\u201cVirtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. The future is coming, and we have a chance to build it together,\u201d said <\/span>Mark Zuckerberg<\/span><\/a> in March 2014.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s now been 10 years since Mark Zuckerberg announced the acquisition of Oculus and began pushing forward his vision of the metaverse in earnest. That\u2019s a decade of investment in Reality Labs, including futuristic research, continuous product development and a whole lot of prototypes.<\/span><\/p>\n Today, we\u2019re taking a step back to celebrate a decade of innovation, the people who had faith in this space long before it became mainstream and the community that\u2019s made it all possible.<\/span><\/p>\n It all started with a dev kit, a dream and a healthy amount of duct tape. Over 9,000 enthusiasts pledged a combined $2.4 million to help make the dream a reality. The Oculus team transported people from their living rooms to stand on top of a skyscraper and look a Tyrannosaurus rex in the eye \u2014 and we were just getting started.<\/span><\/p>\n Oculus Rift kicked off the modern VR era in March 2016, followed by our first-generation Touch controllers in December of that year. Touch opened up a new world of possibilities, like scaling a cliff face with your own hands in<\/span> The Climb<\/span><\/i><\/a> and gesturing to cast spells in<\/span> The Mage\u2019s Tale<\/span><\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n Oculus Go was our first standalone VR product, shipped in 2018. Starting at $199 USD, it offered dramatically improved visual clarity. Oculus Go gave people a front-row seat to concerts, movies and sporting events, while also letting them hang out with friends in ways that wouldn\u2019t be possible with today\u2019s smartphones.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Oculus Rift S launched in May 2019, incorporating the inside-out tracking technology that eliminated the need for external sensors. We saw the freedom that wireless, standalone headsets could offer, and then went all-in on all-in-one.<\/span><\/p>\n Then came Quest \u2014 the world\u2019s first standalone VR headset \u2014 in 2019. For the first time, people could freely explore virtual worlds, no wires required. We <\/span>welcomed even more people<\/span><\/a> into the fold with <\/span>Quest 2<\/span><\/a>. And we let them explore and interact with the virtual world using their own hands, thanks to <\/span>AI breakthroughs<\/span><\/a> in <\/span>hand tracking<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n We saw technological developments like<\/span> Passthrough<\/span><\/a> and<\/span> Air Link<\/span><\/a> in 2021, which lets people stream their PC VR games wirelessly to Quest over WiFi.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n With <\/span>Quest Pro<\/span><\/a> in October 2022, we introduced the world to compelling mixed reality, complete with eye tracking and Natural Facial Expressions. And just a year later, we introduced <\/span>Meta Quest 3<\/span><\/a>, the world\u2019s first mass-market mixed reality headset \u2014 letting people around the world seamlessly blend the virtual and physical worlds. <\/span>From learning piano at your kitchen table to dancing in a virtual Zumba studio or getting a courtside view of NBA games from your couch, Meta Quest 3 transforms your home into a space for endless new experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n Portal, Meta\u2019s smart home device, served up information, entertainment and more with a screen and AI-powered Smart Camera to keep people in the frame during video calls. An<\/span> award-winning playwright<\/span><\/a> used Portal to collaborate with actors and a director from 3,000 miles away.<\/span> Military families<\/span><\/a> used Portal to stay connected and enjoy Story Time during deployment. And<\/span> families living across the country used it to spend <\/span>quality time<\/span><\/a> together during the pandemic. While we\u2019ve since moved on to focus on other products, Portal was a smart home device ahead of its time and one of the first to integrate screens for video calling.<\/span><\/p>\n In September 2021, we launched <\/span>Ray-Ban Stories<\/span><\/a>, our first-generation smart glasses produced in partnership with EssilorLuxottica. With open-air audio, they were ideal for listening to music, catching up on podcasts and taking calls on the go. Ray-Ban Stories gave people a new way to capture the moment while staying fully present in it, thanks to hands-free capture of high-quality photos and videos.<\/span><\/p>\n In October 2023, we introduced the <\/span>Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses collection<\/span><\/a>. We integrated Meta AI on Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses in the US and optimized it for a hands-free experience. By saying \u201cHey Meta,\u201d people can engage with Meta AI to spark creativity, get information, and control their glasses \u2014 just by using their voice.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And thanks to AI, the glasses will keep getting better and smarter over time. New AI experiences are coming soon including multimodal AI, so the glasses can understand what you\u2019re seeing to provide helpful answers. Let\u2019s say it\u2019s dinnertime and you\u2019re out of ideas. You\u2019ll be able to lay out some ingredients on the counter and ask Meta AI to give you recipe suggestions. Or say you\u2019re traveling and come across a sign in German. You\u2019ll be able to look at the text and ask Meta AI to translate it for you on the fly.<\/span><\/p>\n Reality Labs Research was founded with an understanding of the importance of making big bets on extended time horizons. Our research teams are dedicated to pushing the state of the art forward: from<\/span> display systems<\/span><\/a> to<\/span> haptics<\/span><\/a> and beyond. And we regularly publish our work, sharing it with the broader research community so they have an opportunity to extend it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Our research and product teams are continuing to explore new areas that could become industry standard in the years to come, including <\/span>EMG<\/span><\/a>, hyper-realistic<\/span> Codec Avatars<\/span><\/a> and contextualized AI \u2014 all of which we believe will help people seamlessly interact with their devices and each other as the next great paradigm shift in computing takes hold.<\/span><\/p>\n This is where our two big bets as a company come together. While Quest 3 offers compelling mixed reality experiences, from fully immersive to those that let you interact with the physical world and digital content in tandem, and Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses give you access to the utility and entertainment of Meta AI, AR glasses will deliver the best of both worlds as these two technological paths converge.<\/span><\/p>\n Just like the smartphone didn\u2019t eliminate the laptop or desktop computer, AR glasses won\u2019t be the end of mixed reality headsets. Rather, we see a constellation of devices forming the fabric of the future. We believe the smart glasses we have now, on the road to full AR glasses, are going to have much broader appeal.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re building a new kind of computing platform that will help you better connect with the people and things you care about in a way that\u2019s much more natural and intuitive than what\u2019s possible with today\u2019s 2D screens. That means experiences that help you sync up with friends and family to work, learn, play, shop and create \u2014 as well as completely new experiences that don\u2019t easily fit into the mold of how we use computers and smartphones today.<\/span><\/p>\n Technology \u2014 especially technology that connects people \u2014 should be available to as many people as possible. That\u2019s the foundation of what we do, and it\u2019s core to our DNA. Innovation is all about delivering new breakthroughs \u2014 and to truly do that, you need to bring those breakthroughs to the masses.<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019re committed to continuing to build out in the open with partners who help pave the way. And we can\u2019t wait to see what the next 10 years have in store.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nThe Early Days of VR<\/span><\/h2>\n
Embarking on an Epic Quest<\/span><\/h2>\n
A Portal Into New Forms of Connection<\/span><\/h2>\n
Smart Phones Meet Smart Glasses<\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\nRelentless Research<\/span><\/h2>\n
And Speaking of AI<\/span><\/h2>\n