Mark Zuckerberg confirms new Meta VR headset will launch in October

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed that Meta’s next virtual reality headset will arrive in October. Zuckerberg made the comments on Joe Rogan’s podcast, indicating the device — almost certainly the headset codenamed “Project Cambria” — will likely launch around the company’s annual Connect event.

“For the next device that’s coming out in October, there’s a few big features,” Zuckerberg said, discussing VR at the beginning of the podcast. He proceeded to describe new social options that would be enabled by eye and facial tracking. “The ability to now have kind of eye contact in virtual reality,” Zuckerberg said as part of the feature list. “Have your face be tracked so that way your avatar — it’s not just this still thing, but if you smile or if you frown or if you pout, or whatever your expression is, have that translate in real time to your avatar.”

That’s consistent with what we know of Project Cambria, which is supposed to have a high-resolution color screen, internal sensors for eye tracking, and sophisticated passthrough augmented reality. As Bloomberg reported last month, leaked code suggests the device could be called the Meta Quest Pro. Whatever it’s ultimately called, Cambria will sit alongside the lower-end Meta Quest — although Meta is reportedly already planning its next generation of both headsets. It’s separate from a still-nascent lineup of Meta augmented reality glasses.

Cambria is supposed to be “significantly” more expensive than the existing Quest, which recently got a price hike to $399. Meta had previously stated that the device will be released sometime this year.