Meta’s former VP of VR, Hugo Barra, believes that Meta’s “Android moment” has finally arrived and shares his wish list for Quest Pro 2.
Hugo Barra served as Meta’s VP of VR from 2017 to 2021, and in that role oversaw the development of Oculus Go, Oculus Quest 1 and 2, and Ray-Ban Stories.
Barra is currently chairman of the healthcare startup Detect. Despite his years away, he is likely still in touch with his colleagues at Meta and is a longtime friend of Mark Zuckerberg.
In a 12,000-word blog post, he shares his thoughts on Apple Vision Pro and writes that Meta’s “Android moment” may have arrived. He believes that Meta could one day have the same market position that Google has had for many years in the smartphone market, but in spatial computing, with Apple as its biggest competitor.
Apple and Meta as the two dominant players, dividing the XR market between them? This vision is still far from reality. Meta currently has a quasi-monopoly, while Apple has just entered the market and has a long way to go to.
Hugo Barra: Eight features Quest Pro 2 needs
At the end of his essay, Barra lists his personal wish list of features for Quest Pro 2.
“In order to really seize this moment and opportunity created by the Vision Pro launch, Meta needs to ensure it ships a VR headset by mid-2025 that both builds on the new experience gold standard created by the Vision Pro and is objectively a better product across as many dimensions as possible. It is imperative for Meta not to repeat the inexplicable debacle that was the Quest Pro launch in 2022,” Barra writes.
Here’s his full wish list, taken from the blog post:
How realistic is the wish list?
Hugo Barra’s list is a wish list, not a prediction. His bullet points sound reasonable and include many important features that a Quest Pro 2 would ideally have to at least match or exceed Vision Pro.
I think points 2, 3 and 4 are feasible, although Meta will certainly not go for an external battery solution. I think it is unrealistic that items 7 and 8 will be included in Quest Pro 2, at least in the advanced form in which we have seen these features so far. Items 1, 5 and 6 are partly out of Meta’s control.
Meta itself has not yet commented on a successor to the Quest Pro. The only certainty is that Meta and LG are working on a next-gen headset, the product name of which is unknown.
According to various reports, Meta will launch a Vision Pro competitor in the first half of 2025, which is expected to cost around $2,000.
Source: Mixed News
