Meta Connect 2024 as it happened – Meta Quest 3S, crystal clear Ray-Bans, and holographic Orion glasses

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening folks! We're just under seven hours from the start of the Meta Connect 2024 keynote, so until it kicks off I'm going to run you through some of the updates we're expecting to see based on the leaks and rumors so far.

Let's start with the announcement that seems most likely: the Meta Quest 3S.

Nothing has yet been said officially but as is usual with tech announcements several details have leaked early; some information about the headset's existence even came from Meta itself like when it accidentally named the new device on its official app store.

We know more than its name though, with leaks even showing us the headset's design early:

As you can see in the Twitter post, the device looks like a Quest 2 in terms of how bulky it is because it reportedly uses the older model's fresnel lens system rather than the Quest 3's pancake lenses.

I won't get too into the weeds here, just know that fresnel lens systems are usually chunkier than pancake ones and can lead to images being a little less sharp. That said pancake lenses aren't perfect, they typically lose more light meaning images viewed through fresnel lenses can appear brighter.

Sticking with the Meta Quest 3S design, there are a few extra details to unpack from this leak.

As you can see on the front face in the Twitter image the Quest 3S will supposedly boast some mixed reality sensors. We're expecting those to be for full-color mixed reality and be roughly of the same quality as the cameras we've seen on the Meta Quest 3 proper.

Just below the left set of cameras as we look at the headset you'll see a volume bar (fairly standard) and a new button. We've heard this is an 'Action Button' like you'd find on an iPhone 16. 

By default it'll apparently swap between passthrough and VR like the side of the headset double-tap feature on the Meta Quest 3, but you might also be able to customize it to perform other tasks like launching an app.

As for the specs it'll sit between the Meta Quest 3 and the Meta Quest 2 according to the rumors. So it'll boast a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset from the Quest 3, but displays that are only 1,832 x 1,920 pixels per eye like those found in the Quest 2. They will, however, supposedly boast a variable refresh rate that supports 90Hz and 120Hz playback.

We haven't heard about its RAM but I have a feeling it might only offer 6GB instead of 8GB as a further cost cutting measure to keep it more affordable. Though 8GB would be ideal especially for any AI functions Meta might add to Quest at Connect or beyond, as well as for multitasking in mixed reality, so we'll have to wait and see what's announced

$299 Quest 3S 128GB Confirmed by Amazon Ad on Peacock from r/OculusQuest

And how much will the Meta Quest 3S cost? 

Well as with the previous rumors everything should be taken with a pinch of salt but a supposed leaked Amazon advert (above) for the headset says it starts at $299.99 which suggests the VR headset could end up being $299.99 / £299.99 / AU$479.99 for its base model, which is the same price as the what the Quest 2 settled at before it got some dramatic price cuts earlier this year.

So this would be for the rumored 128GB Quest 3S, with the model with more storage (likely either 256GB or 512GB) then probably landing somewhere around $399.99 / £399.99 / AU$599.99 to use the Meta Quest 2's pricing structure.

That's enough Meta Quest 3S talk, lets get into Meta's other big hardware focus and discuss potential Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses Connect announcements.

Right out the gate I'm going to say I don't think we'll get a whole new pair of Meta smart glasses this year. Maybe a new design of the existing hardware could make an appearance, but don't hold your breath for a hardware upgrade.

My reasoning? One, we've seen zero leaks for it which seems odd next to the Meta Quest 3S which has had a boatload of leaks wash up on our shores. If new specs were also coming I feel we'd know even just a little bit of info about them.

Two, it's way too soon. Meta AI integration (which is the biggest selling point and best feature of the Ray-Ban smart specs) hasn't even made its way to every region where the current-gen glasses are sold, so it would be odd to launch a follow-up now when the old model isn't even complete yet.

Three, I think Meta is going to tease a different kind of glasses instead.

AR has been the talk of the town in the XR space, and so I think we'll get a taste of what Meta's cooking up for its own AR glasses. 

Beyond their existence and that they'll combine AR and AI technologies as a sort of hybrid of Meta's hardware efforts to date (its AI smart glasses and its VR headsets) we know next to nothing about them. Though given Meta recently reupped its partnership with Ray-Ban I expect these AR glasses would continue to sport the brand's iconic design.

A Meta Connect teaser would allow Meta to show the world what it has been working on, though I expect Zuckerberg won't go into details like price or a release date. Instead I'm envisioning a trailer like the Meta Quest Pro teaser we got at Connect 2021 when it was announced as Project Cambria.

Project Cambria Teaser - 'High End' Standalone Headset Launching 2022 - YouTube

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Zuckerberg might appear on stage in a prototype, or show us a more in-depth demo, but I doubt they'd be ready for members of the public or press to give them a whirl. So don't expect a hands-on feature from us unfortunately.

I predict we'll have to wait until at least 2025 (but perhaps even 2026 or 2027) to actually get to try the Meta AR Glasses for ourselves, but maybe I'll get proven wrong later today.

Our Editor At Large Lance Ulanoff was scoping out Meta's HQ yesterday ahead of today's event and took the above snap. He'll be attending the keynote later today so he can see everything that's announced first-hand.

So we've gone through the Meta Quest 3S, and the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses on the hardware side at Meta Connect, what about the software we might see get shown off?

We'll probably hear a little bit about VR gaming at Connect, in particular Batman: Arkham Shadow. It's a Meta Quest 3 exclusive launching sometime in October so I wouldn't be surprised if we got another trailer and a firm release date for it.

We might also see a few other VR and MR games because we didn't get a dedicated Quest Gaming Showcase this Summer. Meta didn't have its own space to showcase trailers so it may take a little bit of time to do that Connect.

The one subject I'm certain will be talked about however is AI, and how Meta's own artificial intelligence has been progressing since the last time it gave us an update.

We know for certain that Meta AI will make an appearance at Connect 2024, and there's a few announcements I'm hoping to see.

The first is a global rollout of the AI on Meta's hardware, or at least a UK launch. Currently Meta AI is only officially out on the Quest 3 and Ray-Ban smart glasses in the US and Canada (so I was surprised that I somehow have access to it on my smart glasses here in the UK, though I'm not complaining). Considering how fun the feature is I really want more people to have access to it on their Meta devices.

I'd also like to see the Meta AI not only gain some of the abilities we've recently seen added to Google Gemini, Apple Intelligence, and ChatGPT to bring it on par with its rivals, but perhaps some uniquely Meta tools. 

Perhaps the ability to generate mixed-reality objects using AI prompts that you can then interact with using your Quest headset, or a Messenger assistant that uses your contacts' Facebook info to remind you about things like an upcoming Birthday.

I'm spit balling a bit here, but you get the picture. I'm hoping the next few years we'll see each AI assistant generate its own unique identity rather than each being effectively a carbon copy of what's already out there.

We'll be here from now until a little after the keynote ends covering all of the announcements as they happen, but if you want to watch the keynote live for yourself what are your options?

Assuming you can't attend in person then option one is to head to the Meta for Developers Facebook page and tune into the livestream there when it goes live.

Option two is to put on your Meta Quest headset, boot up Horizon Worlds, and attend a virtual version of Meta Connect being hosted at a VR space inspired by Menlo Park campus.

If you miss the event you can usually catch the presentation later on Meta's YouTube channel.

Image 1 of 2

Lance is at Menlo Park Campus, has his badge, and is ready for Meta Connect 2024 to begin!

He also got given a couple of pins (I'm very jealous) and  while one is just the word 'Connect' inside a box the other shows a few shapes (a star, triangle and circle) floating next to each other. Maybe it has a meaning we'll learn more about during Connect, or maybe it's just meant to look nice. 

We'll know either way in a couple of hours.

We're only 90 minutes from the start of Meta Connect and Mark Zuckerberg's keynote address. While we're pretty sure about the Meta Quest 3S coming today, a big question will be Meta AI. Will there be AI on Meta's AR headsets? What sort of features will Meta offer?

As Apple rolls out Apple Intelligence to its newest devices, the Apple Vision Pro has been left out of the AI party, for better and for worse. This could be a way for Meta to pull ahead with its own, more affordable AR headset offering. 

One of the more questionable rumors we've heard from Meta Connect is news that Meta will let you use the voices of famous celebrities, possibly including Judi Dench and John Cena, with its talking AI platform. According to a report in Reuters, Meta will announce this new feature today, with more celebrities along side. 

This sort of thing hasn't gone well in the past, and I'll be skeptical, but it begs the question: will there be celebrities at the event today? Will John Cena's voice make an appearance without the man himself? I've tasked our Editor-at-Large to look for other large humans, especially wrestler/action stars. Not because I need to know about the next season of Peacemaker. Nope. But find him, Lance. 

One of the big questions for today are Meta's Ray Ban Smart Glasses plans. Will we see a new set of glasses today? Will there be new styles? Will Meta leave the Ray Ban partnership for its own fashion brand? Hopefully that last one will never happen, and I'll keep buying Wayfarers whether they're smart or not. 

As for new glasses, I think we'll definitely see some updates, but I don't think we'll see all-new devices. The Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen 1 chipset inside today's smart glasses is already very powerful, but we haven't heard about any device upgrades, and we haven't seen any leaks about new devices. 

Still, it would be exciting to see more in the smart glasses space. The Snapdragon AR1 is strong enough to power smart glasses with a display, not just a camera and speakers. I'd also like to see battery improvements, and maybe something new for the camera as well. 

Today will probably be about the Quest 3S and no more hardware than that, but I'll keep my current Meta Ray Bans handy in case they need a fast update. 

One of the consistent rumors we're hearing is that the new Meta Quest 3S will ship with a new Batman game included. The new Batman: Arkham Shadow game has been in previews for a while, and it is expected to be a launch title for the Quest 3S. 

That's a very smart move, giving the new headset a launch title. Back in the olden days, every gaming console would launch with an iconic game attached. If you bought the Nintendo, you got Mario. If you bought the Sega Genesis, you got Sonic. Now that serious, AAA games are coming to Meta Quest, it's great to see these launches timed together with a bundle to drive excitement and more players to the game. 

Our Editor on the scene Lance Ulanoff says that the keynote today is being filmed in 3D, with dual-lens cameras spotted. We suspect that is for watching the keynote presentation in VR using Meta's Horizon Worlds. Today would be a great day, then, for an update on Meta's VR social network. 

Is this the new Meta Quest 3S?! We think so. Our Editor-at-Large Lance Ulanoff spotted this gentleman in the front row at Meta Connect, as we're about 10 minutes from Mark Zuckerberg taking the stage for the keynote address and announcements. 

These look like no other Meta goggles you can buy right now, so we're calling these the new Meta Quest 3S until we see otherwise. 

We're only minutes away, and while I'll be posting all of the news and our live reactions here on this live blog, you can also head over to Meta to catch the video yourself. You shouldn't need to sign in to Facebook to watch today's event. Just go to this Facebook page and you'll find the video playing. 

It's not just you, it's late for us too. 

So, hey, while we wait ... anybody see that new Thunderbolts trailer? That looks pretty sweet, huh? Too bad they lost Stephen Yeun, he would have been great. 

Also, have you been listening to Chappell Roan? Wow, that album is so great. I just keep it on repeat all the time. 

Has it started yet? No?! Wow, five minutes late. Apple would never...

Okay, time to place bets. I have no information in advance, I'm just guessing here. 

Meta Quest 3S today? Absolutely, sure thing. Too many leaks, and check out the photo below of the guy who looks kind of like Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth wearing what looks like the new goggles. Will they come with Batman: Arkham Shadow? Not entirely sure, so I'd say 50/50 chance there, maybe depending on your region. 

Will there be new Ray Ban Meta smart glasses? I'd say there's a 10% chance of new hardware, but 100% chance of new features for the existing glasses. Something with the camera, for sure. That's the way development has been heading. 

There will certainly be other news about Meta's AR projects, but will they include AI? Will we see a virtual image generator? I don't think the technology is quite there yet, but I'd suspect we'll see some chat features added to the new hardware. 

Otherwise, I expect a show for developers, and that means exciting software possibilities that haven't yet come to fruition. It should start in ... well, it should have started already. Keep watching, we aren't going anywhere. 

The waiting screen has changed, a new countdown has begun, and frankly it's much prettier. We're a minute away from the next delay or Mark Zuckerberg, whatever comes first. 

Mark Zuckerberg is on stage now and he says they have a lot to talk about. Without much delay he announces the Meta Quest 3S, and it's exactly the device we say early.

"High quality mixed reality for $299. Hell yeah. I've been waiting for this one for a long time," says Zuckerberg.

Zuck says the Meta Quest 3S performs better with hand-tracking and other sensing than the Quest 3 did when it launched a year ago. Of course, the Meta Quest 3S has also been improved since then. 

Zuckerberg identifies our Quest 3S-wearing friend in the crowd as Kenny, who is live-streaming his AR view from the new Quest 3S to the world. 

Zuckerberg says Meta's social networks are indeed getting an AR update. There will be versions of Instagram and Facebook that you can browse via Meta Quest 3 devices, including the Quest 3S. 

Meta has been working with Microsoft to enable the Quest devices to work with Windows PCs and extend the desktop onto the Quest headset, similar to the way Apple Vision Pro works with Mac OS computers. 

Now Zuckerberg is showing off the new Horizon Worlds improvements. 

Batman is indeed coming to the Quest 3 family as an exclusive, and it will be a bundle with any Quest 3 or Quest 3S you buy this fall. Zuckerberg also showed off Meta's new virtual room app in beta. You'll be able to tour famous rooms like the studio where Green Day recorded Dookie. 

The Meta Quest 3S is available for pre-order today and it will begin shipping on October 15. We'll have pricing for each region and other availability news as soon as we know more. 

Zuck is on fire, he's already moved on to bragging about Meta AI. 

Meta is adding natural voice interactions to Meta AI today. Zuckerberg says voice will be the most frequent way we interact with AI. You'll be able to have natural AI conversations across all of Meta's apps, including Instagram and Messenger. 

Now comes the 'iconic voices.' John Cena, Judi Dench, Kristen Bell, Keegan-Michael Key, Awkwafina are all confirmed. Zuck is now talking to AI Awkwafina. 

Zuckerberg is demonstrating a new feature that will let you talk to a photorealistic avatar of a real person, answering questions as you ask them. It's unclear if this is a feature coming to the public or a tech demonstration. 

With author Don Allen Stevenson III, Zuckerberg asked an avatar of Stevenson questions, while the real Stevenson stood by watching. Now, Zuckerberg is showing off new live translation features that are coming to Meta apps that use videos. The Meta AI will be able to translate live, even synchronizing close to lip movements. 

Zuck is still fired out of a cannon. Now we're onto the next version of Llama 2. 

Mark is talking glasses! He's talking about how great the current generation of Meta Ray Ban Smart Glasses can be, and he's not wrong. They're also just good looking glasses, he says, and he's also very correct about that. Is that a dig at the latest Snapchat Spectacles? Not explicitly. 

Zuckerberg says soon you'll be able to control more audio services with your voice to access more content, but there's also new AI features coming. 

We're starting small and building up, Zuckerberg says, to the biggest AI releases for the smart glasses we've ever seen, coming over the next few months. First of all, the AI will get more conversational. Second, the glasses will soon be able to help you remember things, like where you parked, or what you need from the store. 

Glasses will also be able to take actions based on what you see.  If you see a phone number, it can start a call. If you see a QR code, it can navigate to that destination. 

Meta AI will also have multi-modal video capabilities. That means you don't have to take a photo to ask a question, you can start a live video and the AI can watch as you go about your day. Zuckerberg says, to applause, that this will be a big platform. 

We're now seeing a demonstration of live translation working with Meta Ray Ban smart glasses. Zuckerberg is speaking English to MMA fighter Brandon Moreno, who is speaking Spanish. The conversation is a bit stilted, but it seems to work well on both sides with a little patience. 

We're not seeing new Ray Ban Meta glasses, but we are seeing many new lenses for the glasses, including the full range of EssilorLuxxotica transition glasses. Zuckerberg has a set of clear transparent frames that are a limited edition, apparently available now. No pricing announced by Zuck. 

Full holographic glasses are on stage now, arriving in a handcuffed case. Zuckerberg calls them Orion, Meta's first fully-functioning prototype, and says they are the most advanced glasses the world has ever seen. 

The glasses are thick and chunky, but they look remarkably like normal-ish glasses. They don't look like goggles or futuristic face gear. 

Zuckerberg is showing off the holographic interface and some features now, and explaining the issues with a holographic interface, like making eye contact while wearing the glasses. 

Okay, these aren't just holographic glasses. Zuckerberg just used the term "neural interface" on stage to describe an input method. The neural interface will apparently be wrist-based, and will respond to intentions based on some sort of subtle movements or intentions expressed. 

Zuckerberg is showing a montage of reactions of celebrities and tech executives using the new glasses, and most of them use the terms cool and crazy. They remark about the light weight design, and the potential for future use cases. 

These new holographic glasses aren't ready yet. Zuckerberg offered a litany of improvements he hopes to make before they hit the market. However, he says they have a 'line of sight' to achieving all of the product goals, and the next version of the holographic glasses will be Meta's first shipping holographic product. 

Now we're reviewing everything we've seen so far. Will there be one more thing? We don't need it, holographic AR glasses are a LOT to see. Hopefully we'll get some hands-on time as well. 

Now the keynote is closing down. The only new product is the Meta Quest 3S, which is available for pre-order now and shipping on October 15. We'll have hands-on with that device soon. 

We also heard about a lot of improvements to Meta Ray Ban glasses, and though we didn't see any hardware improvements, it will get a lot of new AI features over the next few months. And you can buy a limited edition transparent version that look really, very hot. 

We saw a preview of Meta's holographic glasses, upcoming smart glasses that will overlay its interface and screen on top of the real world. The current version is only a prototype, and it is a bit large with a battery puck. But Zuckerberg seems confident that Meta will offer a shipping holographic glasses product soon. 

Zuck closes by thanking developers, and now we're moving onto other speakers, starting with the director of the movie the Kingsmen, Matthew Vaughn. He's talking about Meta Ray Ban smart glasses, making a movie only using the glasses, but first he had to gush about the project Orion holographic glasses. 

Now we're just watching Vaughn's movie. 

We're getting hands-on with all the new gear, but check out our Editor on the scene on TikTok while you wait! We go hands-on with the Meta Quest 3S to start. 

@techradar

♬ original sound - TechRadar

We've got all the Meta news that you need on TechRadar, including hands-on with the new conversational Meta AI, a look at the Meta Quest 3S, and news about Meta's project Orion glasses:

• I spoke to Meta AI and, yes, it can carry on a conversation
• Hands on: Meta Quest 3S review – an affordable mixed-reality headset that everyone might want
• Meta announces Orion, its first fully functional AR glasses prototype
• Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses are getting even more AI features

As I could have predicted, the show stealer from Meta Connect 2024, the product that everybody is still talking about hours after the keynote ended, were the transparent Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. The hot new look is a tech geek favorite, for sure, and I'd love to check these out in person myself, especially with the transition lenses. 

After that, there's a lot of discussion about the new Meta Quest 3S, of course, and comparing ... nope, everybody is still stuck on the glasses. They just look so cool! Too bad they aren't a bit more powerful, or long-lasting, or maybe 3D-hologram enabled. Oh well, maybe next time. 

Unfortunately, the new glasses cost $429 in the US, which is a premium over the other Wayfarer Ray-Ban Meta options. I'll have to stick with my boring old dumb glasses a bit longer.