Meta’s Chief Technology Officer, Andrew Bosworth, recently confirmed the abandonment of a high-end headset project slated for a 2027 release, while announcing the development of an ultra-lightweight headset. This update follows a report from August detailing Meta's strategic shifts.
Originally, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Bosworth decided to scrap the high-end headset, codenamed La Jolla, during a meeting. Concurrently, they greenlit the development of an ultra-lightweight headset, scheduled for the same release year, featuring a wired computing module.
Bosworth cited the “lackluster reaction” to the first-generation Quest Pro as a critical factor in their decision to cancel La Jolla. In discussions with Alex Heath, Bosworth elaborated on Meta’s meticulous hardware development process.
The process begins with the pre-discovery phase, where a dedicated team prototypes radical ideas, crafting “proofs of experience.” Successful concepts move to the discovery phase after executive review, where a select few employees analyze industrial design and cost feasibility.
Should the concepts prove viable, they advance to the prototyping stage, scaling involvement tenfold to integrate hardware and software, aiming for realization. The engineering validation testing (EVT) phase follows, where approximately half of these prototypes make it to the product roadmap, though only some survive executive scrutiny to reach the market.
Additionally, Bosworth revealed that the ultra-lightweight headset, codenamed Puffin, has transitioned from pre-discovery to the discovery phase, indicating potential cancellations at the prototyping or EVT stages remain possible.
In conclusion, Meta has adopted an unconventional approach to hardware development, featuring inherent uncertainties in potential success.