Meta aims to build a future to connect 'physical and digital'

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicked off the tech giant's Connect developer conference on Wednesday with new AI products for consumers, including smart glasses that can answer questions and stream directly on Facebook, as well as bots that create photo-realistic images and an updated virtual-reality headset. Standing in a courtyard at his company's Menlo Park, California, headquarters, Zuckerberg told the audience of developers, employees and journalists that Meta is "focused on building the future of human connection" – and painted a near-future where people interact with hologram versions of their friends or coworkers and with AI bots built to assist them. Zuckerberg described the products as bringing together virtual and real worlds and underscored that part of what Meta offered was low-cost or free AI that could be integrated into daily routines. "Soon the physical and digital will come together in what we call the'metaverse'," he said. The company unveiled the next version of its virtual-reality headset, the Quest 3. It will cost $499 and begin shipping on October 10.