Yesterday, a Facebook video emerged showing a hotel worker finding an abandoned pre-release model of the Meta Quest Pro, formally known as Project Cambria, a mixed reality (MR) headset.
The major leak comes ahead of Meta Connect, where the Menlo Park-based firm plans to debut the device on October 11th officially.
Just in! Meta Quest Pro unboxing video leaked ahead of launch. pic.twitter.com/Mrq7FPhAKk
— Nathie (@NathieVR) September 12, 2022
The video shows the entire MR device, including controllers and its packaging. The Meta Quest Pro has a single strengthened head strap and various outward-facing sensors. Additionally, the device’s controllers do not feature a tracking ring like its Meta Quest predecessors. Other than that, the controller features an identical button layout.
The hotel worker briefly shows the back of the headset’s packaging during the video. The back of the box reveals the headset, controllers, and a third unidentified accessory. The third accessory appears to be a circular device which may contribute to tracking or the Quest Pro’s MR functionality.
A screenshot of the device’s packaging PHOTO: Ramiro Cardenas
Breaking Connect
The news comes just a month ahead of Meta Connect, an online showcase on October 11th. Last Tuesday, the CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, also teased a glimpse of the upcoming device when announcing Connect 2022.
Zuckerberg’s Meta Quest Pro social media post PHOTO Mark Zuckerberg
Formerly known as Facebook Connect, Meta Connect is a yearly online showcase for the firm’s hardware and software ambitions.
At last year’s event, Meta rebranded itself and showcased its increased extended reality (XR) goals, including the first mentions of the Quest Pro and the recently debuted Horizon: Worlds Metaverse.
New Immersive Future
Meta is releasing the more powerful Pro device alongside its development of a Metaverse which supports monetised user-created content. Meta is also leveraging the Horizon Worlds Metaverse as a solution for education, collaboration, and digital live events.
The Meta Quest Pro is an MR device that uses onboard cameras to display full-colour passthrough augmented reality (AR) visualisations.
Previous Quest models only supported virtual reality (VR) applications, reserving passthrough for safety features. However, developers started experimenting with black and white AR visualisations towards the end of the Meta Quest’s lifetime.
To power its MR functionalities, Meta Quest Pro uses the Presence Platform operating system (OS), which supports real-time 3D (RT3D) AR graphics.
In May, Zuckerberg donned a blurred-out Meta Quest device and played The World Beyond, an MR demo for the headset.
Mark Zuckerberg just shared a first look at what mixed reality experiences will be like on Project Cambria, our high-end VR headset coming out later this year.
Learn more 👉 https://t.co/OPUEM9OZnn pic.twitter.com/EJcgrShqlO
— Meta Newsroom (@MetaNewsroom) May 12, 2022
Meta’s upcoming headset will also contain a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 processor, pancake lenses, 2160×2160 resolution per eye, 90 Hz refresh rates, dynamic foveated rendering, 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM, 256GB storage, and six degrees of freedom.
