Meta Connect 2024 is kicking off soon, and with it comes the expectation of reveals and updates on Meta’s latest AI model and metaverse ambitions. The developer-focused event will include a keynote from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, where he will likely unveil new hardware and software to support two of Meta’s big ambitions: AI and the metaverse. This could include everything from new Quest headsets to updates to Meta’s Llama AI model to changes to Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, and Threads platforms.

Meta Connect 2024 starts live at 10am PT. You can stream it from the Meta Connect site, on the Meta Developers Facebook page, and even in Horizon Worlds from your Meta Quest headset if you really want to fully immerse yourself in the world.

We’ll compile all the announcements and reveals from Meta Connect 2024 below and keep you updated throughout the event and afterward as more reaction and analysis comes in.

Meta’s Quest 3S reveal was hinted at by several leaks ahead of the event and confirmed during Connect 2024. The Meta Quest 3S is a cheaper alternative to the Quest 3, starting at $299 for a 128GB version and $399 for a 256GB version. The fully wireless headset is compatible with the existing library of Quest apps and games, though Meta was particularly excited about its mixed reality features. With the Quest 3S reveal, the Quest 3’s price will drop from $649 to $499. Get our first impressions of the new Quest 3S here, ahead of its October 15 ship date.

Quest 3, Quest Pro discontinued

“With Quest 3S on hold, we are officially discontinuing sales of Quest 2 and Pro. We will continue to sell our remaining headsets until the end of the year or until they sell out, whichever comes first,” Meta told TechCrunch about discontinuing two of their headsets in the wake of the Quest 3S announcement.

Meta AI finds its voice. Users can ask a question or otherwise chat aloud with Meta AI on Messenger, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram and receive simulated voice responses in return. The digital voice assistant will launch with multiple voice options to choose from, including the AI ​​voices of celebrities such as Dame Judi Dench, John Cena, Awkwafina, Kristen Bell and Keegan-Michael Key.

The unveiling comes a day after OpenAI announced the long-awaited launch of its Advanced Voice Mode feature, with a new look and five new voices.

Meta’s multimodal Llama family of models has reached version 3.2, meaning several Llama models are now multimodal. Llama 3.2 11B and 90B can interpret charts and graphs, label images, and accurately locate objects in images based on a simple description.

For example, Llama 3.2 11B and 90B can use a parking map to tell you how long a certain path is or when the terrain might get steeper. Or, using a graph showing a company’s sales over the course of a year, the models can quickly highlight the months with the best sales.

Notably, Llama 3.2 11B and 90B cannot be accessed in Europe due to restrictions imposed by EU law. As a result, several meta-AI features available elsewhere, such as image analysis, are disabled for European users.

Ray-Ban’s Meta smart glasses are getting improvements as the company continues to try to prove that smart glasses can become the next big consumer device. Chief among them is the addition of real-time AI video processing that lets you ask the Ray-Ban Meta glasses questions about what it can see in front of you.

The sunglasses will also feature a smartphone-like reminder function, live translation between English and French, Italian or Spanish, and full integration with music streaming apps such as Amazon Music, Audible and iHeart Radio.

In a feature that will be familiar to anyone who follows the use of image-based search at OpenAI, Google, and Apple, Meta demonstrated its AI’s ability to respond to prompts based on images and edit photos provided to the AI ​​based on the user’s feedback. Meta can also share them to Instagram Stories.

More AI in your Facebook feeds

If you’re on Facebook, you’ve probably seen a lot of AI lately, consciously or unconsciously. There’s a whole emerging industry that uses AI to generate engagement bait. The label indicating whether content has been edited using Meta’s own tools was reduced earlier this month. And now Facebook is actually serving you AI content that it generated for you and that it thinks you’ll want to share or engage with.

Testing for translated, dubbed content from creators

Going a step further than just translating subtitles, Meta announced a test that will use its AI translation tools to take content from creators, create a translated dub, and lip-sync the creator accordingly. So far, the experiment is limited to videos made by creators in the US and Latin America with translations between English and Spanish.

Batman, Wordle and the rest of the game announcements

At Meta Connect 2024, a number of new experiences for the Quest ecosystem were unveiled, most notably Batman: Arkham Shadow, which launches on October 22 and will also be bundled with new Quest 3 and 3S purchases through April next year. Alongside games with familiar concepts like Alien: Rogue Incursion for xenomorph horror and a remake of zombie game Arizona Sunshine, Wordle was announced for the Quest. The VR version of the daily puzzle will be free to play, without requiring a New York Times subscription.