San Francisco, Sep 28 (IANS): Meta has launched a new mixed reality (MR) headset called Quest 3 with a 30 per cent enhancement in visual resolution and 40 per cent louder audio range than Quest 2.

Billed as the first mass-market mixed reality headset with 4K+ Infinite Display, it starts at $499.99 for the 128GB version and $649.99 for those who want a larger storage capacity at 512GB.

Meta Quest 3 hits shelves on October 10 and pre-orders are open now.

With double the graphic processing power of Quest 2, the new headset is the world’s first device to feature the new Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 platform in collaboration with Qualcomm.

“Load times are lightning fast, and incredibly crisp details in immersive games defy expectations — whether you’re solving puzzles on the far reaches of space in Red Matter 2 or hitting the links with friends on the other side of the world,” the company said during its event late on Wednesday.

The next-gen pancake lens optical stack gives Quest 3 a 40 per cent slimmer optic profile compared to Quest 2 without compromising “your depth of visual immersion”.

In partnership with EssilorLuxottica, Meta also launched a new generation of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, available for pre-order.

Starting at $299, the smart glasses will be available for purchase online and in retail stores starting October 17.

A new ultra-wide 12 MP camera translates to improved quality for photos and 1080p videos up to 60 seconds.

You can even directly share photos to friends and family from your glasses with a simple “send a photo” voice command.

Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are powered by the all-new Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen1 Platform, which enables higher quality photo and video processing and even faster compute.

The glasses come with a redesigned and sleek charging case, which holds up to eight additional charges (for a total of 36 hours of use), said the company.