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When it comes to advancing standalone XR headsets, two key factors are reducing weight and boosting performance. Meta, a major player in the realm of virtual and augmented reality, recently unveiled its Orion AR glasses prototype featuring a wireless compute unit. Yet, Meta’s Chief Technology Officer, Andrew Bosworth, remains skeptical about this setup being the end-all solution for standalone VR gaming.
Bosworth, who also heads the Reality Labs XR division at Meta, frequently hosts Q&A sessions on Instagram, tackling a mix of professional and personal topics. In his most recent session, he addressed the concept of wireless compute units and why Meta believes they’re not well-suited for its standalone VR headsets.
Bosworth shared that Meta has repeatedly evaluated wireless compute pucks, only to find them lacking as a solution. “If you’re wireless,” he points out, “the headset still needs a battery, which is a significant factor in its weight. While wireless might offer some thermal advantages, potentially enhancing performance, it also faces limitations due to radio bandwidth,” he explains.
Despite these technical challenges, Meta is keen on producing something consumers can easily access. The company recently launched its Quest 3S headset, priced as low as $300 for the 128GB model. Bosworth elaborates on the financial implications: “Even if your main silicon resides in a compute puck, you still require enough silicon for display power, local corrections, and data handling. The math doesn’t work—it doesn’t significantly reduce weight and it substantially raises costs and complexity.”
Interestingly, this stance contrasts with Meta’s Orion prototype, which does use a wireless compute unit. Still, Orion isn’t headed for mass production largely due to its hefty $10,000 per-unit price tag, driven by high-cost materials like silicon carbide lenses. In specific instances, such as with AR glasses where the graphical requirements are less demanding, wireless pucks might make sense.
However, Bosworth has hinted that when Meta eventually releases its first consumer AR glasses, they won’t be as affordable as the Quest line. Back in September, he mentioned that while they won’t be “cheap,” the goal is to offer them at a price resembling the range one might expect for phones or laptops.
