The parent company of Facebook would have ended the development of its connected watch dedicated to the metaverse.
For a little over a year, rumors have swelled around a connected watch designed by Meta, the parent company of Facebook. We thus had time to learn that it would be equipped with two or three photo sensors, that it would be oriented towards virtual reality or that it would measure various health data. This Thursday, the Bloomberg agency provided more information on the smartwatch: it would be canceled.
The media specializing in economic news indeed reports that Meta would have stopped the development of its connected watch:
Facebook’s parent company, Meta Platforms Inc, has suspended development of its dual-camera smartwatch and is now working on other wrist devices, according to a person familiar with the matter.
According to information from Bloomberg, after at least two years of development, Meta decided to cancel the development of the connected watch due to technical difficulties encountered during the prototyping phases: ” The presence of the camera caused problems with other features to translate nerve signals from the wrist to digital controls “. Therefore, if the integration of several cameras could have an interest for taking photos, it prevented from taking full advantage of the other modes offered by the watch such as the use of the connected watch as a controller in virtual reality.
A development move deemed too high by Meta
Another element taken into account by Meta to end the development of its watch – known internally under the code name“Milano”— is the blow of development. Meta’s latest financial results are not looking good and the firm is now looking to save $3 billion a year.
This would not mean that Meta intends to stop connected products. The firm would now move towards more classic connected bracelets, still in the context of virtual reality and the future metaverse. It is not yet known what these future connected bracelets could offer.
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