The Future of Metaverse: Meta Connect 2024's Exciting Announcements

Meta Connect 2024 was a developer-centric event that showcased new hardware and software to support Meta's big ambitions in AI and the metaverse. The event kicked off with a keynote from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who revealed several innovative products and features. One of the most exciting announcements was the Orion glasses, which Meta claims will become its first consumer full holographic AR glasses. These glasses are still in the prototype phase, but they promise to be incredibly advanced, with features like light weight, hand-tracking, and eye-tracking, as well as a neural interface.Zuckerberg also revealed the Quest 3S headset, a more affordable alternative to the Quest 3, starting at $299. The entirely wireless headset is compatible with the existing library of Quest apps and games, and Meta was particularly enthusiastic about its mixed-reality features. The Quest 3S will be available on October 15, and the Quest 3 will drop in price from $649 to $499. Meta also announced updates to its Llama AI model, which can now interpret charts and graphs, caption images, and pinpoint objects in pictures given a simple description. The company also revealed its new Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which will get real-time AI video processing, reminders, and more. Additionally, Meta showcased its AI's capacity to respond to prompts based on images, as well as edit photos provided to the AI based on feedback given by the user.