Meta really wants the metaverse to succeed. In fact, given the name change, it would be fair to say that it needs the metaverse to succeed. We’ve seen many examples of Mark Zuckerberg’s company pushing harder into the VR space. Now there’s another one — Project Cambria.
Project Cambria is the code name given to Meta’s upcoming virtual reality headset. It’s expected in September this year. When it arrives (if it arrives), it’ll be fielding some high-end hardware. But that’s not where the project ends. More VR hardware, four headsets in all, are expected by the end of 2024.
Unearthing Project Cambria
Cambria will, according to reports, be like wearing a laptop or Chromebook “for the face”. That doesn’t apply to the headset’s weight (we hope). Instead, it appears to refer to the processing power the device will supposedly possess. Trying to balance a 1.2kg laptop on our skulls would prove to be a pain in the neck.
It’s not intended for entertainment, either. Project Cambria will, apparently, be aimed at people trying to get work done. To this end, high-resolution displays and visual pass-through (or mixed reality) will be features of Meta’s upcoming hardware. Allegedly.
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What will that look like? We’ve got no idea, yet. Odds are that Cambria will play very nicely with Meta’s Horizon platform. Rumour suggests that it’ll use Meta’s own Android-derived OS, so support for more conventional tasks might well be limited. In other words, Meta’s work-focused VR hardware will work if you’re keen on working the way Meta wants you to.
Meta’s ambitions are clearly indicated in the product’s code name. The Cambrian Explosion, if you’ve neglected your palaeontology in recent months, was when the variety of life on our planet… well, exploded. Cambria is obviously supposed to be Meta’s parallel, an early development that leads to… world domination? Sure, let’s go with that.
The Project Cambria headset might be light on spec, but there’s already a price floating around. $800, or about R12,700, is the price of entry for Meta’s office VR solution. Which might be within reach for big corporates or overpaid influencers in the States. Here at home, it’ll battle to gain traction as anything other than a novelty or a tech demo.
Source: The Information