Meta’s next-gen Mirror Lake mixed reality headset prototype has been shown off in a brand new 3D render of the in-development device.
Meta Director of Display Systems Research Douglas Lanman revealed the Mirror Lake render of the new headset in a recent talk regarding the “Visual Turing Test in AR/VR”. Now only did he reveal the look of the new headset, but also revealed that its technology is already “achievable”.
“Here's a rendering - this is what I'll leave you on - of a device we felt a few years ago that is practical to build now,” Lanman said (via UploadVR). “Using Holocake, using multi-view eye tracking, using reverse passthrough, with hardware components that exist, we believe this headset which we call Mirror Lake, which is just a rendering here, is actually achievable."
The Meta Mirror Lake headset is a long-teased mixed reality device that will combine all of the company’s hardware and software features into one headset. Mirror Lake will combine seven years of advanced visual technology development in what will likely be a very expensive piece of kit.
Meta’s last expensive headset was the Meta Quest Pro, a $1,100 device that most fans didn’t want to buy, or couldn’t afford. After mere months, Meta discontinued the Quest Pro prior to the release of the Meta Quest 3.
Nevertheless, the Meta Quest 3 is now available to buy. While supply has been heavily cut due to poor initial sales, it seems that the device’s popularity is steadily increasing. At the time of writing, the headset is the fourth most popular headset for Steam PCVR users, but it doesn’t even scratch the popularity of the Meta Quest 2.
With its technological improvements over its predecessor, the Meta Quest 3 is a brilliant standalone VR headset. While most games have yet to get a Quest 3 update, the improvements to the headset itself is more than enough to justify the upgrade.