On Sept. 6, Meta officially announced the date for Meta Connect 2022; it’s set to launch on several platforms in mid-October. Alongside the Quest Pro headset announcement, we’re expecting news regarding a Horizon Worlds update (the company’s new-ish metaverse app), new VR games for the Quest platform, and more.
When is Meta Connect 2022?
Meta Connect 2022 is set to launch on October 11 at 1 p.m. ET. For your convenience, the event times are listed in other time zones below:
San Francisco, California — 10 a.m. PDT Dallas, Texas — 12:00 noon CDT Honolulu, Hawaii — 7:00 a.m. HAST Halifax, Canada — 2:00 p.m. ADT London, United Kingdom — 6:00 p.m. BST Berlin, Germany — 7:00 p.m. CEST Delhi, India — 10:30 p.m. IST Dubai, United Arab Emirates — 9:00 p.m. GST Shanghai, China — 1:00 a.m. CST next day Seoul, South Korea — 2:00 a.m. KST next day Hong Kong — 1:00 a.m. HKT next day
How to watch Meta Connect 2022
Meta Connect 2022 will kick off on the Reality Labs Facebook page. If you have a Quest 2 headset, you can watch Meta Connect 2022 in the metaverse via the Horizon Worlds app (register here (opens in new tab) for this option). If watching the livestream in Horizon Worlds tickles your fancy, Meta recommends the following:
Update your headset to the latest version of the Meta Quest softwareRestart Horizon Worlds and update to the latest version of the appGet familiar with Horizon Worlds by exploring the experienceOn the day of Meta Connect, make sure you have a stable internet connection and a fully charged headset.
Keep in mind that Horizon Worlds is only available to users 18 and up and is not available in all regions.
What to expect from Meta Connect 2022
Meta’s next VR headset, reportedly called the Meta Quest Pro, is expected to be the main headliner in the upcoming Connect 2022 livestream. The head-mounted display is rumored to be the Project Cambria headset that Meta teased at its last Connect event. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the forthcoming headset will be high-end. In other words, expect it to be expensive AF! According to rumors, the Quest Pro will set consumers back $1,500, a major leap from the $399 starting price tag of the Quest 2. What makes the Quest Pro different from the Quest 2 is that it will support AR experiences, allowing you to blend the real world with VR artifacts. Tipsters say that the Quest Pro has top-tier facial tracking, so no matter what expression you make, your avatar should render it accurately in the metaverse. Specs on the Quest Pro include a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 5G chipset, 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, 10 sensors (e.g., hand tracking, eye tracking, and face tracking), an IR depth projector for mixed-reality experiences, 2160 x 2160 pixels per eye on OLED panels, WiFi 6E capability, and more. Zuckerberg, as you might have guessed, will kick off the Meta Connect 2022 keynote. According to the schedule on the official Meta Connect website, there will be a series of speakers who will follow Zuckerberg throughout the day. In addition to new VR hardware, we expect Meta Connect 2022 to cover the following topics:
The metaverse (of course) The Meta Avatars Store Nock (esports VR game)Upcoming VR game/app releases on QuestUpgraded voice and hand controls in VRMixed-reality experiences for increasing “presence” in AR/VRAdvanced spatial audio in VRBuilding and creating metaverse experiencesMonetization in the metaverse
There’s bound to be some new leaks that trickle in between now and Oct. 11, so be sure to keep tabs on our oft-updated Quest Pro rumor page to keep abreast on all the latest news surrounding the upcoming headset.
