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Meta Connect

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Meta Connect is the annual developer conference held by Meta Platforms to showcase its work in virtual reality, augmented reality, smart glasses, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse. The event is where the company announces new headsets and wearables, releases developer tools and software updates, and previews its longer-term research. It began in 2014 as Oculus Connect, the first developer conference from Oculus, was renamed Facebook Connect in 2020, and became Meta Connect in 2021 following the parent company's rebrand to Meta.[1][2]

The keynote, usually delivered by Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, is the focal point of the event and is where most major hardware reveals are made. Over its history the conference has tracked the company's shifting priorities, moving from PC-tethered VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift, to standalone headsets in the Meta Quest line, and more recently to camera-equipped smart glasses and AI assistants.[3][4][5] At Meta Connect 2026 the company announced Meta VR Glasses, a lightweight headset that moves its battery and processor into a tethered puck, together with camera-free audio glasses and new hardware for its Muse AI agent.[6][7]

Reviewed 25 September 2026. Connect 2026 dates, format, announcements (Meta VR Glasses, Muse Charm, Ray-Ban Meta Audio and Gen 3, Ray-Ban Display rollout, games, v207 SDK), prices and their sources. About review dates.

History

Oculus VR held its first developer conference, Oculus Connect, on September 19 and 20, 2014 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Hollywood, California, the same year Facebook acquired the company. It drew close to 1,000 developers and was created to grow the VR developer community and preview upcoming hardware.[2][8] The event was numbered sequentially from Oculus Connect 1 in 2014 through Oculus Connect 6 in 2019.[3]

In 2020 the company rebranded the conference to Facebook Connect, dropping the Oculus name and the sequential numbering. The company said the event had grown to cover much more than Oculus, with product news ranging from Spark AR to Facebook Horizon. The 2020 edition was held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic and was free and open to the public for the first time.[1]

At the 2021 edition, Zuckerberg announced that the parent company was changing its name from Facebook to Meta to reflect its focus on the metaverse, while consumer apps such as Facebook and Instagram kept their names. The conference was subsequently known as Meta Connect.[9] Around the same event Meta said the Oculus hardware brand would be retired from early 2022, so the Oculus Quest 2 was renamed the Meta Quest 2.[10]

The conference was held in person each year from 2014 to 2019, mostly in San Jose, California after the first two events in Los Angeles. The 2020, 2021 and 2022 editions were online-only, and later editions have combined an online broadcast with a limited in-person presence at Meta's campus in Menlo Park, California.[3][11]

Editions

Year Name Dates Location Notable announcements
2014 Oculus Connect (OC1) September 19-20 Los Angeles "Crescent Bay" Rift prototype with 360-degree head tracking and integrated audio[12]
2015 Oculus Connect 2 (OC2) September 23-25 Hollywood, Los Angeles Keynotes from Brendan Iribe, Michael Abrash and John Carmack; "Toybox" demo for the Oculus Touch controllers[13]
2016 Oculus Connect 3 (OC3) October 5-7 San Jose Oculus Touch launch details (199 USD, December 6 ship date); "Santa Cruz" standalone inside-out tracking prototype[14]
2017 Oculus Connect 4 (OC4) October 11-12 San Jose Oculus Go standalone headset announced (199 USD); "Santa Cruz" updated to a high-end standalone dev kit with 6DoF controllers[15]
2018 Oculus Connect 5 (OC5) September 26-27 San Jose Oculus Quest standalone 6DoF headset announced (399 USD, shipping spring 2019)[16][17]
2019 Oculus Connect 6 (OC6) September 25-26 San Jose Hand tracking on Oculus Quest; Oculus Link (Quest to PC tether); Facebook Horizon social VR[18]
2020 Facebook Connect September 16 (virtual) Online Oculus Quest 2 unveiled (299 USD, shipping October 13); multi-year smart-glasses partnership with EssilorLuxottica[19]
2021 Connect (Meta rebrand) October 28 (virtual) Online Facebook renamed to Meta; "Project Cambria" high-end headset teased; "Project Nazare" AR glasses codename; Oculus hardware brand to be retired[9][20][10]
2022 Meta Connect October 11 (virtual) Online Meta Quest Pro announced (1,499.99 USD, shipping October 25) with pancake lenses and full-color passthrough[21]
2023 Meta Connect September 27-28 Menlo Park, California Meta Quest 3 mixed-reality headset (from 499.99 USD); Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses (from 299 USD); Meta AI assistant[22][23]
2024 Meta Connect September 25-26 Menlo Park, California Meta Quest 3S budget headset (from 299 USD); Orion AR glasses prototype with neural wristband; Meta AI and Ray-Ban Meta updates[4][24]
2025 Meta Connect September 17-18 Menlo Park, California Meta Ray-Ban Display AR glasses with EMG wristband (799 USD); Oakley Meta Vanguard sport glasses (499 USD); second-generation Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2)[5][25]
2026 Meta Connect September 23-24 Menlo Park, California Meta VR Glasses tethered VR headset with a Qualcomm Snapdragon Reality Elite compute puck (1,299.99 USD, spring 2027); Ray-Ban Meta Audio camera-free glasses (from 349 USD, shipping October 13); Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 3) (from 449 USD); Muse Charm pocket device for the Muse AI agent[6][7][26]

Meta Connect 2026

Meta announced in May 2026 that Connect 2026 would take place on September 23 and 24 at its campus in Menlo Park, California, with an evening keynote and developer sessions[26] and with the main keynotes and announcements streamed online.[27] Zuckerberg gave the keynote on September 23 from the company's Menlo Park headquarters.[28]

The main VR announcement was Meta VR Glasses, which Road to VR identified as the device previously reported under the codename "Project Phoenix".[29] The glasses weigh about 100 grams, which Meta says is five times lighter than Meta Quest 3, because compute, battery and storage are moved into a separate puck connected by an optical tether.[30] The puck uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon Reality Elite chip.[30][31] Meta describes the display as a "5K Infinite Display" built on micro-OLED panels with 37 pixels per degree, and UploadVR reported a resolution of 2412 by 2288 pixels per eye at 120 Hz.[30][31] The device is operated with eye tracking, hand gestures and voice; it does not come with controllers by default, and Touch Plus controllers are sold separately.[30][29][31] It runs Meta Horizon OS, the same operating system, store and SDKs used by Meta Quest headsets.[32][33] Meta says the device has access to the full Quest catalog, and its developer site notes that Touch Plus controllers are needed to access the full library.[30][32] Meta priced it at 1,299.99 USD and said it will launch in spring 2027, so at the time of the event it was announced but not yet on sale.[6][31]

Muse, Meta's personal AI agent, is built into the Meta VR Glasses operating system, and Zuckerberg demonstrated it during the keynote.[28] Meta said Muse would come to its AI glasses in the coming months[6] and closed the keynote with Muse Charm, a keychain-sized device with a small display for talking to the agent.[7] Meta did not announce a price and said it planned to ship the device in time for the December holidays.[28][34]

On the smart-glasses side, Meta introduced Ray-Ban Meta Audio, its first audio glasses, which have no camera. They weigh 43 grams, run for up to 12 hours per charge, come in Clubmaster and Burbank styles, and were priced from 349 USD with pre-orders opening on September 23 and shipping on October 13.[35][7] The Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 3) glasses went on sale the same day from 449 USD, with battery life of up to nine hours.[35] Meta Ray-Ban Display gained online ordering in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, and pre-orders opened the same day in France, Italy and Germany ahead of availability there on October 13.[36]

Game announcements for Meta VR Glasses included Beat Saber: Flux, a hand-tracking mode for Beat Saber due in spring 2027, as well as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Dual Destinies VR and Tetris Effect: Mixed Realities, both due in 2027.[37][7] Meta released v207 of its SDKs on September 24 with gaze interaction support and a VR Glasses profile in the Meta XR Simulator, and opened a developer competition with 1 million USD in total prizes running until November 18, 2026.[33]

Significance

Meta Connect is the company's primary venue for product reveals. After Meta declined to hold its F8 developer conference in 2022, choosing to focus on Connect, the event effectively became the company's flagship annual gathering. F8, which had run since 2007, was last held in 2021.[38][39] Several of the most significant products in consumer VR and AR have been introduced at the conference, including every mainline Quest headset and the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, making the event a useful chronological marker for the industry's development.[22][5]

The conference also reflects Meta's strategic evolution. Early editions focused almost entirely on VR hardware and developer tooling, but more recent events have given growing prominence to camera-equipped smart glasses, AI assistants and mixed reality.[4][5] Before the 2026 event, Road to VR noted that Meta's most recent new headset, the Meta Quest 3S, had launched more than a year and a half earlier;[27] Connect 2026 then introduced Meta VR Glasses, which run the same software catalog as the Quest line.[33] Observers have noted that despite Meta's metaverse messaging, the conference itself has never been held in VR and continues to be presented as a conventional broadcast keynote.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Oculus Connect conference is now Facebook Connect". Engadget. August 25, 2020. https://www.engadget.com/facebook-connect-170026683.html. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Oculus Connect 2014". Meta (Facebook Newsroom). September 2014. https://about.fb.com/news/2014/09/oculus-connect-2014/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "After 6 Years in Person and 3 Remote, Why is Meta Connect Still Not Held in VR?". Road to VR. August 3, 2023. https://www.roadtovr.com/meta-connect-still-not-a-vr-conference/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Meta Connect 2024: Orion glasses, Quest 3S headset, Meta AI upgrades, Ray-Ban Meta real-time video, and more". TechCrunch. September 26, 2024. https://techcrunch.com/2024/09/26/meta-connect-2024-orion-glasses-quest-3s-headset-meta-ai-upgrades-ray-ban-meta-real-time-video-and-more-revealed/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Everything Meta announced at Connect 2025: Second-gen Ray-Ban Meta, Oakley Meta Vanguard and Meta Ray-Ban Display". Engadget. September 18, 2025. https://www.engadget.com/wearables/everything-meta-announced-at-connect-2025-second-gen-ray-ban-meta-oakley-meta-vanguard-and-meta-ray-ban-display-100007120.html. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Everything We Announced at Meta Connect 2026". Meta Blog. Meta Platforms. 2026-09-23. https://www.meta.com/blog/meta-connect-2026-everything-we-announced/. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Kris Holt (2026-09-23). "Everything announced at Meta Connect 2026". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2267230/everything-announced-at-meta-connect-2026/. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  8. ↑ "Oculus Connect 2014". Meta (Oculus Blog). 2014. https://www.meta.com/blog/oculus-connect-2014/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "The Facebook Company Is Now Meta". Meta. October 28, 2021. https://about.fb.com/news/2021/10/facebook-company-is-now-meta/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Oculus Brand Dead, Oculus Quest To Become Meta Quest". UploadVR. October 28, 2021. https://www.uploadvr.com/oculus-brand-dead-oculus-quest-to-become-meta-quest/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Meta Connect Returns September 27-28 in Menlo Park". Meta (Community Forums). 2023. https://communityforums.atmeta.com/t5/Announcements/Meta-Connect-Returns-September-27-28-in-Menlo-Park/ba-p/1071824. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  12. ↑ "Oculus Reveals Its New "Crescent Bay" Prototype With 360-Degree Head Tracking And Headphones". TechCrunch. September 20, 2014. https://techcrunch.com/2014/09/20/oculus-connect-announcements/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Oculus Announces Connect 2 Schedule, 3 Days Full of VR Knowledge-building". Road to VR. September 4, 2015. https://roadtovr.com/oculus-announces-connect-2-schedule-3-days-full-of-vr-knowledge-building/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  14. ↑ "Oculus Reveals Touch Launch Details and Unveils Santa Cruz Prototype at Oculus Connect 3". Meta. October 6, 2016. https://about.fb.com/news/2016/10/oculus-reveals-touch-launch-details-and-unveils-santa-cruz-prototype-at-oculus-connect-3/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  15. ↑ "Oculus Connect 4 Day 1 Roundup: Oculus Go, Rift Price Drop, New 'Santa Cruz' Prototype, and More". Road to VR. October 11, 2017. https://roadtovr.com/oculus-connect-4-day-1-roundup-oculus-go-rift-price-drop-new-santa-cruz-prototype-rift-core-2-0-ui-overhaul-new-games/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  16. ↑ "Save the Date for Oculus Connect 5: September 26-27 in San Jose". Meta. June 5, 2018. https://www.meta.com/blog/save-the-date-for-oculus-connect-5-september-26-to-27-in-san-jose/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Facebook's newest VR headset, Oculus Quest, ships in the spring for 399 USD". TechCrunch. September 26, 2018. https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/26/oculus-quest-ships-in-the-spring-for-399/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Oculus Connect 6: Introducing Hand Tracking on Oculus Quest, Facebook Horizon and More". Meta. September 25, 2019. https://about.fb.com/news/2019/09/introducing-hand-tracking-on-oculus-quest-facebook-horizon-and-more/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  19. ↑ "Facebook Connect: Introducing Oculus Quest 2, a Partnership with EssilorLuxottica and More". Meta. September 16, 2020. https://about.fb.com/news/2020/09/facebook-connect-introducing-oculus-quest-2-a-partnership-with-essilorluxottica-and-more/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  20. ↑ "Connect 2021: Our vision for the metaverse". Meta (Tech at Meta). October 28, 2021. https://tech.facebook.com/reality-labs/2021/10/connect-2021-our-vision-for-the-metaverse/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Meta announces the 1,499 USD Quest Pro". TechCrunch. October 11, 2022. https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/11/meta-announces-the-1499-quest-pro/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Meta Connect 2023: Everything you need to know about Quest 3 VR, Ray-Ban smart glasses and Meta AI". TechCrunch. September 27, 2023. https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/27/meta-connect-2023-quest-3-vr-everything-you-need-to-know/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  23. ↑ "Meta Connect 2023: Quest 3, AI Advances, Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, and the Road to the Metaverse". Meta. September 27, 2023. https://www.meta.com/blog/connect-2023-quest-3-ai-ray-ban-smart-glasses-metaverse/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  24. ↑ "Everything Announced at Meta Connect 2024: Quest 3S, Orion AR glasses and Meta AI updates". Engadget. September 25, 2024. https://www.engadget.com/ar-vr/everything-announced-at-meta-connect-2024-202733568.html. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  25. ↑ "Meta Connect 2025 Takes Place September 17 and 18". UploadVR. February 18, 2025. https://www.uploadvr.com/meta-connect-2025-date-announced/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Save the Date: Meta Connect 2026". Meta Blog. Meta Platforms. 2026-05-12. https://www.meta.com/blog/connect-2026-save-the-date/. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Ben Lang (2026-05-12). "Meta Connect Event Set for September 23-24 Alongside New Glasses Tease". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/meta-connect-2026-date-announcement/. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Cherlynn Low and Karissa Bell (2026-09-23). "Meta Connect 2026 live: Updates from Mark Zuckerberg's keynote on AI glasses, VR and more". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2266105/meta-connect-2026-live-blog-ai-vr/. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Scott Hayden (2026-09-23). "Meta VR Glasses Hands-on: What Apple Vision Pro Probably Should Have Been". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/meta-vr-glass-hands-onconnect-2026/. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 "Introducing Meta VR Glasses, A New Era for Virtual Reality". Meta Blog. Meta Platforms. 2026-09-23. https://www.meta.com/blog/meta-vr-glasses-announcement-meta-connect/. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 David Heaney (2026-09-23). "Meta VR Glasses Officially Announced, Shipping Spring 2027 For $1300". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/meta-vr-glasses-officially-announced-connect-2026/. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 "Start building for Meta VR Glasses". Meta Horizon OS Developers. Meta Platforms. https://developers.meta.com/horizon/discover/meta-vr-glasses/. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 "VR is Expanding. Start Building for Meta VR Glasses Today.". Meta for Developers. Meta Platforms. 2026-09-24. https://developers.meta.com/blog/meta-connect-recap-start-building-the-future-of-vr/. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  34. ↑ Abhimanyu Ghoshal (2026-09-24). "Meta's new gadget puts an AI agent in your palm instead of on your face". New Atlas. https://newatlas.com/consumer-tech/meta-muse-ai-agent-charm/. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 "Introducing Ray-Ban Meta Audio and Our Deepest Lineup of AI Glasses Yet". Meta Blog. Meta Platforms. 2026-09-23. https://www.meta.com/blog/ray-ban-meta-audio-and-deepest-ai-glasses-lineup/. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  36. ↑ Scott Hayden (2026-09-23). "Meta Ray-Ban Display is Finally Rolling Out Internationally Starting Today". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/meta-ray-ban-display-int-launch-connect-2026/. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  37. ↑ James Tocchio (2026-09-23). "Every New Game & Update Announced For Meta VR Glasses". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/new-games-announced-for-meta-vr-glasses/. Retrieved 2026-09-25.
  38. ↑ "Meta Cancels F8 Conference This Year To Focus On Connect". UploadVR. April 8, 2022. https://www.uploadvr.com/meta-cancels-f8-2022-for-connect/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  39. ↑ "Facebook F8". Wikipedia. 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_F8. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
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