The Meta Quest Pro headset features a lot of world-class engineering and it benefits from many novel design choices. But you cannot escape the feeling that the company, formerly known as Facebook, has fallen some way short of solidifying its new eponymous ambitions in the metaverse. At £1,500, a very expensive beta has been pushed into the wide market.
Let’s be fair. Meta’s latest headset carries its ‘Pro’ branding not because it is a flagship consumer electronics device but because it is primarily aimed at commercial users. Any sales to the public are gravy. So much is evident from the price differential between the new headset and its immediate predecessor: the Quest 2 is sold for just £400.
Getting businesses to invest in VR and the metaverse for workplace collaboration has become increasingly important while the technology otherwise remains led by hardcore gamers – they will never deliver the returns the space needs to justify even investment in it...