Meta Connect is coming soon, and as it is tradition for my blog, I’ll try to predict what is going to be announced this year! I love playing this guessing game, and it’s even more fun if you comment with your own predictions, either here or on my social media channels!
Let’s start with my predictions for the event…
Next-gen Meta MR headset launched
This is something we’re all almost sure about. Meta is going to launch a lightweight mixed-reality headset codenamed Phoenix, which is something similar to the Gravity XR reference design I tried in China. These “VR glasses” have been heavily leaked in the past months, and you can read everything we know about them in this very detailed article that Luna wrote on Upload VR. Long story short, we’re talking about a passthrough mixed-reality headset that is very lightweight and resembles bulky glasses. It should be connected to a puck that acts both as a battery and a computational unit. The expected FOV is around 90°; resolution should be 2.5K*2.5K per eye. It should work with hand tracking and eye tracking, with controllers being optional.
The headset should be meant mostly for media consumption and productivity. It should be a sort of lightweight Apple Vision Pro. The expected price should be around $1,000. Meta will likely open the preorders immediately, with shipping expected late 2026 or the beginning of 2027.
Most probably, attendees at Connect will be able to try this headset. If it happens, be sure that I’ll try it and immediately publish something about it.
New smartglasses announced
Given the success of smartglasses, it’s highly likely that Meta will announce new smartglass models. The Information leaked that Meta is working on some camera-less glasses codenamed Luna, and the stage of Connect seems like the right place to announce them. I’m pretty sure Meta will also spend some time to explain how it is doing its best to solve the bad reputation that smartglasses are gaining. The announcement of Luna could be shown as a move in this sense.
In my opinion, Meta could also unveil a new model of Meta Ray-Ban Display. A new model that improves the display (maybe making it stereo) and that is also available in more countries would be cool to see. But there hasn’t been any leak in this sense: this is only a speculation of mine.
Codec Avatars showcase
A leak by The Information said that Zuck and Boz should showcase on stage a “call” where they will be represented by full-body hyper-realistic Codec Avatars. I guess this leak makes sense: Meta created a lot of hype around its realistic Codec Avatars, but could not implement them because its only headset featuring eye tracking was the Quest Pro, which was a commercial failure. Because of this, Meta and Google were able to beat Meta on time. And Apple’s Personas have evolved to be so good that they can surely be considered the first realistic avatars that have been commercially released.
Now that Meta is launching Phoenix, a headset featuring eye tracking, it can now finally also release its Codec Avatars. I’m pretty sure these avatars will be shown on stage, and probably also announced as a feature of the new headset.
A new UX for HorizonOS
The user experience of Quest sucks. Let’s be honest about it. The interfaces suck, the navigator suck, the store sucks. Meta acknowledged that, and that’s why it hired Alan Dye, the legendary designer who invented the “liquid glass” interface at Apple. And I guess that its work in redesigning the UX of Horizon OS will be showcased at Connect.
There are a few reasons that make me think this is going to happen. The first is that a new headset with a new control scheme is being launched, so HorizonOS needs an overhaul to support it anyway. Then, considering that there is no budget for new content at Meta, the best thing the company can do is to give value to the existing content, and this implies improving the usability of the headset. And then, some data leaker (Nori, to be exact) found some blurred images of what looked like a new version of the HorizonOS operating system.
I really hope this happens, because we need more usability on Meta MR headsets.
A very vague hint to Quest 4
Unveiling or even explicitly teasing a Quest 4 would not be a good move, in my opinion. Because of the Osborne effect, if Meta said “We are launching Quest 4 next year”, this would hurt the sales of Quest 3/3S, because people would wait for the new model instead of buying the current one. Plus, the focus of the event is launching Phoenix, and announcing two headsets in the same event would be a mess. So I think they had better not do it.
But I think they’ll give a very vague hint to show they are working on some new headset for gamers. I mean a sentence like “Phoenix is a device for media consumption, but we are also cooking something for gamers, and we’ll update you in the future”. Something to show us that something is coming, but vague enough not to impact too much the sales of Quest 3.
A smartwatch?
According to The Information, Meta may also launch a new smartwatch soon, codenamed Malibu 2. The smartwatch could act as a fitness and health tracker, and could also connect to Meta smartglasses and headsets.
I personally don’t think it would be a good idea, because the smartwatch market is saturated enough and no one is waiting for a new device from Meta. But if it integrated the EMG technology used by the Meta Ray-Ban Display, it could make some sense.
Muse AI assistant
AI AI AI AI AI. All companies are always talking about this during their keynotes to make investors happy. Meta is investing a lot in AI, so I guess it will spend a good part of the keynote talking about AI and how AI integrates with XR.
Meta recently announced Muse AI, an assistant that can help the user everywhere, and I guess that at Connect, Meta will announce that Muse AI will be integrated into the new Phoenix headset and all the smartglasses models. Apple announced Siri AI on the Vision Pro, Google integrated Gemini in all its XR offerings, and Snap just unveiled SPECS Intelligence. To me, it’s natural that Meta will put AI in all its headsets and glasses. Most probably the glasses will integrate some Meta AI assistant that is able to answer your questions, remind you of your appointments, and proactively make good suggestions (e.g., about where to eat).
I know, no one asked for it, like no one asked for AI being integrated in all products that we use, but hey, these are the times that we are living.
Some fluff about VR content
Meta has cut a lot of investment in VR content, causing many studios to shut down. So I think it will want to show that, notwithstanding this, their VR ecosystem is still going well. I expect a lot of fluff about Meta still investing in content and some numbers showing the big number of games on Quest and some cherrypicked examples of successful games.
But I don’t expect much more funding to come, unless it is in the form of a contest or a hackathon, where they can put a limited budget and attract games from dozens of developers.
And I don’t expect some new bombastic VR games to be announced, considering that Meta in the past months already killed some VR projects that would have been awesome.
James Cameron’s movies and more
There is only one type of VR content that I expect on stage: a movie by James Cameron. Meta has a partnership with James Cameron, and last year at Connect, because of this, we all had to listen to that boring chat between Boz and Mr.Cameron. The new headset is made for media consumption, so Meta has to show some exciting media for it. I wouldn’t be surprised if some high-quality VR video production is coming together with the launch of the headset. It could also be used to demo the Phoenix headset with the press.
It would make sense if Meta also announced some partnerships related to sports (e.g., NBA pass) so that to let users watch sports matches in an immersive way with their new headset.
Some funding for smartglasses content
I think there is a chance we may see some funding programs for content for smartglasses. Meta already provided some grants this year to some US companies to make content or research on glasses. At Connect, it may start a new program of this kind, offering a pool of like $2M to some interesting projects involving glasses, hoping to find new use cases for them. I really hope this happens… and of course if it happens, I’ll apply immediately.
New tools for developers
There is always some announcement related to developer tools. I’d bet mostly on two things:
- Vibecoding tools for mixed reality applications for the new Phoenix headset
- Improved development tools for smartglasses
Michael Abrash on stage
Abrash will probably go on stage and say something to support the current tech strategy of the company. Maybe he’ll show some progress on exciting technologies like AI, Codec Avatars, and Gaussian Splats.
A new PC VR headset
Ok, I’m joking. The probabilities of Meta announcing a new PC VR headset are the same as the sun freezing today. But hey, a man can dream…
And that’s it for my predictions for Meta Connect! Do you agree with them? Do you think I forgot something? Let me know in the comments or on my social media channels!
(Header image by Meta, leaked by Luna)