Meta Researchers Unveil Compact Ultra-Wide Field-of-View VR and MR Headsets

Man, technology just never stops, does it? So, Meta’s scientists are tinkering with some VR and MR headsets. I mean, how many acronyms can one brain handle? Anyway – oh wait, right, SIGGRAPH. That’s this big ol’ conference where they nerd out over pixels and reality. They’re pulling out these headsets with a crazy wide field of view – like, 180 degrees! Imagine trying to see everything from both sides at once… feels like a headache waiting to happen, but hey, my mind wanders.

So, there’s this headset that’s pure VR, and they’ve got another mingling VR with MR – like a techier PB&J. They’re using these reflective thingamajigs to make it all fit snug on your head. Why am I thinking about ski goggles suddenly? Those big chunky ones from the 80s. Or was it 90s? Who knows.

They’re throwing around these high-res cameras, something like 80 megapixels. Who even counts that high when snapping pics? But they’ve got reasons, I’m sure. They claim it lets you, like, see the world and your dinner plate simultaneously. Important stuff. Remember when peripheral vision was just a fancy way of saying “sneak a glance without turning your head”?

Figuring out that field-of-view, it’s like comparing panoramic windows to a porthole in a submarine. Never been in one, but I can imagine. Now, Meta once loved a system named Constellation, which I guess tracked stars—users, I mean. Wasn’t it simpler when tracking was just what you did in the snow? Anyway, they’ve used it in earlier VR days, and it’s like they’re running back to an old flame.

And get this, there are already super-wide headsets out there, like those Pimax giants. But they’re heavy, bulky, like wearing a brick around your skull. Imagining walking around with that? Yikes.

Meta thinks they’re onto something sleek and light. But you never know if these things will go from lab to living room. Flashback to 2018 – feels like a century ago – they teased varifocal displays. Still haven’t seen those at Best Buy. Maybe they’re just pulling our legs, but somewhere, techie dreams bounce around. Fingers crossed they drop something useful before we all just merge with our screens.