With Meta’s “Quest Pro” and Apple’s “Reality Pro” rumored to be launching late 2022 and early 2023 respectively, quite a large question remains over the demand and market for the next generation of headsets. Given that the headsets are taking a significant technological leap, being powered by mixed reality (the combination of virtual and augmented reality) what purpose do they serve and most importantly what problem is the product primarily designed to solve?
To understand this, we must look at the current generation of headsets. The major headset currently is the Meta Quest 2, which is primarily used and developed for entertainment and immersive experiences. There are development options on the Quest 2, but it is primarily for these entertainment experiences and is not well equipped to handle business and enterprise needs.
The biggest reason why the Quest 2 is generally not a viable enterprise option is because the technology of the headset is virtual reality only. This means to interact with others a user must create a virtual avatar and there is no denying that currently on any platform the authenticity of virtual avatars is simply not good enough. Even meeting virtually using a video camera using applications such as Microsoft Teams, Google Meet or Zoom for example is better than meeting with virtual avatars as while the experience itself may be immersive it is not authentic due to the inability to create life-like avatars. Combined with the occasional visual and audio glitches the meetings are too easily ruined.
This is where the next generation mixed reality headsets come in. With no official release on the features of these new headsets any discussion on what exactly they will do is pure speculation. However given that these headsets are heavily rumored to be aimed at businesses and enterprises rather than everyday consumers, it is likely they will offer a solution to bridging the quality gap between virtual and face to face meetings.
A significant hurdle for these new headsets will be the price tag as according to Kate Kozuch of tom’s guide the Quest Pro will be in the ball park of $1500 USD and according to Tom Pritchard of tom’s guide Apple’s headset in the ball park of $2000-$2500 USD.
For more information on mixed reality consider reading Mixed Reality For The Quest 2.
