When Meta Quest 3 was released, I was very impressed with what it had to offer in both the VR and mixed reality departments, but by far the most interesting feature was the augmentations: persistent MR elements that you can use to decorate your home. As we approach the one-year mark since the headphones were introduced, Meta's CTO finally explained why Augments hasn't launched yet.
If you've forgotten about augmentations, the concept is that they are a mix of functional and visual mixed reality decorations. Some are simply meant to look pretty or offer basic functions, like a watch, while others act as portals to your favorite games or quick access to your favorite apps. You can see a version of them in your VR Meta Home as the little module that launches First Encounters.
When the Quest 3 was first shown off in September 2023 at Meta Connect 2023, we saw a glimpse of what Augments would offer and the promise that they would launch in the not-too-distant future. Now Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth revealed on Instagram that in January Meta “decided it wasn't good enough,” so the team decided to “go back to the drawing board.”
Bosworth explained that Augments felt too much like a toy rather than living up to what Meta felt he had promised and wanted to deliver. However, to improve the feature she needed to start from scratch with a “completely different technical architecture.”
As a result, the feature was delayed, and Bosworth didn't provide any sort of timeline for when we might see the boosts in action.
With September's Meta Connect 2024 quickly approaching, there's a small chance we'll see the feature there again, but I'm hoping the next time we see Augments will be when Meta is actually ready for the public.
Overpromising and underdelivering
Meta is developing a worrying habit of teasing updates and promoting features that then take much longer to release than expected, or don't live up to expectations.
Augments are the most recent example, but we've seen that it took a year to implement virtual legs and oversell the metaverse long before it could work as described, while on the hardware side, Meta Quest Pro ended up being a disappointment in comparison. . with cheaper offerings like the Quest 3 launching shortly after, with software like Batman: Arkham Shadow released as a Quest 3 exclusive and skipping the Pro.
I think Meta is also doing a lot of interesting things in the XR space (a suite for VR, AR and MR); It recently made Horizon OS available to third-party hardware manufacturers, and I love that it receives frequent software improvements. But its mistakes persist, and if they persist, it will be a challenge to trust the announcements Meta makes until the product is actually in people's hands, whether physically or virtually.
Looking ahead to Meta Connect 2024, I hope Meta takes on board the lessons he's learned over the past few years, and as we move beyond the press conference, I'd like to see him more open about his plans and the obstacles he faces. Setbacks happen, but if an important feature is delayed, maybe let us know when the decision is made, rather than leaving us in the dark for months.
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