Ramiro Cardenas posted video to Facebook after the covert new VR gear was accidentally left in a hotel.
When staying in a hotel room, it is usually worthwhile to rummage around down the side of the bed or in the drawers. Who knows what fun things the prior visitor might have overlooked? like a top-secret Oculus VR headset, for instance. Ramiro Cardenas, a hotel employee, claims to have found and made public the fact that Project Cambria is most likely going to be known as the Meta Quest Pro. He afterwards produced an unpacking video. We chatted with Cardenas about how it all transpired; the conversation is below.
When Mark Zuckerberg announced the Project Cambria headset would be available at the “upper end of the price spectrum,” the device was first teased in October. We were informed at the time that it would be equipped with cameras that would transmit high-resolution, full-color video to its screens, as well as face and eye-tracking and a variety of fascinating algorithms.
Thanks to one particularly forgetful hotel guest, the new device is now publicly visible one month ahead of its scheduled unveiling date. Ramiro Cardenas, who uploaded the video under the alias Zectariuz Gaming, is heard giggling as he eagerly removes the new headset and handheld controllers from their packaging.
This updated Meta Quest Pro headset resembles something out of a Disney live-action film from the 1980s about a mad scientist who unintentionally creates time travel. Meanwhile, it appears like the controllers have abandoned the hollow hoop design of the Meta Quest 2 in favour of a much simpler, more organised form-factor.
The photographs that go with the movie don’t expose any personal information, although one of them does have the caption “NOT FOR RESALE – ENGINEERING SAMPLE.” In light of that, the packaging is quite stylish! However, it does imply that the product’s introduction might be imminent.
Cardenas reportedly told The Verge that he was successful in reuniting the headset with the guest who had stayed in the room, but not before—you know—uploading images and a video of the device to Facebook to thwart Meta’s plan to disclose it during October’s Meta Connect.
It’s a strange coincidence that Cardenas and his Zectariuz Gaming page were already quite interested in the many Oculus iterations. We’ve contacted him to find out how this happy accident happened.
Of course, we’ve also contacted Meta to ask if they’ll unveil the Pro immediately and whether they’ll be pinning the engineer’s head on a pike outside their headquarters. (We might not have said it quite that way.)
Ramiro Cardenas got in touch with us again and provided more information regarding what transpired.
Contrary to earlier reports, it turned out that the bag in which the device was discovered was in the corridor outside of the hotel room. Since it was a sizable black bag and had been left alone in the corridor for several hours before visitors complained that it was blocking the way, Cardenas said that it was mistaken for trash.
Cardenas continues, “Normally you just put it in the trash,” but when he checked to see whether it contained any liquids, he saw the Oculus boxes. Great, someone bought Oculus Quest and threw the boxes away, he thought to himself, but then he realised that they were black. He brought the boxes to the hotel’s rear office to make sure they weren’t empty because he recalled that “they are not even on the market yet.” He claims that this is the video.
Then, according to Cardenas, “I placed it back, recorded that it was found, and requested that whoever claims it give ID and identify what products were inside the bag.” There was no way anyone could have predicted.
Later, the owner claimed them and left the hotel without saying “not even a thank you.”
Cardenas continues by saying that he never tried the Meta Quest Pro or turned it on; he just ever opened the box to make sure it wasn’t junk. adding, “Did I wish I kept it, though? Yes. Did returning it hurt? Yes.”
That is some very excellent honesty. Who wouldn’t have been tempted to take home anything that had been left in a hallway like trash, after all? Let’s hoping that Meta acts honourably and ensures that Cardenas receives his own Meta Quest Pro at launch.
