Meta’s AR headset boasts widest field of view, direct hand interaction

PanARMENIAN.Net - Meta has begun taking pre-orders for Meta 2 Development Kit, the first augmented reality (AR) product that delivers a totally immersive experience unlike any other AR product to date. Meta 2 enables hand interaction with digital content, a breakthrough in the field of AR, so people can touch, grab, and move digital objects intuitively, just as they do in the real world, Meta said.

Meta CEO Meron Gribetz demonstrated the technology at TED 2016, with Meta 2 Development Kit being hailed as one of the most significant technology announcements in recent years. Technology pundit and futurist Robert Scoble called Meta 2 “the most important new product since the original Macintosh.”

In his TED Talk, Gribetz painted his vision for The Neural Path of Least Resistance™, a neuroscience-based interface design approach for zero-learning-curve computing, saying, “We are creating an experience that merges the art of user interface design with the science of the brain, creating ‘natural machines’ that feel like extensions of ourselves rather than the other way around. For example, our natural hand motion doesn’t rely on clicks or buttons, thereby maintaining the flow and connecting people to each other and the moment.”

Meta is working closely with developers to create Meta 2 applications that have the potential to fundamentally change the way people collaborate, communicate and engage with information and each other. Developers are also creating compelling market-specific applications for Meta across a range of industries, including medicine, education, and manufacturing. Meta 2 Development Kit is the company’s second-generation AR technology and was designed with input from nearly 1000 companies that were users of the first-generation Meta 1 product including developers, early adopters, and academics.

Meta 2 offers numerous capabilities only available with the Meta platform, including the widest field of view, the most intuitive access to digital information, and support for direct hand interaction with digital content and holograms. For interested developers, pre-orders are being taken on the Meta website, and include a see-through headset that displays digital content or holograms, along with a software development kit. The Meta 2 Development Kit is priced at $949 for pre-orders at launch and is slated to ship in Q3 2016.