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2023-09-27T18:00:23.876Z

Meta Connect 2023 with a wall of AI personas behind Mark Zuckerberg.

(Image credit: Meta)

Meta’s rumored AI personas have just been confirmed! These different AI will have personalities based on different needs you might have.

Viktor is a fitness expert who can give you customized workouts, while Dylan can help you come up with costume designs for Halloween. There’s also a Snoop Dogg Dungeon Master that will take you on a text-based adventure game, and voice is apparently coming sometime in 2023.

2023-09-27T17:56:54.895Z

Meta Connect 2023

(Image credit: Meta)

Meta is teaming up with Microsoft so that its AI models based on Llama 2 (its large language model) can access the internet with Bing. This sounds a lot like Bing Chat which was made using ChatGPT.

This should help make it better at answering a wider range of questions as it won’t be limited to just the data Meta has trained it on. Though giving AI internet access can be a double-edged sword given how much misinformation is out there.

2023-09-27T17:52:55.812Z

Meta Connect 2023

(Image credit: Meta)

Instagram is getting AI editing tools via Emu to help you make your images look wild.

On stage, Zuckerberg showed a photo of his dog turning from a regular image to one that showed it as an origami sculpture, and there was an old photo of Zuckerberg that was edited to show him in a range of outfits using Emu.

2023-09-27T17:50:54.011Z

Meta Connect 2023

(Image credit: Meta)

Emu is the name of Meta’s image generation AI tool, and it can apparently create pictures in five seconds which seems lightning fast.

And with Emu, you’ll be able to create custom stickers for you’ll Meta Messenger chats.

2023-09-27T17:49:20.972Z

It’s AI time, and Meta is showing off the “state of the art AI” its been working on, and plans to introduce to its suite of popular apps such as Facebook, Instagram and Threads.

2023-09-27T17:48:31.104Z

Meta Connect 2023

(Image credit: Meta)

If you want to get the full run-down of the new headset you can check out our hands on Meta Quest 3 review.

It’s on preorder right now and it will be launching on October 10 for $499.99 / £479.99 for 128GB or $649.99 / £619.99 for 512GB. It has a powerful XR 2 Gen 2 chipset, 8GB of RAM, and a super slim design that’s comfy to wear (based on my short experience with the headset so far).

2023-09-27T17:45:52.216Z

No one is as excited about Horizon Worlds as the Meta Connect crowd, didn’t expect it to get a bigger cheer than Assassin’s Creed in VR…

2023-09-27T17:44:44.232Z

Meta Connect 2023

(Image credit: Meta)

Augments are coming the Meta Quest 3 and they’re like mixed reality widgets. They offer you a huge range of different uses like portals to your favorite experiences, a floating media player for a radio station, and a readout of your local weather conditions.

Bets of all your Quest 3 will remember where you put them between sessions.

I haven’t tried them out yet but I’m really excited to.

2023-09-27T17:42:07.089Z

YES! Xbox Game streaming is coming to the Quest 3 in December. So you’ll be able to play Xbox games in VR on a massive virtual screen.

2023-09-27T17:41:04.312Z

Mixed reality is a massive improvement on the Quest 3, and Mark is right; it’s something else to play Stranger Things VR with portals seemingly appearing in tears in your living room walls.

2023-09-27T17:39:53.881Z

Meta Connect 2023

(Image credit: Meta)

The Meta Quest 3 is here! You can check out our thoughts on the Meta Quest 3 announcement or stay here for some of the key details from the announcement.

2023-09-27T17:38:08.070Z

Meta Connect 2023

(Image credit: Meta)

Smart glasses? Is Meta going to show off new AR specs?

Its first foray into this field was the Ray-Ban Stories, though they aren’t AR-capable, they’re just wearable cameras. Maybe it has something more akin to the Xreal Airs up its sleeve.

2023-09-27T17:36:17.171Z

Zuckerberg looks to be building on this idea of mixed reality, a world that merges real world and digital world interaction.

We’re probably a little far from interactive holograms, but hey maybe Meta Holo is getting announced today.

2023-09-27T17:33:56.978Z

Mark Zuckerberg on stage at Meta Connect 2023

(Image credit: Meta)

Meta Connect has started! Finally.

Mark Zuckerberg has taken to the stage, lets see what VR and AI announcements for us. Perhaps the difficulties have been because of the return to a live presentation.

2023-09-27T17:31:30.881Z

Ah wait, it’s back!

Here’s a Facebook link if you want to catch it.

2023-09-27T17:30:42.521Z

And now the stream seems to have ended, technical difficulties are running rampant today it seems.

2023-09-27T17:28:41.946Z

A screen showing Meta Connect will begin in 2:06.

(Image credit: Meta)

The countdown now has fun, seemingly AI-generated objects for numbers.

AI will also be a focus for Meta at Connect 2023 as it looks to show off its answer to big players in the space like ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Dall-E, and Google Bard.

2023-09-27T17:26:20.365Z

A screen showing Meta Connect will begin in 5:02.

(Image credit: Meta)

Only five minutes more until Meta Connect 2023 begins, if this new countdown clock can be believed that is!

2023-09-27T17:22:10.534Z

The Meta Quest 3 VR headset and controller

(Image credit: Meta)

We also know that the Meta Quest 3 boasts a 40% slimmer design than the Quest 2, though it’s unclear if it’ll be lighter or just smaller than its predecessor.

This slimmed-down design will be thanks to its pancake lens optical system. These lenses were also used by the Meta Quest Pro and not only offer visual enhancements over the Ques 2’s Fresnel lenses, but they’re more compact to boot.

The controllers will have a trimmed-down design as well as they lack a tracking ring like the one found on the Quest 2 handsets. The Quest Pro also dumped the tracking ring but replaced it with tracking cameras built into its controllers; the Quest 3’s controllers seem to lack these cameras so I’m admittedly a little worried about them. Hopefully, Meta has an accurate tracking system worked out otherwise its new handsets might be a downgrade.

2023-09-27T17:14:13.951Z

Meta Quest 3

(Image credit: Meta)

While we wait, let’s recap some of the Meta Quest 3 details we do know.

First off, the price of the cheapest 128GB model will be $499 / £499 which is up a decent amount from the launch price of the Oculus Quest 2 at £299 / $299 / AU$479.

It’s unclear how many different models of Quest 3 there will be, but we expect at least one more with either 256GB or 512GB of storage at a higher price than the base model. Our best guess would put it around $599 / £599 or potentially up to $699 / £699 but we’ll have to wait and see what Meta announces.

2023-09-27T17:06:06.845Z

Meta Connect live stream screen with a timer reading 29:14

(Image credit: Meta)

Oops, maybe we spoke too soon, it looks like Meta Connect 2023 is going to be delayed by about 30 minutes folks!

Things now look set to start at 6:30 pm BST / 10:30 am PST / 1:30 pm EST.

2023-09-27T17:01:25.611Z

Xbox 360 games on a black background

(Image credit: Xbox)

Less than one minute until Meta Connect starts. I’m really hoping we see more of Meta’s AR tech, and some more details about its partnership with Microsoft.

I really want to play Xbox in VR, but its been a whole year since we heard anything.

2023-09-27T16:58:33.212Z

The Apple Vision Pro headset on a stand at the Apple headquarters

(Image credit: Future)

The Meta Quest 3 is launching in a very different VR world than when the Quest 2 was released. VR is way more mainstream, and now massive names like Apple are starting to get involved with the likes of the Apple Vision Pro.

Apple’s headset is set to launch at roughly seven times the price of the Quest 3 so the two gadgets aren’t exactly in direct competition with each other. But Apple is a very recognisable name and when it enters a new market people pay attention.

Meta’s Quest 3 is a chance for it to win back the VR spotlight, and in a few minutes, we’ll see what it has in store for us.

2023-09-27T16:47:14.312Z

Meta Connect 2023 is here! I’m Hamish and I’ll be with you for the next hour or so as Meta takes us through all of its VR and AI announcements. The biggest of which will be the Meta Quest 3 VR headset.

I’m super excited to see this new device, especially its mixed reality capabilities, as this seems to be a major focus for Meta. The Meta Quest Pro left a lot to be desired in this department, though, so the Quest 3 needs to be a big improvement if it wants to convince us that mixed reality is the future of XR tech.

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