According to BlockBeats, Meta introduced a range of new products at an event held at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, on Wednesday. Among the highlights were the updated, low-cost Quest 3S virtual reality headset and several enhancements to its artificial intelligence assistant, Meta AI. These updates include the addition of celebrity voices such as Awkwafina, John Cena, and Dame Judi Dench, who will respond to user inquiries. The AI assistant is integrated into Meta's primary applications, including Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Facebook.
The new product releases are part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg's ongoing efforts to merge his vision for social networks with the capabilities of current technology. While Meta has seen some success with its virtual reality headsets and Ray-Ban augmented reality glasses, which have sold better than expected, the broader vision of the metaverse remains years from being fully realized. Meta has invested nearly $50 billion in its Reality Labs division, responsible for the company's hardware business, over the past few years. Despite these investments, the division is not expected to be profitable in the short term. Additionally, Meta's ventures into artificial intelligence and data centers are becoming increasingly costly.