Meta Connect 2024: How to watch and what to expect at the VR and AI extravaganza

Between the iPhone 16 and PS5 Pro launches, September is a big month for tech fans.

Get ready for more headsets that can help you get fit and kill demons (hopefully at the same time), smart glasses that look normal, and lots of AI chatbots, some of which may even look like celebrities.

Here’s what you need to know about Meta Connect 2024, including when it starts, how to set it up and what gadgets to watch out for.

Although it is a two-day conference held on September 25 to 26, the main event for most people is the essence of the opening day.

That’s when Meta’s head honcho Mark Zuckerberg will talk about his biggest launch, before handing the floor over to other executives, who will wax poetic about the company’s developer tools.

The keynote will begin on September 25th at 1:00 PM ET (6:00 PM WIB) and will last approximately one hour. This is when we will learn about what the public can buy and use, while other events will focus on software.

A big meta in open-source AI, allowing coders and app makers to use its powerful AI models for free, which in turn can help boost the system. So, expect most of the conference to focus on these initiatives.

If you want to watch the keynote and developer sessions live, you have two options. You can set up Facebook through the Meta for Developers page or immersive streaming on the Meta Quest headset with the Horizon Worlds app.

The latter is the company’s virtual playground, where you can chat and interact with others, play mini-games and watch videos on the big screen.

If you don’t have the app yet, you can download it from the Meta Horizons Store on your headset. The mobile version is also available on iPhone and Android, but you won’t get the widescreen experience.

The main event should also be available via Meta’s official YouTube channel after completion.

In Meta’s own words, the Connect core will showcase “the latest developments in mixed reality, AI and wearables”.

Expect Meta to offer big-tongued Llama model updates and celeb voices for the Meta AI chatbot, including the elegant inflections of Dame Judi Dench.

As much as we like to get excoriated by M, hardware announcements that sound the most exciting.

Top of the bill should be the rumored Meta Quest 3S, a cheaper version of a wireless VR headset that could make it more appealing to the masses.

The newcomer will have the same Snapdragon chip as the latest Meta Quest 3 glasses (and a ring-less controller), but with a less impressive display that is closer to the old Quest 2.

In the end, you should be able to play the latest VR games, including Meta Quest 3’s exclusive Batman: Arkham Shadow, even if the visuals don’t look great.

The battery and camera may be from an older headset, but you’ll still get color passthrough, so you can see your surroundings in more detail. It should also do wonders for games and augmented reality apps, which overlay digital objects on the real world.

The biggest caveat can be the size, with the outer shell that is said to be closer to the Quest 2, being larger than the Quest 3. It is almost impossible to deal with, considering the old headset can be worn for hours without causing any strain. .

To soften the blow, the Meta can cost around $300 (or £300 in the UK) for the 128GB storage model. As such, it should be cheaper than the PS VR 2 (which also requires a PS5 to work), the Xbox Series X, and less than half the price of the upcoming PS5 Pro.

Now, if the Meta could only catch up with higher-end games, the Quest 3S might end up on the Christmas wishlist.

Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses have become a sleeper hit, championed on social media by influencers, founders and Silicon Valley brothers. For years, the tech industry kept telling us that we should record everything with wearables for peepers, but no one was interested. Google Glass was scorned in 2013 and Snapchat lost millions on Spectacles.

All you have to do is team up with a fashion brand to create a pair of extended colors. Meta got the first one, and his decision to fasten the camera to Ray-Ban’s timeless Wayfarer (worn by everyone from Bob Dylan to Kate Middleton) was a masterstroke.

The Meta is now in its second-generation iteration, which lets you take and share photos and videos, listen to music through open-ear speakers, and livestream to Instagram.

On the Connect, we’re almost guaranteed to see an updated model with a better camera, longer battery life, and better AI functionality (although the latter isn’t available in the UK yet due to roadblocks).

Less likely is to see a third-generation version, codenamed Hypernova. You can even pair this with your phone to see notifications and other useful info on the small built-in display. Just don’t expect to see it in the wild until 2025 at the earliest.

Even more out of the company’s advanced augmented-reality glasses, by the name of Orion. In a bid to drum up hype, Meta may tease a concept version at Connect.

In addition to media recording capabilities, the futuristic specs will add computer-generated images to the wearer’s environment. You’ll be able to see the graphics through a pair of holographic-style displays, one for each eye.

It looks like Meta is aiming for the kind of high-powered AR technology found in the pricey Meta Quest Pro headset, but integrated into the bulky form factor of the glasses. Meta recently extended its partnership with EssilorLuxottica, the company behind Ray-Ban, and its Orion AR glasses are expected to be part of the deal.

In typical big-tech fashion, Zuckerberg’s right-hand man, Andrew Bosworth, described Orion as “the most advanced thing we’ve produced as a species” — a claim that would make any sane person spit out their tea. However, he also explained that Meta has no plans to sell it while it is in the prototype stage.

So, we can wait a long time and, in the way of the technology industry, it can be replaced by other trends before it.