Pico Developing Sleek Mixed Reality Goggles to Compete with Next-Gen Meta Headset

Alright, let’s dive into this, no frills or fluff. The scoop is, you’ve got this company called Pico. They’re under the big umbrella of ByteDance, the same folks who brought us TikTok — pretty wild, right? Now, they’re cooking up these new mixed reality goggles. Yeah, goggles, not just another headset. They’re calling it ‘Swan’ for now. Makes me think of that elegant neck and all. Supposedly, these things are super slim and light — we’re talking around 100 grams. That’s like holding a light sandwich on your face, if that’s your thing.

So, this is all according to some inside whispers three folks shared with The Information. Apparently, there’s a quirky design twist — it involves shifting the heavy-duty processing to a thing they call a compute puck. Weird name, but kinda fun to say, right? Because of this puck thingamajig, the glasses end up slimmer than your typical Quest 3 or Pico 4 Ultra. Yeah, like those hefty fellas we see around.

Quick side note — there’s a picture floating around somewhere of this Pico 4 Ultra beast. Not much to say other than it’s part of their past lineup. Anyway, Swan’s gonna ditch the usual clunky controllers for eye and hand tracking. Playing peekaboo with your tech, basically. Plus, talk has it that they’re working on fancy chips to make sure what you see in AR syncs smoothly with your actual movements. Got to avoid that nasty lag that feels like bad karaoke on a Saturday night.

Then there’s this déjà vu bit. Pico’s rival, Meta, has their project nicknamed ‘Phoenix’ — or maybe it’s ‘Loma’, or ‘Puffin’? Feels like someone needs a good bird book. The setup seems almost identical, compute puck and all. WSJ says Meta’s version might swoop into stores by 2026 or 2027, with a price tag below a grand. Makes you wonder, are these just gadgets for folks with fat wallets?

Honestly, there’s zilch about how much Swan will set you back, or even where you can get one. Wondering if it’s gonna follow Pico’s old route — mainly Asia and Europe, skipping North America. Historically, their stuff’s been pricier than Meta’s offerings, so there’s that. Guess we’ll have to wait and see where the Swan lands.