The US social media giant is rolling out a range of AI capabilities on its own and others’ devices as it continues to plot a future in virtual worlds.
The US social media giant will in a matter of months release generative AI capabilities on its Quest 3 virtual reality headset as well as its Rayban smart sunglasses – with AI capability already available on its Rayban glasses in the US.
That feature is working a lot like Siri and Alexa, allowing users to ask their glasses – via the verbal prompt “hey Meta” – questions about what they’re seeing in front of them as well being able to control certain functions like its WhatsApp video call feature. Those features will be made available in Australia later this year.
The introduction of AI capabilities in the Quest 3 arrives as the company continues on a path toward the metaverse – a term describing a virtual world accessible by VR headsets and computers.
While the talk of the metaverse ran wild in 2022, when major corporations including JP Morgan forked out hundreds of thousands on plots of virtual land in certain games including The Sandbox, the term has since been all but overshadowed by the rise of artificial intelligence.
Meta is envisioning a slightly different path to the metaverse than what had been previously talked about when one company controlled what was referred to as the game, the platform on which the metaverse was held, and sold blocks of land, tools and accessories including clothing to users.
Visitors test Meta Quest 3 goggles at the Hanover technology fair in Germany last month. Picture: AFP
The company is shifting in a direction in which users can generate different versions of themself and other characters with AI as well as change the metaverse itself and features in the game including land or homes that they might own.
Meta is still gung ho on the vision while many others have dropped off, or reduced spending and investment in platforms.
The Australian has previously reported on a number of unlikely industries who have found a home in the metaverse including the mining sector as well medical and security, which are using virtual reality headsets and gamified modules to perform training.
As Meta races to catch up with already popular large language models, it is not only testing the use of its Llama 3 large language model across its own mobile devices but those of other manufacturers.
Last month it announced a partnership with Qualcomm, the maker of Snapdragon chips used in a number of smartphones. The Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor is used within the Quest 3.
That partnership would allow manufacturers to make Llama 3 accessible on devices using Snapdragon platforms.
The social media giant last month released AI capabilities via Llama 3 in Australia, launching the feature across its social media stable of WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and Messenger.
Meta AI can answer queries, generate images and weigh in on group chats when summoned across the four popular mobile apps. Embedding AI into its highly popular apps puts the platform up against ChatGPT, in what some have argued is a better position allowing millions of people to use generative AI features on apps they already spend hours on each day.