Pico Developing Sleek Mixed Reality ‘Goggles’ to Compete with Next-Gen Meta Headset

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Okay, so, guess what? There’s this company, Pico—like, owned by that giant TikTok parent ByteDance—and they’re up to something pretty interesting. They’re brewing up some mixed reality gear to give Meta’s next XR gadget a run for its money. Wild, right?

So, this latest scoop comes from a chatty bunch over at The Information. Apparently, Pico’s got these funky new “goggles,” which they’re calling ‘Swan.’ Why Swan? Beats me. Anyway, they’re supposed to be super light—like, 100 grams light. That’s almost nothing, right?

The whole deal is that there’s a clever design trick going on here. The goggles act as if they’re on a diet, shedding the extra weight by shoving the heavy computing stuff into this separate device, like a puck thingy. I guess it means you won’t have a brick on your face, unlike what you get with those bulkier headsets like the Quest 3 or something. But I’m rambling.

Now, here’s the kicker: Swan, or whatever it’s called, will ditch physical controllers. Yep, no buttons to mash. Instead, it’s going full sci-fi with eye and hand tracking. Kinda cool, kinda intimidating, but that’s tech for you. And they’ve got these special chips that make sure there’s no lag, because nobody wants to see a laggy virtual dinosaur while the real world zooms by.

Speaking of wild dreams, Meta’s got something cooking too, called ‘Phoenix’—or wait, maybe it’s ‘Loma’? Seriously, decide already! But whatever, theirs is also about being light and sleek with a computing puck in the mix. According to the Wall Street Journal, we might see this thing, if it doesn’t vanish into the ether, hitting shelves around 2026 or maybe 2027. Prices? Rumor has it they’re aiming to keep it under $1,000, which sounds like wishful thinking but hey, fingers crossed.

Oh! Almost lost my thread—what about Swan’s price tag and availability? Who even knows at this point. Pico usually asks for a bit more cash than Meta, and they’re big in Asia and Europe, but North America? That’s still a big nope. So, if you’re stateside, maybe temper expectations or start planning a shopping trip.

This field’s a crazy maze, isn’t it? And it seems like there’s always more twists ahead. Who knows what’ll pop up next? Anyway, that’s all for now. Keep your goggles close and your vision clearer… or something like that.