Meta abandons headset. Is mixed reality in jeopardy, or can't Mark Zuckerberg take the virtual heat?

According to a report by Mobile World Live, Meta (the company created to house Facebook) has abandoned work on a premium mixed-reality headset project internally called 'La Jolla', similar in quality to the Apple Vision Pro. 

The report cites two unnamed employees, saying that – in a meeting which included Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and CTO Andrew Bosworth – the decision was taken to pull the plug on the product in development. Other products, including the already available and more accessibly priced Meta Quest 3, are not affected.

This comes as the focus of the tech world has sharpened on augmented reality and mixed reality in general following the release of the Apple Vision Pro, and much of the conversation has been around how the devices will work in a professional environment.

I've been excited by the creative possibilities that Apple has at least uncorked a little with the ability to capture Spatial Video. In fact, I went so far as to say that the Vision Pro could benefit from a high price and better cameras! Thus far, however, the 'usefulness' of high-end mixed reality has often looked at improving productivity in virtual worlds.

This is where Meta's cartoony alternative reality has come under a lot of scrutiny. The alternative reality has not been seen as a realistic alternative to the professional workspace and many are finding the Apple Vision Pro's take on FaceTime – with avatars – a little easier to cope with, in theory. In practice, there is still an 'uncanny valley' problem (the Apple ones look too close to reality, but not real enough)!

It's well understood that, while in public Zuckerberg is very optimistic about the prospects of a profitable future from AR and VR worlds, and the company's Meta headsets, it's also known that the division is losing money very fast. In Q2 the division's operating loss was $4.5 billion – getting on for a third of the whole company's revenue (Quest headsets and apps are pulling in only a few hundred million).

It would be easy to read into this that the accountants are starting to close in on the Metaverse and this possible high-end product was the victim – but we're also told it was not slated until 2027 anyway. Perhaps a rethink was in order anyway after Apple moved the goalposts, but Meta also celebrated the 10th anniversary of 'Reality Labs' in April, so might have a little more enthusiasm left yet!