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Meta is gearing up for Connect, its annual event devoted to all things VR, AR and the metaverse. This year, the company is once again set to show off a new VR headset, with the Meta Quest 3, as well as its next-generation smart glasses.

It’s also an opportunity for Meta to showcase some of its latest AI advancements, which will reportedly come in the form of new generative AI chatbots. This year will also mark the return of an in-person component to Connect, which has been online-only since 2020. The main keynote will still be livestreamed for remote viewers, but the change will hopefully make for a more lively event than the largely pre-recorded sessions of the past few years.

Here’s a rundown of everything we’re expecting to hear about during Mark Zuckerberg’s keynote, which kicks off at 1PM ET on September 26.

Meta Quest 3 and second-gen Ray-Ban Stories update

We already know quite a bit about the Meta Quest 3, thanks to a preview from Zuckerberg earlier this year. The $499 headset has been considerably slimmed down from its predecessors and comes with redesigned controllers. It will also have better graphics and run on a new “next-gen” Qualcomm chipset, which will power new mixed-reality features akin to last year’s high-end Quest Pro. But with an official reveal at Connect, we should finally get a lot more details about the Quest 3 and its capabilities.

The VR headset likely isn’t the only Reality Labs gadget we’ll hear more about. As UploadVR noted last week, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth recently hinted that a second-generation of Meta’s Ray-Ban-branded smart glasses are also in the works and coming “pretty soon.” The new frames are expected to come with better cameras and some new features, like livestreaming, according to Janko Roettgers of the Lowpass newsletter. It’s not clear when the glasses could make an official debut — unlike the Quest 3, Meta has been fairly tight-lipped about its plans for the product — but considering Bosworth’s comments and earlier reports of a possible fall launch, it seems safe to say we’ll at least get an update on their plans.

Meta has at least one other major piece of hardware in the works, the augmented reality glasses it’s been teasing since 2020. Last year at Connect, Zuckerberg showed off a prototype for a wrist-based controller that could have AR applications, but didn’t offer a look at how the glasses themselves are progressing.

That could change this year. The Verge previously reported the company is readying a pair of smart glasses, which will use the wrist-based interface, for a 2025 release. Those glasses, however, would be something of a precursor to “full-fledged AR glasses,” which are slated for 2027. Given the timeframe, it seems more likely we’ll hear about the former, wrist-controlled frames, rather than the more ambitious AR ones, but it would make sense for the company to preview more details about the project.

Chatbots and AI

It looks like Meta is set to (once again) borrow a page from Snap’s playbook with a generative AI assistant. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Meta is readying dozens AI chatbots with distinct personalities in a bid to attract younger users.

Zuckerberg has been teasing the idea of “AI personas” for Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger for some time. But it now sounds as if Meta intends for these AI personalities to play a role in its VR applications as well. According to The Journal, these bots, which have names like “Alvin the Alien” and “Bob the Robot,” will also live in the company’s metaverse apps. While many aspects of the plan sound a bit cringey — and even some Meta employees are reportedly skeptical of the bots — it offers an interesting window into how Meta is using AI to boost interest in the metaverse. Which brings us to…

What about the metaverse?

The company once known as Facebook has now had nearly two years to sell the public on its vision for the metaverse. So far, that’s largely fallen flat. Reality Labs losses have ballooned to more than $20 billion since last year and are expected to climb further. Meta’s investors have been openly skeptical, while new metaverse features, like the addition of legged avatars, have proved underwhelming.

So it’s not surprising that in recent months Zuckerberg has spent more time publicly hyping the company’s AI investments than the metaverse (though he’s said the company remains committed to both). So while Meta will likely share updates on Horizon Worlds, which recently began rolling out to non-VR platforms, I expect Zuckerberg and other executives will highlight the role AI plays in its vision for the metaverse much more than they have in the past.

Though the current AI boom and rise of large-language models has drawn its share of critics, the technology has already generated much more enthusiasm than the metaverse ever has. That could end up working in Meta’s favor if it can recast some of its metaverse projects as cutting-edge AI innovation rather than a virtual world most people don’t really understand.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-quest-3-and-ai-chatbots-what-to-expect-at-meta-connect-140049598.html?src=rss 

It’s the year 2023, so anything that can get an injection of AI will get an injection of AI. However, I doubt many people had the board game Pictionary on their artificial intelligence bingo card. Mattel just surprised us all and announced a new version of the game, Pictionary Vs. AI. It’s the brand’s first title to “incorporate AI technology” and marks the company’s “first major leap into the category.”

This isn’t a video game. It’s an actual analog board game with an AI-enhanced refresh. The difference between this and traditional Pictionary is that here everyone works to stump the artificial intelligence, instead of each other. You get a clue from a card, just like the regular game, and draw on the included whiteboard, just like the regular game. That’s where the similarities end.

The drawing is sent to a smartphone where it’s analyzed by a proprietary AI. This algorithm attempts to guess what you drew. Everyone else tries to predict whether or not the AI will be successful at guessing your attempt at an ice cream sundae that really looks like a sad, melty mountain. You make your predictions after seeing the source drawings, which should lead to some hilarious situations. Mattel says that “fun and laughter are sure to ensue with all drawings good and bad.”

Pictionary Vs. AI releases on October 2 and costs $25, which seems like a decent enough value. It ships with four whiteboards, a simple smartphone stand, a game board, game pieces, some pens and, of course, a stack of clue cards.

This may be one of the first board games to incorporate AI, but there are many analog titles with a digital twist. Mattel hasn’t announced if they’d be bringing this technology to other IPs in its stable, like UNO or Apples to Apples.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/because-everything-needs-ai-in-2023-mattel-added-it-to-pictionary-120009236.html?src=rss 

The Meta Connect 2023 VR showcase event starts tomorrow and there are a couple of ways to watch it. It’s streaming live on Facebook, which is to be expected, but you can also access the showcase from Meta’s Horizon Worlds app with a Quest VR headset. The event itself is a two-day affair, but the keynote address starts on September 27 at 1 PM ET.

This should be a big one for Meta, as the Quest 3 headset is just around the corner. We’ll likely get an official release date, which is currently described as sometime toward the end of the year. The original Quest 3 announcement was also light on certain hardware specs, so expect announcements on RAM, CPU, battery life, lenses and more.

Here’s what we already know. The Quest 3 will cost $500 and feature full-color passthrough, with Mark Zuckerberg calling it “the first mainstream headset with high-res color mixed reality.” It’ll also boast redesigned ergonomic controllers, a more comfortable form factor when compared to the Quest 2, and a significant reduction in both weight and size.

Of course, any console is only as good as its games and experiences. We already know that the Quest 3 will be backwards compatible, so you’ll have access to every single title published for the Quest 2 and the OG model, but Zuckerberg and company are sure to announce plenty of new games exclusive to the forthcoming platform. It has already revealed some cross-platform titles, like Assassin’s Creed: Nexus VR and Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord, so we should get information on pricing and availability. There’s also a game based on the hit Netflix show Stranger Things launching sometime before the holidays.

The VR wars are starting to heat up, as the Quest 3 releases just a couple of months before Apple’s long-awaited Vision Pro headset. The massive price gap between the two, however, makes the Quest 3 much more affordable for regular people.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/how-to-watch-the-meta-connect-2023-vr-showcase-120041699.html?src=rss 

After October 25, YouTube users paying for Premium Lite will have to pay for the more expensive full-fledged Premium tier if they don’t want to see ads in their videos without resorting to ad blockers. The video hosting platform is discontinuing the subscription option, it told users in an email, where it also said that it will be developing more versions of it in line with feedback from creators and viewers. 

YouTube never rolled out Premium Lite to all users around the world, and access to it remained limited after it first became available in select European countries in 2021. For those who did get access to it, though, it’s been a great option to remove ads from the viewing experience, which is the only thing it can do, for only €7 ($7.42) a month. The regular Premium tier removes ads and comes bundled with YouTube Music, the ability to download videos for offline viewing, as well as the capability to watch videos in the background while using other apps. However, it’s double the price at $14 a month. 

The website is giving current subscribers a month-long regular Premium subscription at no cost even if they’ve trialed it in the past in a bid to win them over. They have to either cancel their subscription right now or wait for their subscription to be canceled before they can redeem the offer. But based on responses from users lamenting the Lite option’s impending removal on Reddit, a lot of people are unwilling to spend twice the amount of what they’ve been paying when all they want is to watch videos ad-free. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/youtubes-ad-free-premium-lite-tier-is-going-away-121506789.html?src=rss 

Pop star Olivia Rodrigo has completely redefined herself with her new album GUTS, drawing on the kind of punky guitar growl that defined so many successful musical acts in the 1990s. She’s also teaming up with mega-corporation Sony to release a pair of limited-edition earbuds that draw on the basic design of the company’s successful LinkBuds S line.

These are basically a color swap of the standard LinkBuds S, with a “unique violet marble pattern” the company says was designed by the Grammy-winner herself. Rodrigo backs up this claim, stating she was “so excited” to help create “a limited edition LinkBuds S in the color violet,” going on to say that she “can’t wait for my fans to experience GUTS in this way.”

While deferring to a large multinational corporation isn’t exactly in the spirit of the music Rodrigo drew from on her latest album, there’s one cool techy tidbit here. These earbuds can access custom equalizer settings tuned by Rodrigo and producer Daniel Nigro. These settings offer an “optimal listening” experience of her two albums on major streaming services.

As with all LinkBuds S models, the new Rodrigo-flavored earbuds offer robust active noise-canceling tech, 360-degree spatial sound support, LDAC 3 for high-resolution audio and a transparency mode adjusts for ambient noise. The earbuds are also environmentally-friendly, more or less, as many components were manufactured using recycled plastic materials from automobile parts and reclaimed water bottles.

The LinkBuds S x Olivia Rodrigo cost $200 and preorders start today directly from Sony and via a number of authorized dealers. This isn’t the first high-profile team-up between Rodrigo and a large company in support of GUTS. Back in April, she partnered with Meta’s Instagram to advertise a feature that allowed users to add music to slideshows.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/olivia-rodrigo-is-teaming-up-with-sony-for-limited-edition-purple-earbuds-110006126.html?src=rss