![]() ![]() It’s not a new concept – the word was first coined by Neal Stephenson in 1992 in his novel Snow Crash to describe an alternative 3D connected reality.īut the ideas that are shaping the metaverse are now emerging fast as Big Tech companies like Meta, Microsoft and Apple invest hundreds of billions of dollars to bring about its future. You might also use it to collaborate, socialise, game, work, exercise, morph into an exotic animal, or teleport to a virtual Jupiter. In the metaverse, you might take a class personalised to your educational needs, acquire job skills in an immersive environment or visit a virtual pharmacy to get advice. It's a vision for a network of digital worlds through which we will navigate seamlessly using virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) devices to connect with others. One thing that does seem certain, though: There are a lot of new VR headsets coming in 2023, and they're coming soon.Put simply the metaverse could be described as the next phase of progression for the internet. In 2023, I'm interested in seeing if they can be more. They have proved some successes: for design, for simulations, for gaming, even for fitness. Sony, Meta, possibly Apple and whoever else shows up next year need to do this, because VR/AR headsets aren't necessary tools for everyone yet. New apps need to emerge that can show what a seamless 3D virtual world can do for us. They need to work better with prescription glasses (I find many headsets don't fit with my glasses, or can't accommodate my prescription). The next wave of VR and AR headsets need to be better at what they do: to be better game consoles have more comfortable displays, more useful controllers and ways to interact be more interconnected with the apps and devices we already have be more portable and more accessible. Not everyone's been interested, and the Quest's not fully up to the challenge. Meta's tried to flex the Quest to be more. VR headsets are mostly clever, limited-use game consoles for most people. It's not "what if," it's "what else can I do?". ![]() Scott Stein/CNET Will people care enough to wear them?Īs I ask myself whether VR headsets really have a future in people's homes, I'm distracted by my 14-year-old son, who's literally playing a VR game on the Quest 2 right next to me. ![]() But it doesn't mean I use it all the time. Will 2023 be a year for showing surprise products? Samsung hasn't had a new AR or VR device in years, either, even though the company was a VR pioneer with Gear VR and tends to jump into markets early with bold experimental products. Google has been laying low with AR and VR for years since its discontinued Google Daydream platform, but recent efforts like Project Starline and assistive smart glasses show there's exploration going on. Can Apple do the same with VR and AR? It's a far greater challenge, especially with the technical questions and the expected price (well over $1,000, possibly several thousand), as well as the recession climate we're in globally.Įven more interesting to me is who else comes out of the woodwork alongside Apple. Apple's products tend to disrupt and take over categories: the iPhone, the iPad, the Apple Watch, AirPods. So, what will it be like? James Martin/CNET Here comes AppleĪpple's long-expected headset, likely to be VR with mixed-reality capabilities similar to what the Quest Pro provides, could shake up the landscape like nothing else since the Oculus Rift. But it's not the ideal set of AR glasses: it runs on a more powerful dedicated processor connected to a belt-mounted mini-computer that it's tethered to, and its single controller is fine for basic controls but not necessarily for full immersive interaction.Īpple's expected to have a VR/AR device in 2023. It also, amazingly, dims out the world – a bit like a pair of sunglasses. The hardware is considerably better, and it maps overlaid, glowing virtual objects onto the real world with a greater field of view. The Magic Leap 2, a follow-up to the original Magic Leap headset that debuted back in 2018, has pivoted from a device targeted at the masses to a headset for business. Both show that there still is no ideal form for The Next Headset yet, but we're slowly getting closer to a consensus on how the devices might do it. Both are trying to become more comfortable, and more reliable. One is trying to approach the future of mixed reality from the AR side the other is coming to mixed reality from the VR side. The two headsets that made the biggest impact on me this year bookended 2022: Magic Leap 2 and Meta Quest Pro. Magic Leap 2, Meta Quest Pro: A mixed-reality future coming
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