The Oculus Quest 3 will get one of the Meta Quest Pro's exclusive features

Date:
Mon, 06 Feb 2023 11:30:23 +0000

Description:
The Oculus Quest 3 will have the Meta Quest Pro's full-color Meta Reality (mixed reality) capabilities when it launches.

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The Oculus Quest 3 may be several months away from being unveiled, but Meta has already teased that it will get a feature thats currently exclusive to
its Meta Quest Pro: full-color mixed-reality.

While the Oculus Quest 3 , Metas next VR headset, isnt expected to be
unveiled until October this year which is when we expect Meta Connect 2023 will happen a few details have been revealed already. For a start, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed that the Quest 3 will be much cheaper than the $1,500 / 1,500 / AU$2,450 Meta Quest Pro , saying that it will be in the price range of $300, $400, or $500 .

Additionally, leaked CAD models may have shown us the basic design of the upcoming device, which looks like a slimmer Oculus Quest 2 likely because
the Quest 3 will adopt pancake lens optics that are more compact than its predecessors lenses.

And now we also know that Metas Quest 3 will have color passthrough, which enables the user to see the real world in full color while wearing the headset, just like the Quest Pro, with Zuckerberg confirming this in Metas recent Q4 2022 investor earnings call .

Specifically, he said that later this year, we're going to launch our next generation consumer headset, which will feature Meta Reality. The next-gen consumer headset he references is the Quest 3 (or at least the headset were calling the Quest 3, as it hasnt officially been named yet) and Meta Reality is the full-color mixed reality functionality that debuted on the Quest Pro.

Its not entirely clear how the Quest 3 will incorporate Meta Reality, though its thought the device will use depth sensors to help it map out the real-world space around the wearer, rather than relying on the Quest Pros system, which uses multiple outward-facing cameras. Meta's mixed reality can virtually upgrade your home office setup (Image credit: Meta)

In our Meta Quest Pro review , we felt that color passthrough was a cool addition to the headset, but that it wasnt particularly well executed. The passthrough footage thats shown to the wearer is very grainy, and right now theres not anything of note you can do with mixed reality certainly nothing that warrants paying the Pros higher price over the Quest 2.

However, if Meta wants to include the feature with the Quest 3, and focus
more of its attention on MR, then this lack of support will likely change. By the time the Quest 3 launches, well probably see a slew of mixed-reality or (as Meta calls it) Meta Reality experiences being made available on its hardware, though well have to wait and see exactly what Meta and its collaborators launch over the coming months. Oculus Quest 3: not just a cheaper Quest Pro

If youve gone out and bought a Meta Quest Pro either at full price or even with a discount thanks to the recent Quest Pro deal that Meta offered then the news that its features are coming to the Quest 3 may worry you. Dont
worry though; Meta isnt making all of your devices features available in its next-budget-friendly offering.

Meta has previously hinted that its Quest Pro line will offer users premium features that will be unavailable in its cheaper Quest devices at least for
a few iterations. Now its CTO Andrew Bosworth has reaffirmed that the Quest Pros face- and eye-tracking capabilities will be locked to the more expensive devices for the next year, two years, three years honestly.

Bosworth revealed that news in the latest AMA he hosted on his Instagram page in which he added that the main tradeoff that comes with face tracking is
cost its expensive to cram in the extra cameras and processing power needed for the feature. So while the aim is to eventually bring face and eye
tracking to the cheaper Quest line, right now its not possible to do that and also keep those headsets at a consumer-friendly price.

If you're keen to experience eye tracking, but you don't want to invest in
the Meta Quest Pro, your best bet might be to opt for Sony's PSVR2 headset check out our rundown of everything you need to know about the PlayStation VR 2 headset to find out more about it.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/the-oculus-quest-3-will-get-one-of-the-meta-que st-pros-exclusive-features


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