Meta is 'working on' its own version of Apple Vision Pro Travel Mode so you can use your Quest 3 on a plane

Date:
Thu, 25 Jan 2024 17:39:53 +0000

Description:
Meta says it's working on a way to let Quest owners use their headset on a plane a feature offered by Apple's new Vision Pro.

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Meta might have been a big perhaps even the biggest player in the VR world for some time, but newcomer Apple is already giving it ideas for features to add to its Quest headsets, and the first of these could be the ability to use your Quest VR wearable while moving in a car or on a plane.

The reveal trailer for the Apple headset which is finally set to launch on February 2 , with Vision Pro preorders already having gone live (many Apple headsets are already being sold on eBay for extremely high prices ) showed off several use cases for the gadget. One of the examples was a person slipping the headset on while sitting in a plane seat, presumably so they could enjoy an immersive experience while traveling.

Using a VR headset while traveling especially on a packed plane sounds like a no-brainer. Rather than having to contend with movies displayed on a small screen on the back of the seat in front of you, you can enjoy them on a massive virtual movie theatre screen and forget that youre crammed into coach like a sardine. (Image credit: Apple)

However, while the idea sounds simple, its rather tricky to pull off as one disappointed Meta Quest 3 user discovered when they struggled to use mixed reality on a flight. On Twitter/X, user @afoxdesign posted a rather amusing clip of their Quest 3 menu floating off into the distance while trying to use the headset on a flight.

In a reply to the post, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth ( @boztank ) explained that the issue is caused by the planes movement throwing off the headsets IMUs (inertial motion sensors). The sensors are picking up on the planes movement and acceleration, so your headset thinks youre moving about and adjusts the position of virtual objects accordingly.

Encouragingly, Bosworth added that Meta is Working on it with regards to making it possible to use Quest headsets while traveling in a vehicle. No, we use an IMU to keep objects localized relative to your headset motion so
moving vehicles represent a challenge (when they accelerate in any
direction). We also use the cameras, of course, they work together as the IMU is higher frequency but lower accuracy. Working on it! January 24, 2024 See more

Back in May 2023 Meta showed off a demo where a Meta Quest Pro was being used in a BMW , with the cars own sensors keeping the headset's IMUs in check. Unfortunately, this solution wouldnt work for low-tech vehicles or commercial planes, where it might not be the safest idea to give random people direct access to the airplanes sensors.

Option two, then, may be to introduce a simplified travel mode in which these motion sensors are turned off. Instead, the headset would use scaled-back tracking data and reference points to enable stable versions of static experiences like watching a video or playing a game through the VR Xbox Game Pass app becoming a headset version of the Xreal Air 2 and similar wearable AR display glasses.

Well have to wait and see what Meta comes up with, but with Apple offering a solution to the using-a-headset-while-traveling problem, and Bosworth saying that a solution is being worked on, were hopeful that Quest headsets will be usable on a plane or in a car in the not too distant future. You might also like The Apple Vision Pro is not wireless, and this is driving some people to distraction This Apple Vision Pro deep dive showed me all I was missing
Seeing your own spatial video on Vision Pro is an immersive trip



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/virtual-reality-augmented-reality/meta-is- working-on-its-own-version-of-apple-vision-pro-travel-mode-so-you-can-use-your -quest-3-on-a-plane


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