Innovative Tech Showcase: Meta Connect 2024 Highlights

Meta Connect 2024 is a developer-centric event featuring a keynote from CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He showcased new hardware and software to support two of Meta’s big ambitions: AI and the metaverse. This included everything from new Quest headsets, updates to Meta’s Llama AI model, and even a new fully AR glasses prototype.

Meta Connect 2024 kicked off live at 10 a.m. PT Wednesday, September 25. You can watch the archive via Meta Connect’s site, on Meta’s developer Facebook page, and you can still dive into Horizon Worlds from your Meta Quest headset if you really want to feel the full immersion.

We’ll be compiling all of the announcements and reveals out of Meta Connect 2024 below and will keep it updated throughout the event and after as more reactions and analysis arrive.

Meta reveals Orion, “the most advanced glasses the world has ever seen”

In a surprise announcement, Zuckerberg dramatically revealed Orion, which Meta says will eventually become the company’s “first consumer full holographic AR glasses,” though they won’t be arriving on any consumers’ faces anytime soon. Touting Orion’s light weight, compatibility for hand-tracking and eye-tracking, and most ambitiously, a neural interface, Zuckerberg also touted some impressed, and famous, early testers (including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang). The Orion glasses were presented as the future of Meta’s AR efforts, with our own ongoing coverage of Meta Connect’s final big reveal here.

Meta’s Quest 3S headset launches for $299

Meta’s reveal of the Quest 3S was indicated by several pre-event leaks and confirmed during Connect 2024. The Meta Quest 3S comes as a less expensive alternative to the Quest 3, starting at $299 for a 128GB version and 256GB for $399. The entirely wireless headset is compatible with the existing library of Quest apps and games, though Meta was particularly enthusiastic about its mixed-reality features. With the reveal of the Quest 3S, the Quest 3 will drop from $649 to $499. Get our early impressions of the new Quest 3S here ahead of its October 15 ship date.

Quest 2, Quest Pro discontinued

“With Quest 3S on the shelf, we’re officially winding down sales of Quest 2 and Pro. We’ll be selling our remaining headsets through the end of the year or until they’re gone, whichever comes first,” Meta told TechCrunch about the discontinuation of two of their headsets in the wake of the Quest 3S announcement.

Meta AI gets vocal

Meta AI is finding its voice. Users can ask a question or otherwise chat with Meta AI out loud through Messenger, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram and get simulated vocal responses in return. The digital voice assistant will roll out with multiple voice options to choose from, including the AI voices of celebrities like Dame Judi Dench, John Cena, Awkwafina, Kristen Bell, and Keegan-Michael Key.

The reveal comes a day after OpenAI announced the long-awaited rollout of its Advanced Voice Mode feature, with a new look and five new voices. And speaking of vocal announcements, Zuckerberg touted that Meta AI now has 500 million users.

Meta’s Llama 3.2 AI model released

Meta’s multilingual Llama family of models has reached version 3.2, signifying that several Llama models are now multimodal. Llama 3.2 11B and 90B can interpret charts and graphs, caption images, and pinpoint objects in pictures given a simple description.

Llama 3.2 11B and 90B might be able to look at a map of a park and tell you how long a certain path is, or when the terrain could become steeper. Or, provided a graph showing a company’s revenue over the course of a year, the models can quickly spotlight the best-performing months of the bunch.

Notably, Llama 3.2 11B and 90B can’t be accessed in Europe due to the EU’s Act restrictions. As a result, several Meta AI features available elsewhere, like image analysis, are disabled for European users.

Ray-Ban’s Meta sunglasses get real-time AI video and reminders

Ray-Ban’s Meta smart glasses are getting upgrades as the company continues to try and make the case that the smart glasses can become the next big consumer device. At the forefront of the pitch is the addition of real-time AI video processing, which lets you to ask the Ray-Ban Meta glasses questions about what it can see in front of you.

The sunglasses will also be getting a smartphone-like reminder feature; live language translation between English and French, Italian, or Spanish; and full integration with music streaming apps like Amazon Music, Audible, and iHeart Radio.

Yes, we know what Zuckerberg’s shirt says

Zuckerberg’s evolution into a self-made fashionista was on full display during Meta Connect, with a shirt that spelled out: “Act Zuck aut nihil,” which for those not well versed in Latin, translates to “either Zuck or nothing.” The phrase is originally associated with Roman Emperor Julius Caesar, further cementing Zuckerberg as a Rome Guy.

Meta AI explores visual search

In a feature that will be familiar to anyone following OpenAI, Google, and Apple’s application of image-based searches, Meta showcased its AI’s capacity to respond to prompts based on images, as well as edit photos provided to the AI based on feedback given by the user. It can also share them to Instagram Stories.

More AI in your Facebook feeds

If you’re on Facebook, you’ve probably seen a lot of AI recently, knowingly or unknowingly. There’s an entire nascent industry around using it to generate engagement bait. Earlier this month, the label noting whether content has been edited using Meta’s tools was shrunk down. And now Facebook will actually pitch you on AI content that it generates for you that it thinks you’ll want to share or engage with.

Tests for translated, dubbed content from creators

Going a step beyond just translating captions, Meta announced a test that would use its AI translation tools to take creator content, create a translated dub, and sync the creator’s lips accordingly. So far, the experiment is limited to creator videos made in the U.S. and Latin America, with translations between English and Spanish.

In what ended up being a surreal moment, Zuckerberg brought on creator Don Allen Stevenson III for a conversation on the stage, which then turned into a demo during which Zuckerberg interviewed an AI version of Stevenson while the real deal was right beside him.

Meta’s new VR pitch for mobile devs

Amid the big AI reveals and hardware and announcements, Meta did dive into the broader purpose of Connect — building ties with its community of developers. As it continues to pitch developers on helping build out the Quest app store’s offerings, Meta released new support for Android apps on the Quest, along with support for 3D and spatial apps.

Batman, Wordle, and the rest of the games announcements

A number of new experiences were revealed for the Quest ecosystem at Meta Connect 2024, led by Batman: Arkham Shadow, which launches October 22 and will also be bundled with new Quest 3 and 3S purchases until April of next year. Beyond games with familiar concepts like Alien: Rogue Incursion for Xenomorph-filled horror and a remake of the zombie game Arizona Sunshine, Wordle of all things was announced for the Quest. The VR version of the daily puzzle will be free to play without a New York Times subscription.