Meta Quest 3 and the Future of VR
Introduction
Generally, virtual reality can be described as a niche, almost futuristic experience that few people have had the means or interest to get into, but I believe that is about to change. The VR headsets of the past have been bulky, expensive, and restrict the user’s movement. Their designs may also stir up thoughts of Ready Player One or Black Mirror in the general public. All this combined may contribute to VR being less inviting to the average consumer. However, in recent years design changes and leaps in technology have made virtual reality more accessible. The most notable device that has pushed VR forward is the Meta Quest 2.
The Quest 2’s relatively low price point makes it easily accessible for consumers interested in experiencing VR, and its standalone design means users don’t have to be tethered to a powerful (and expensive) PC to see what VR has to offer. Being one of the most successful standalone headsets so far, the Quest 2 has exposed millions to the world of VR, and with the release of the new Meta Quest 3, I believe VR is about to take another leap forward.
Changes and Improvements
While the Quest 2 is a great starting point for people to experiment with VR, it does have its flaws. Thankfully, in the newest generation on the quest line, Meta has made some changes and improvements that help address some of these issues.
· Processing: The Quest 3 is equipped with the Snapdragon XR2 Gen2 processor, an upgrade from the Snapdragon XR2 Gen1 used in the Quest 2. This allows it to run more demanding apps, in turn offering the user a more detailed and intense experience.
· Comfort: Meta has also made improvements to the head strap for the Quest 3. The strap is now more comfortable and easier to adjust. Changes to the design also make it easier for people with different hairstyles to use the headset without needing to alter their hair.
· Optics: The Quest 3’s new pancake lenses give the headset an improved resolution of 2064 x 2208 pixels per eye compared to the 1832 x 1920 resolution of the Quest 2. The lenses also help fix the “sweet spot” issue that the Quest 2 had with its Fresnel lenses, where the picture was sharpest in the center of your vision, and you needed precise positioning to get the clearest visuals. The new continuous IPD (interpupillary distance) settings are also a great upgrade from the 3 IPD settings available for the Quest 2. Letting people tune the lenses to their specific Interpupillary distance will prevent people from having to deal with visuals that are always slightly out of focus.
· Controls: The Quest 3’s new Touch Plus controllers have gotten rid of the IR (Infrared) tracking ring and improved controller tracking, making the controllers less bulky and easier to work with. These controllers also have haptic feedback which helps with immersion.
· Passthrough: For those who are unaware, passthrough is a feature that allows the user to view their surroundings through the VR headset’s external cameras. The Quest 3 introduces full-color passthrough, a great improvement on the Quest 2’s grayscale passthrough. This combined with higher-resolution external cameras makes seeing and maneuvering in your environment with your headset on easier than ever. The ability to see your surroundings clearly and in color also opens up the possibility of great mixed-reality experiences.
· Battery: The ~2.2-hour battery life of the Quest 3 is a slight improvement on the 2-hour runtime of the Quest 2, but I would have liked to see a bigger bump in runtime. Meta seems to be limited by current battery technology.
All these improvements have made the Quest 3 an even greater experience than its predecessor, and I believe this will surely make VR more attractive to consumers. Looking into the future, I think there are even more potential improvements that would bring VR closer to the prevalence of PCs, smartphones, and other similar devices.
Future Improvements to VR
For virtual reality to become as ubiquitous as PC and smartphone use, I think there needs to be improvements made to the comfort, control scheme, battery life, weight, styling, and price of the technology. I will discuss what I’d like to see changed in each area below.
· Comfort, Weight, and Styling: Even though the Quest 3’s new specs sound great, the experience still boils down to strapping a heavy screen to your face. The weight can become uncomfortable during extended use, and using a VR headset still looks a little outlandish. In the future, I would like to see companies deliver an immersive VR experience in a form factor similar to products like Google Glass or the new Ray-Ban smart glasses. Having a small wearable device shaped like sunglasses or goggles would make the VR more comfortable, stylish, and accessible overall.
· Control Scheme: The big focus of virtual reality is to create immersive experiences for users to explore, and developers should aim to minimize instances where the user’s immersion is broken. One way to improve immersion would be to make navigating the world as seamless as possible. My suggestion would be to ditch handheld controllers altogether in favor of haptic gloves. This would allow users to navigate their virtual world with their hands, getting tactile feedback and feeling as if they’re really touching the world they see.
· Battery Life: For VR to become a big part of our lives, people would need to be able to experience it for longer than the short battery lives of today allow. If battery technology significantly improves, people will be able to use VR for more tasks, for longer. This combined with the improvements mentioned previously would elevate VR devices to a level where they could be solid candidates to supplement or even replace laptops. Why carry a PC around in a bag when you can have a lightweight, stylish, wearable computer with you as an accessory?
· Price: One of the biggest barriers to entry for VR is price. Not a lot of people are willing to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a VR device. If VR tech improves significantly in the ways that I’ve described, the devices will still need to be affordable for them to be adopted by the masses. If the devices are super expensive like the Quest Pro, Apple Vision Pro, HTC Vive, etc., it will be harder for the average consumer to gain access.
Conclusions
The Meta Quest 3 seems promising and makes me hopeful for the future of VR and mixed reality. Its many improvements over the Quest 2 make it a more attractive product which may cause a surge of new VR users in the coming years. However, while the Quest 3’s improvements are great, there is still much to be desired for VR tech as a whole. I hope VR technology continues to progress to a point where many more people can experience it, for work, play, and everything in between.
References
IGN. Meta Quest 3 Review. 9 October 2023. Video.
Meta. Compare your Meta Quest. October 2023. Document. 12 October 2023.
