Meta previously teased a render of an advanced headset dubbed ‘Mirror Lake’, but the company says that now this device would be practical to actually build.
Since the first Oculus Rift was released, virtual reality headset design has advanced significantly, and head-mounted devices like the Meta Quest 3 are now lighter and smaller than they were only a few years ago.
However, a lot of consumers still find them to be too big and heavy to be useful or comfortable. A render of a suggested headgear design named Mirror Lake was released by Meta last year as part of a proposal that attempted to address these problems.
Douglas Lanman, Director of Display System Research at Meta, presented the depiction of the Mirror Lake idea at a discussion at the University of Arizona College of Optical Sciences.
Lanman continued by saying that Meta currently thinks it was feasible to construct this cutting-edge headset design using contemporary methods and materials.
Meta’s Mirror Lake VR headset comes with electronic varifocals
The Mirror Lake is notable due to its lightweight form factor, which appears to resemble an oversized pair of sunglasses or goggles more than the larger VR headsets we are familiar with. In addition to its sleek shell, the Mirror Lake would contain technology such as reverse pass-through that lets outside observers see the eyes and face of the VR user and multi-view eye tracking.
The mention of “holocake” lenses, however, was one of the main discussion points. Meta has created these specialized VR lenses to produce a “electronic varifocal,” which can suit both short- and long-sighted users of the headset without requiring them to wear glasses.
There are little signs that Meta is actively developing such a gadget, even though they said the device could be made with existing technology. The “second half of the decade” may see the technology appear in devices, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, but devotees may have to wait a while to utilize anything resembling the Mirror Lake.
