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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]

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][6] 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.[7] 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.[8]

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][9]

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[10]
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[11]
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[12]
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[13]
2018 Oculus Connect 5 (OC5) September 26-27 San Jose Oculus Quest standalone 6DoF headset announced (399 USD, shipping spring 2019)[14][15]
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[16]
2020 Facebook Connect September 16 (virtual) Online Oculus Quest 2 unveiled (299 USD, shipping October 13); multi-year smart-glasses partnership with EssilorLuxottica[17]
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[7][18][8]
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[19]
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[20][21]
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][22]
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][23]

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.[24][25] 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.[20][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] 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. ↑ "Oculus Connect 2014". Meta (Oculus Blog). 2014. https://www.meta.com/blog/oculus-connect-2014/. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "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.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "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.
  9. ↑ "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.
  10. ↑ "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.
  11. ↑ "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.
  12. ↑ "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.
  13. ↑ "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.
  14. ↑ "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.
  15. ↑ "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.
  16. ↑ "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.
  17. ↑ "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.
  18. ↑ "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.
  19. ↑ "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.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "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.
  21. ↑ "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.
  22. ↑ "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.
  23. ↑ "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.
  24. ↑ "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.
  25. ↑ "Facebook F8". Wikipedia. 2022. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_F8. Retrieved June 28, 2026.
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