The office scene is one of the key contents of the MetaConnect conference, and it is also the direction that Zuckerberg has been working hard to promote since he announced the name change to Meta for a year.

　　In the introduction of VR office, the biggest easter egg is the appearance of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. These two companies that are competing in the metaverse suddenly joined forces to create a new office in the metaverse. Scenes.

Zuckerberg and Satya Nadella

　　Satya Nadella said that in the past period of time, Microsoft has had thousands of people working in Horizon Worlds and using Microsoft services. Microsoft wants to bring some work collaboration apps to the Quest VR device.

　　In the future, migrant workers can access Microsoft suites through Quest devices - Microsoft applications, including Team's chat application, Microsoft365 work software suite and the company's Xbox cloud gaming service, etc., making VR devices a productivity tool in the new generation of Internet .

　　In addition, Nadella said that he is looking forward to the linkage between Xbox and Quest. Xbox Cloud Gaming will introduce Quest, allowing players to use the Xbox controller to play these console 2D games in the VR headset through projection. Although it is still in the early stage, Xbox's entry into Quest through cloud gaming will bring a broad imagination to the content ecology of VR games.

　　Adobe, another productivity tool giant in the PC era, has also embraced VR. It is reported that Adobe will launch a set of online VR design tools, users only need to use the Quest Pro handle to create 3D.

Quest ProAdobeVRDesign

　　HorizonWorkrooms, previously launched by Meta, is a free VR remote collaboration application and Meta's first metaverse office suite. However, Horizon Workrooms at that time was complained about "supernatural" because the virtual avatar only had the upper body. Now it will finally have legs. Although there are more details, there is still room for improvement in the accuracy of the virtual avatar.

　　At the meeting, Zuckerberg demonstrated his new image with legs, which is achieved by building an artificial intelligence model to predict the position of the entire body. Horizon will be upgraded next year, but the specific launch time of the full-body image avatar has not been determined.

Zuckerberg shows off full-body avatar

　　In addition, Meta has added more features to HorizonWorkrooms, such as joining HorizonWorkrooms (launching in 2023) via video conferencing service Zoom.

　　However, some netizens asked: "Why not use Zoom directly?"

　　The answer to that question, why you should use 3D office software and even everything else in 3D, Zuckerberg has repeatedly mentioned in various places throughout the year.

　　In an interview released today, Zuckerberg mentioned, "When you're on a Zoom call on your phone, your brain doesn't imagine you're with them, you obviously know you're in another room. But the magic of VR is that , it basically immediately convinces your brain that you are in another place, with the people there. We are focused on the real presence that VR and AR provide, and no other technology can do that.” Kerberg believes that working with the PC version of Zoom will be completely different than the VR version.

HorizonWorkrooms virtual office scene

　　In the future, avatars will be available in more applications. In addition to the currently supported Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and WhatsApp, more applications such as Zoom will be added in the future. It will also be presented in an animated way such as Reels. AvatarsStore, which will launch in VR later this year, is scheduled to collaborate with real-life clothing and sports brands. Avatars will also offer more body shapes and more realistic skin shaders to choose from.

　　In the subsequent technical demonstration, Meta also showed the latest progress of CodecAvatars 2.0. Not only do avatars have more realistic and vivid facial expressions, so they can understand each other through micro-expressions and tone of voice when socializing, and they can even control lighting.

　　With InstantCodecAvatars, which is being developed, it is possible to generate such a fine virtual avatar within a few hours by simply scanning the face from different angles with a smartphone, and then scanning various expressions, and this time will be further shortened in the future.

　　Meta Ecology:  Social , Gaming, Fitness

　　Although this year's focus is on the office scene, Meta introduced the latest developments in the consumer content ecosystem at the meeting.

　　Meta showed some new data on the performance of games in its QuestStore, including that QuestStore has accumulated more than $1.5 billion in game and app revenue; more than a third of its 400 Quest games have grossed more than $1 million in sales, of which 33 The game's gross revenue exceeds $10 million...

　　The VR games on Oculus have been out of the circle to a certain extent, such as the previous BeatSaber and WalkaboutMiniGolf, etc., and have accumulated some loyal players.

　　The game is obviously the direction that must be exerted to let more people enter the VR world. At the conference, Meta also announced a series of new VR games that will be launched soon, including many high-profile IPs, such as the Marvel series Iron Man, which was previously exclusive to PSVR, and the once-popular werewolf killing game "The One of Us." Among Us", "The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners", and the new game "Behemoth".

Iron Man VR

　　Meta also announced that three game studios are joining Oculus Studio, including acquired ArmatureStudio, the creator of Resident Evil 4, and CamoflajTeam and TwistedPixel, developers of Iron Man VR and Road to the Warriors.

　　Based on the fact that VR devices are more flexible than PCs, the VR fitness direction is also favored by platforms such as Meta and PICO. This time Meta aimed at this demand and released more fitness applications.

　　Meta has released its first $69.99 fitness accessory pack, the Meta Quest 2 ActivePack, which includes a new wipeable head-mounted facial interface, an additional set of wrist straps and new adjustable knuckle straps for easy access to Quest fitness training. Meta Quest's built-in fitness tracker Move is also launched, which allows users to view their exercise time, calories burned, etc. in VR on their mobile phones, and can also be integrated with Health in Apple's mobile phones.

　　In the fitness space, Meta said they will also release a new FitnessAPI beta for select developers this fall, allowing more people to build fitness content for the Quest platform.

BasketballVR

　　In addition, Meta has launched a number of VR fitness classes and games, of which BasketballVR can be played with up to six people online.

　　In social, Meta's old fashioned line, Andrew Bosworth, the head of the Metaverse business, believes that VR is also social. "Now on the Quest platform, VR social software such as "VRchat" and "YoutubeVR" are being loved by users," said Andrew, who is in charge of the metaverse business. "When your friends come to your metaverse home, you can Open YoutubeVR with friends and watch related videos.”