The Meta 2 AR Headset Is A Serious Contender To The HoloLens
Following the announcement of Microsoft with the developer edition of the HoloLens shipping this March, many other companies with similar development efforts in augmented reality have slowly come out of their shell and present their AR headsets to the public. One notable company working on AR is Meta with the Meta 2 AR Headset.
The Meta 2 is an augmented reality headset developed by Meta, a Silicon Valley AR company working on augmented reality technology for consumer products and applications. The main differentiator – and selling point – of the Meta 2 is its price. With the HoloLens priced at a cool $3,000 for its developer edition, the Meta 2 comes cheaper at $949. It may still sound pretty expensive, but for a developing kind of technology such as augmented reality, the Meta 2 is seen to deliver the bang for the buck.
Another selling point of the Meta 2 which sets it apart from other AR headsets – especially the HoloLens – is its relatively wide field of view (FOV). The Meta 2 has a FOV of 90 degrees, making it an important feature of the AR headset. A wider FOV is expected to benefit the user or the viewer by having a broader perspective of the content. In comparison, the HoloLens has a FOV equivalent of standing 2 feet away from a 15-inch monitor, which is roughly about 30 degrees only. The Meta 2 achieves this FOV while being tethered to a display source. As we know, the HoloLens is an untethered AR headset – it is being operated wirelessly.
However, the Meta 2 is still in the development stage and so it has a number of bugs that are evident in demos. Another interesting feature that many have been pointing out in the Meta 2 is that people will actually be able to pick up and move virtual objects with their hands when they are wearing the headset. Also, objects displayed in the headset remain in place even though users are walking around them. While in the development stage, the Meta 2 will need a lot of refinement before it is released commercially. It is now available for preorders, and developers who preorder the headset now are expected to receive it in the third quarter later this year.
For more information on Meta 2, please visit the following websites:
https://www.metavision.com/meet-meta
http://www.sitepoint.com/what-the-meta-2-means-for-augmented-reality-developers/
http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/02/hands-on-with-the-949-mind-bending-meta-2-augmented-reality-headset/
