Meta's VR Headset Roadmap Leaks: Ambitious And Priced To Match

A recent leak suggests that Meta is continuing its push into the VR "metaverse" with a series of VR headsets that are vastly different from anything the social media megacorp has pushed out to consumers thus far. According to a report from The Information on May 2, 2022, these ambitions expand all the way to 2024, and there are evidently four different VR headsets in the works, beginning with the long-rumored and tentatively-titled Project Cambria.

Whereas the Meta Quest 2 is geared toward entertainment and gaming, it sounds like Project Cambria is very much designed to fill the enterprise VR niche that has traditionally been met by competing brands, such as Varjo – which has offered its own "professional-grade" Aero headset at an MSRP of $1990 since October 2021.

The unnamed sources who spoke to The Information reported a ballpark MSRP of $800 for the upcoming Project Cambria headset, but UploadVR reportedly clarified this information with a source at Meta, who suggested that $800 is a generous (and highly unlikely) estimate. By comparison, the base Meta Quest 2 costs $300.

It sounds like Project Cambria will become available to the public in September 2022, which coincides with the window in which Meta usually hosts its Connect conference. Meta Connect has traditionally been the place to hear about new Meta headsets; the first Quest was announced at Meta Connect 5 in September 2018, whereas the Quest 2 was surprise-announced and subsequently released to the public during Meta Connect 7 in September 2020.

Project Cambria isn't the only upcoming VR headset from Meta. The Information indicated that four total VR headsets are planned for release between now and the end of 2024, and they're split evenly between successors to the current Meta Quest product line, Project Cambria, and a successor to Project Cambria that already has a working title: Funston.

Additionally, it sounds like Meta plans to release its first pair of AR glasses, codenamed Project Nazare, at some point in 2024. There's even a successor planned for that device, and it sounds like that's set to release at some point in 2026.

The headset that we know the most about is Project Cambria, first teased by Meta in a video from October 27, 2021, as we've displayed above. We noted in April that Project Cambria reportedly contains dual 2.48-inch, 2160 x 2160 pixel Mini LED panels that can display 4K resolution with the rich colors and high contrast afforded by Mini LED technology. The design is much sleeker-looking as well, boasting a compact chassis that could even be described as fashionable, with its glossy black finish and unobtrusive layout that seemingly features two tracking cameras on the front panel.

Project Cambria is described by Meta employees as a "laptop for the face," per The Information. It will run on an Android-based operating system, similar to the one already used by the Meta Quest and Quest 2, but will also supposedly feature its own enterprise-focused apps.