Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. (META) on Wednesday announced release dates for its upcoming Quest 3 virtual reality headset and new Ray-Ban smart glasses, as well as a range of artificial intelligence assistants for its social app.


In announcing the new product, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the boundaries of people's physical space will expand and people will be able to be part of a larger world.
The company hopes the devices will boost its efforts to bring users into so-called virtual worlds, where it has invested billions of dollars with limited returns. Apple Inc. (AAPL) will release its Vision Pro headset in 2024. Zuckerberg changed the name of his company a few years ago in an attempt to focus on what he said was the next emerging computing platform.

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. (META) on Wednesday announced release dates for its upcoming Quest 3 virtual reality headset and new Ray-Ban smart glasses, as well as a range of artificial intelligence assistants for its social app.


In announcing the new product, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the boundaries of people's physical space will expand and people will be able to be part of a larger world.
The company hopes the devices will boost its efforts to bring users into so-called virtual worlds, where it has invested billions of dollars with limited returns. Apple Inc. (AAPL) will release its Vision Pro headset in 2024. Zuckerberg changed the name of his company a few years ago in an attempt to focus on what he said was the next emerging computing platform.
The Quest 3 will begin shipping to users in October, and the $499 device will be available for pre-order on Wednesday. Zuckerberg said the device will focus on the user's ability to work or play in apps that project virtual objects into the user's physical space.

Meta will also release its second-generation Ray-Ban smart glasses on October 17 for $299. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that the smart glasses would be available as early as this fall.


The second generation of Ray-Ban smart glasses will allow users to broadcast their perspective to fans on social media. The device will also come with Meta AI, an artificial intelligence assistant that Zuckerberg announced on Wednesday.
Based on the company's large language model, Llama 2, Meta AI is a general purpose AI assistant that can answer users' questions on Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram. Zuckerberg said Meta AI will provide users with real-time information through a partnership with Microsoft Corp. 's (MSFT) search engine Bing.


In addition, Meta also announced that it will also release several other AI chatbots that users will be able to interact with.


Zuckerberg said the AI chatbots will be released in a limited test mode on Wednesday.