The machine often known as Undertaking Phoenix is a brand new type issue for Meta.
Meta seems to have unintentionally proven off its upcoming blended actuality headset a bit forward of schedule. Photographs of the machine, which has been often known as “Undertaking Phoenix”, have surfaced they usually present a reasonably detailed take a look at the light-weight headset.
The photographs had been initially published by UploadVR, which discovered the recordsdata in a HorizonOS app Meta launched known as “HorizonOS Prescription Lens.” The app, which has since been eliminated, appears to be meant for individuals who want prescription inserts for the machine. However whereas Meta appears to have launched the app as a sort of “placeholder,” UploadVR discovered that it included picture recordsdata that clearly present the headset from completely different angles.
The photographs appear to match what now we have heard in regards to the blended actuality machine for more than a year. “Phoenix” is a special type issue than different Quest-branded {hardware} we have seen from Meta. It seems extra much like glasses-like gadgets like Xreal’s Aura headset. And one of many pictures clearly exhibits a cable, which strains up with earlier rumors that Phoenix will depend on a tethered connection to a separate puck.
One view we will not see within the new pictures is what the headset seems like from the entrance, so there are nonetheless some particulars we do not have. But it surely’s seemingly the entrance will embrace some sort of digicam setup, very like Xreal’s Aura, because the machine will reportedly depend on comparable hand-tracking controls quite than a devoted controller. As UploadVR notes, Meta is planning a session at Join that can cowl “a sensible information to controller-free interplay,” which would definitely match with what we have simply seen.
Meta did not instantly reply to a request for remark. However talking of Join, it now appears potential we might get our first official glimpse of Phoenix at Meta’s annual developer occasion, which kicks off September 23. The occasion, which began as a devoted VR convention, was light on VR and blended actuality information final yr because the firm’s display-enabled sensible glasses had been the star of the present. We’re nonetheless anticipating to listen to rather a lot in regards to the firm’s sensible glasses this yr. However given the timing of the Horizon updates that led to those pictures, it does look like Meta might have one thing massive deliberate for the occasion.
Whether or not we’ll truly get to see the headset in motion, although, is much less clear. Earlier reviews have instructed the machine will not be prepared till the primary half of 2027 after the corporate pushed again its unique timing. However even when Meta is not planning to promote the headset till subsequent yr, it might nonetheless make sense for them to tease the machine at Join.
