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VOA科学技术2022--Meta 推出全新 VR 耳机

时间:2022-11-04 01:55:15

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Meta Introduces New Virtual Reality Headset

Meta Platforms recently introduced a device that lets users combine the computer created world with the real one.

Meta showed off its Quest Pro1 virtual and mixed reality headset at the company's yearly Connect conference on Tuesday. It is expected to be available in stores starting October 25 at a price of $1,500.

The headset will offer consumers a way to interact with virtual images overlaid onto a full-color picture of the physical world around them.

The new product is considered important for Meta's Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg. It also is the company's latest effort to enter the market for extended reality computing2 devices that cost a lot of money.

Last year, Zuckerberg changed his company's name from Facebook to Meta. The aim was to show that the company was placing its attention on what it calls the metaverse. The metaverse is a computing experience where users share an immersive environment on computers.

Zuckerberg has spent billions of dollars on the project. Reality Labs, the Meta division responsible for building the metaverse, lost $10.2 billion in 2021 and has lost nearly $6 billion so far this year.

Zuckerberg spoke3 at the launch event. He was recorded partially4 in video and partially as an avatar. He said he expects the mixing of the physical and digital worlds will create new uses for computing.

"You're going to see entirely5 new categories of things being built," he said.

The Quest Pro has several improvements over Meta's existing Quest 2 headset. The Quest 2 is a top selling headset in the consumer virtual reality market.

The Quest Pro has cameras that capture a kind of 3D image of the physical environment around a user. This permits actions like placing a virtual painting on a real-world wall or having a virtual ball strike a real table.

The Quest 2 offers a simpler version of this technology, called passthrough.

The Quest Pro is lighter6 and thinner than earlier headsets. It has thin lenses and a battery that sits at the back. This helps balance the headset and reduce its weight.

Meta has added tracking sensors7 to the Quest Pro that can copy users' eye movements and facial expressions, creating a sense that avatars are making eye contact.

Meta says the Quest Pro can be a productivity tool that designers, architects and other creative professionals can use.

In addition to offering its own Horizon social and workspace platforms, Meta has also made virtual versions of Microsoft products like Word, Outlook, and Teams available. Microsoft chief Satya Nadella joined Zuckerberg to announce the partnership8.

Matthew Ball writes about the metaverse. He said he thinks such partnerships9 are important because they suggested the companies believe that different systems should connect with each other.

But he added that many people doubt that the different systems will be able to connect. He noted10 that Microsoft and Meta compete on several products related to extended reality.

Days before its launch, Meta showed reporters the kind of users it wanted to appeal to. It showed apps like Tribe XR, a virtual training environment for DJs.

Tribe XR is a program already available in virtual reality, but a demonstration11 showed how passthrough technology may give DJs a way to use the app to perform in the real world. With the new technology, they can look out past their virtual equipment and see real partygoers.

Meta said it wants the device to be sold as an additional tool rather than as a replacement12 for the entry-level Quest 2, which costs $400.

For now, Quest Pro does not have the complex programs linked to it. Observers say Meta might want its metaverse technology to support it.

The company is still working on a mixed reality experience for its Horizon Workrooms app that would make a person's avatar appear to be present in a real-world conference room with other users, which Meta is calling Magic Rooms.

The Quest Pro is less costly13 than existing business devices like Microsoft's HoloLens 2. It became available for business use in 2019 and is already present in operating rooms and in factories.

The cost of a HoloLens 2 starts at about $3,500.

Words in This Story

virtual –adj. an imitation of reality or something real

headset –n. an electronic device worn on the head that plays pictures and sounds for the user

overlaid –adj. added on top of something

immersive –adj. surrounding something or someone and engaging all of a person's senses

avatar -n. an virtual representation or substitute of a person or character

category –n. a group of things that are similar in some way

3D (three dimensional) –adj. having, or appearing to have, width, height and length

platforms -n. programs and equipment that connect and manage computer systems

DJ (disc jockey) -n. (Abrev.) a person who plays and mixes recorded music at concerts or other live events


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 pro tk3zvX     
n.赞成,赞成的意见,赞成者
参考例句:
  • The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
  • Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军?
2 computing tvBzxs     
n.计算
参考例句:
  • to work in computing 从事信息处理
  • Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代(约1980年),他们就创办了软件公司。
3 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
4 partially yL7xm     
adv.部分地,从某些方面讲
参考例句:
  • The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
  • The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静,宵禁部分解除。
5 entirely entirely     
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地
参考例句:
  • The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
  • His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。
6 lighter 5pPzPR     
n.打火机,点火器;驳船;v.用驳船运送;light的比较级
参考例句:
  • The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色,色调明朗了一些。
  • The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。
7 sensors 029aee483db9ae244d7a5cb353e74602     
n.传感器,灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时,有很大变化。 来自辞典例句
8 partnership NmfzPy     
n.合作关系,伙伴关系
参考例句:
  • The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
  • Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。
9 partnerships ce2e6aff420d72bbf56e8077be344bc9     
n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 );合伙人身份;合作关系
参考例句:
  • Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
  • It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句
10 noted 5n4zXc     
adj.著名的,知名的
参考例句:
  • The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
  • Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。
11 demonstration 9waxo     
n.表明,示范,论证,示威
参考例句:
  • His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
  • He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。
12 replacement UVxxM     
n.取代,替换,交换;替代品,代用品
参考例句:
  • We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
  • They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。
13 costly 7zXxh     
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的
参考例句:
  • It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
  • This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用,左不过贵了些。

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