After unveiling the Meta 2 augmented reality headset at TED 2016 last month, Meta has now made that headset available for pre-order. The company stresses that this is a development kit, and not intended for consumer use - and with its US$949 pre-order price tag, that much should be clear from the outset.
Despite its dev kit status, the Meta 2 boasts some impressive stats. The headset offers a 2560x1440 resolution display with a 90-degree diagonal field of view. It has a front-facing 720p camera, and includes hand tracking and positional tracking capabilities without the need for extra controllers or sensors. Also integrated into the headset are inertial measurement units and near-ear speakers.
Though Meta's TED 2016 showing was conceptually impressive, it wasn't until we saw UploadVR post raw video of the Meta 2's AR display, shot with an iPhone looking through its lens, that we realised the Meta 2 wasn't just smoke and mirrors.
Road To VR's recent hands-on time with the headset confirms this, as the site has many positive things to say about the units holographic display and increased field of view. However, the unit's hand tracking and positional tracking were the most disappointing aspects of the experience: "If you turn your head about the scene with any reasonable speed, you’ll see the AR world become completely de-synced from the real world as the tracking latency simply fails to keep up," the site reports.
However, this is what a development kit is for, and we have no doubt future iterations of the Meta 2 AR headset will attempt to address these factors. Meta estimates pre-orders will begin to ship in Q3 of this year.
