Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, took the news cycle by storm on Tuesday with the launch of a new mixed reality headset and an accompanying coordinated hype campaign.

The company showed off the new $1,500 Quest Pro headset at its Connect conference focused on VR and the metaverse. That’s the same conference where Facebook officially renamed itself Meta Inc last year, underscoring its ambition to move beyond its social media roots.

At this year’s event, industry heavyweights like Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Accenture CEO Julie Sweet took the stage to voice their enthusiasm for the metaverse. Microsoft partners with Meta to make special versions of…