Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company is working on a finger-tracking neural wristband and expects it to ship “within the next few years.” Upload VR report: “We're actually pretty close to having something that could be put into products within the next few years,” Mark Zuckerberg said on Friday's Morning Brew Daily talk show. […] A completely different approach to finger tracking uses a technique called electromyography (EMG) to sense neural electrical signals that travel from the brain through the wrist to the fingers. In theory, this could have zero or negative delay, perfect accuracy, work regardless of lighting conditions, and be unaffected by occlusion. Discussing the technology in 2021, Reardon claimed that recent breakthroughs had allowed him to decipher the activity of individual neurons, giving him “almost unlimited control over the machine.” With this quality and reliability, occlusion-free finger tracking allows you to precisely control complex interfaces with incredibly subtle movements of your hand on your lap, allowing you to use your headset or his AR glasses. This is the ideal input method for […]
So how does this fit into Meta products? In early 2023, an internal Meta AR/VR hardware roadmap was leaked to The Verge, providing details on the Quest 3, now called the Quest 3 Lite. It has now been revealed that the rumored headset exists, and that the 2024 contender has been canceled in favor of the Quest Pro 2. It's a more ambitious, but “groundbreaking” model. However, the roadmap also noted that Meta plans to release neural wristbands as an input method in 2025, alongside third-generation Ray-Ban smart glasses.
According to its roadmap, two models of wristbands will be offered at different price points. One has only neural input technology, while the other also has a display and camera that doubles as a smartwatch. It appears that the second generation of this wristband will also serve as an input device for Meta's true AR glasses, which he plans to launch in 2027. However, he should be aware that this plan and timeline may have changed within a year.