Meta Connect 2023: What to expect
Meta Connect 2023 is just around the corner. What does the most important VR/AR conference have in store this year?
The conference will be held on September 27-28, 2023, and for the first time since 2019, it will be held over two days and with an in-person presence. The venue is also new, as Meta Connect 2023 will be held for the first time at Meta's headquarters in Menlo Park, California. Those unable to attend will be able to follow the conference on social channels. Details to be announced.
As always, Meta Connect will kick off with a keynote from Mark Zuckerberg, who will be joined by key figures from Reality Labs and, according to the program, "very special guests."
The keynote and conference will focus on Meta Quest 3, the next-generation consumer headset that was announced in early June and will be fully unveiled at Meta Connect. We expect the release date to be announced along with the launch of preorders.
Connect 2023 will be all about Quest 3 and Mixed Reality
Many new VR games are likely to be announced during the keynote, along with new mixed reality apps.
Mixed reality will be the main focus of the conference, and you can expect Meta to take a deep dive into new and improved Presence Platform APIs. In general, Meta Connect will focus on the new technical capabilities of Meta Quest 3.
What else might be announced at the keynote? We hope for:
- News on Meta's Horizon Worlds platform and Meta Avatars.
- An update on the Microsoft partnership, which has yet to bear fruit.
- An announcement of the second generation Ray-Ban Stories.
If Meta stays true to tradition, the keynote will conclude with a look at the near and distant future of VR and AR technology. Whether Meta will show its first AR glasses is questionable. But at least there could be a teaser.
Interesting presentations and panels
The keynote will be followed by a "Developer State of the Union," which is an update on the current state of the Quest ecosystem. Unfortunately, John Carmack will not be giving one of his famous unscripted talks this year.
Over the next two days, numerous presentations and panels will take place. One of these presentations ("Meta Quest 3: Realizing Your Creative Potential") will focus exclusively on Meta Quest 3 and its "cutting-edge capabilities," while another will focus on Mixed Reality ("Finding the Fun with Mixed Reality"). You'll hear directly from developers pioneering these next-generation experiences.
Also of interest will be a panel on inputs and interaction ("Action, Reaction: Turning Inputs Into Interactions") and a talk on performance optimization ("State of Compute: Maximizing Performance on Meta Quest") by Neel Bedekar. Bedekar and his team developed Application Spacewarp and are responsible for the two performance boosts Meta Quest received in the past year.
Note: Links to online stores in articles can be so-called affiliate links. If you buy through this link, MIXED receives a commission from the provider. For you the price does not change.
