Meta Quest 3

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Meta Quest 3
Meta Quest 3 display unit.jpg
Meta Quest 3 with its controllers
Codename"Stinson"
"Eureka"
Developer Reality Labs
Type Virtual reality headset
Release dateOctober 10, 2023
Lifespan2023–present
Introductory priceUS$499 (128 GB)
US$649 (512 GB)
Operating system Meta Horizon OS, based on Android source code
System on a chip Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2
Memory8 GB LPDDR5
Storage128 GB, 512 GB
Display2 × 2064 × 2208p RGB-stripe LCD+ panels, one per eye @ 90–120 Hz [1]
Graphics Adreno 740 @ 599 MHz [2] [3] [4]
Sound2 built-in speakers
Controller input Touch Plus
Camera2× 4MP RGB camera, 4× 400×400px IR camera
Connectivity Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
PowerLi-ion 3.87 VDC, 4879 mAh [5]
Online servicesMeta Quest Store
Mass515 g (18.2 oz)
Predecessor Quest 2
Related Meta Quest 3S
Website www.meta.com/quest/quest-3/

Meta Quest 3 is a standalone virtual reality (VR) headset developed by Reality Labs, a division of Meta Platforms. It was unveiled on June 1, 2023, and released on October 10, succeeding the Quest 2 as the third generation of the Meta Quest line.

Contents

As with its predecessors, the Quest 3 is a standalone device running Meta Horizon OS, a derivative of Android Open Source Project (AOSP); VR games and apps can be run natively on the headset, or streamed from a PC over USB-C or Wi-Fi. The Quest 3 features updated hardware with elements of the Quest Pro, including a thinner form factor and lenses, and additional sensors and color passthrough cameras intended for mixed reality (MR) software.

The headset received positive reviews, with critics noting its slimmer build and performance improvements over the Quest 2, but panning its passthrough cameras for their clarity and a relative lack of MR experiences at launch, and its relatively unchanged system software.

Specifications

Hardware

The Quest 3's design is an evolution of that of the Quest 2, combined with elements of the Meta Quest Pro. It uses a pair of LCD displays with a per-eye resolution of 2064×2208p, which is a roughly +30% increase over the 1832×1920p resolution of the Quest 2. Although the latter is using a single LCD display panel with only the lenses above it being movable for simple 3x step physical IPD adjustment (compared to each lens having its own separate display panel which then moves together as a single assembly on Quest 3, meaning you are always seeing every pixel on the entire display panel and allowing for full and precise IPD adjustability), which means that the Quest 2's actually visible effective resolution is really closer to ≈1680x1870p. This means that the fully movable dual display Quest 3's resolution improvement is notably bigger in practice than it appears to be on paper; essentially allowing the device's ≈+10-15% wider 110° FOV to be a "free upgrade" in terms of the otherwise inevitable regression in pixel density. [6]

The new dual LCD display panels are viewed through in-house custom-designed 2x element pancake lenses (similar to those in the Quest Pro) to enable significantly better image clarity from edge to edge, FOV improvement, and a 40% thinner device enclosure. [7]

The face of the headset is adorned with three "pills" containing sensors and cameras. The two outer pills each contain a hybrid monochrome visible light/infrared camera whose captured format alternates between frames, and which are used for positional tracking of both the headset itself (using the monochrome feed for "inside-out" optical SLAM) and the Touch Plus controllers (using the IR feed to track embedded IR LED's), along with a 4 MP RGB color camera for mixed reality passthrough. And in addition to the two located inside said outer pills on the device's front, there are another two of these exact same dual role IR tracking cameras on the bottom left and right sides of the headset (giving it 4x in total) so as to give it a suitably large tracking volume.

While the center pill on the other hand contains an IR patterned light emitter in line projector form (marketed as a depth sensor), which is used in combination with the two front facing IR cameras to understand the depth and distance of the user's surroundings for boundaries and mixed reality experiences. [8]

The Quest 3 uses the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2, a system-on-chip manufactured by Qualcomm and based on their Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 flagship mobile phone SoC, [9] which Meta has touted as having more than twice the raw graphics (GPU) performance of the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1 used by the Quest 2 and other similar standalone headsets. [10] [11]

The headset ships with "Touch Plus" controllers; they are similar in design to the Touch Pro controllers used by Quest Pro, and replace the infrared sensor ring with infrared sensors in the body of the controller, augmented by internal sensors and input from the headset's hand tracking. Unlike the Touch Pro controllers, they do not use a dedicated processor and cameras for on-board positional tracking, and are powered by AA batteries rather than rechargeable batteries. [12] Quest 3 is also compatible with the Touch Pro controllers. [13] [14]

In December 2023, an API was added for inside-out body tracking, which uses computer vision and the headset's side cameras to track upper body and arm motions. This can be combined with the "generative legs" API (which uses a machine learning model to estimate the motion of the user's legs) to provide a degree of full-body motion tracking without additional sensors. A depth API was also added to improve the quality of mixed reality rendering. [15]

Software

The Quest 3 is backward compatible with all Quest 2 software. [16] Existing software may receive updates to add higher fidelity graphics (including high resolution textures) when running on Quest 3; due to platform limitations, it is difficult to distribute separate packages targeting Quest 2 and Quest 3 on Quest Store, which may result in software consuming additional storage on Quest 2 due to the inclusion of Quest 3-specific assets in a unified package. [17] [18]

During a private presentation to employees, Meta virtual reality vice president Mark Rabkin stated that there were plans for 41 new Quest apps and games to be released at launch; [19] during a digital presentation on June 1, 2023, Meta showcased Quest titles scheduled for the late-2023 launch window such as Assassin's Creed Nexus VR , Asgard's Wrath 2 , Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord, I Expect You to Die 3 , Onward, PowerWash Simulator, Samba de Amigo: Virtual Party , Stranger Things VR, and Vampire: The Masquerade — Justice among others. [20] [21] During Connect, Meta announced that Xbox Cloud Gaming would be available as an app for Meta Quest 3 in December 2023. [22] [ needs update ]

Release

According to a roadmap obtained by The Verge in February 2023, Meta planned for the Quest 3, internally codenamed "Stinson", to be released later that year. [19] The Verge's roadmap corroborated files on the Quest 3, including schematics, shared in September 2022 by virtual reality analyst Brad Lynch. [23]

Ahead of an official announcement, Bloomberg writer Mark Gurman published a newsletter on May 28, 2023, reporting from a private event where he had received a hands-on demo of a Quest 3 prototype codenamed "Eureka". [24] [25] Ahead of a VR gaming digital presentation later that day, Meta officially revealed the Quest 3 on June 1, 2023 via a video on Mark Zuckerberg's Instagram account. [26] The teaser announced that the Quest 3 would be released in late 2023, and be priced at US$499.99 for a 128 GB model (with larger storage options to be announced in the future). [27] Several publications noted the timing of the announcement, as it came four days prior to Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC)—where the company was expected to announce an augmented reality headset. [28] [29] [30] [31]

The Meta Quest 3 was made available for pre-order on September 28, 2023, with orders shipping the following month, and the 128 GB and 512 GB models priced at US$499.99 and US$649.99 respectively. [32] [33] All pre-order units were bundled with Asgard's Wrath 2 , and pre-orders of the 512 GB model were also bundled with six months of Meta Quest+ subscription service. [32] Initially the Quest 3 would co-exist with the Quest 2 at retail, with the Quest 2 being positioned as an entry-level model, and Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth stating that they would continue to support the Quest 2 "for quite a while". [34] [35]

On September 25, 2024, Meta unveiled the Quest 3S as a new entry-level model to replace the Quest 2 at its US$299.99 price point for a 128 GB model. As a result, it was announced that the 128 GB Quest 3 would be phased out (with its price lowered to US$429.99 while stock remains), and the 512 GB model would be lowered to US$499.99. [36] It was also announced that new Quest 3 and 3S purchases would be bundled with Batman: Arkham Shadow from then through April 30, 2025. [37] [38]

Reception

In a hands-on report published prior to the official unveiling, Bloomberg writer Mark Gurman found that the new AR passthrough mode was significantly better than any previous Meta products (including Quest Pro), with it being good enough to clearly read and use one's phone through, but that controller tracking was less accurate. Meta explained that it will improve the controller tracking accuracy over time before launch with a variety of already discovered but then not yet implemented tracking technologies and software updates. [24] [25]

Wired praised the upgraded hardware of the Quest 3, and its form factor for having a more comfortable and "secure" fit. It was felt that the color passthrough cameras were better than the previous monochrome cameras, but still had a blurry appearance, and that the available apps did not use mixed reality to its full potential. The user interface was also criticized for being largely unchanged from past models, lacking in application management functions, and having unclear migration paths for cloud save data from previous Quest headsets. In conclusion, it was argued that "everything it does, it does well, but it does nothing at the apex of its class", and that the Quest 3 "might not be enough to make mainstream adoption of VR or MR an actual reality." [7]

Polygon similarly praised the technical and ergonomic updates to the Quest 3, and described the device as being "much more complete out of the box, with fewer obvious areas for improvement than the Quest 2". It was noted that not many games had been specifically updated for Quest 3 at launch, but that those which did had improved visual fidelity (such as Red Matter 2, which was described as approaching the fidelity of Half-Life: Alyx ), and that performance improvements were not universal among existing titles not yet updated. It was argued that the headset's library of native software had "worthwhile experiences", but that "Meta's feed of new, interesting games is slow compared to the release rhythm set by traditional game consoles", and that the Quest 3 "feels kind of like a mid-generation console refresh, but without the benefit of having dozens of amazing games that feel greatly improved out of the gate." [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual reality</span> Computer-simulated experience

Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment, education and business. VR is one of the key technologies in the reality-virtuality continuum. As such, it is different from other digital visualization solutions, such as augmented virtuality and augmented reality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reality Labs</span> Virtual and augmented reality products company

Reality Labs, formerly Oculus VR, is a business and research unit of Meta Platforms that produces virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware and software, including virtual reality headsets such as the Quest, and online platforms such as Horizon Worlds. In June 2022, several artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives that were previously a part of Meta AI were transitioned to Reality Labs. This also includes Meta's fundamental AI Research laboratory FAIR which is now part of the Reality Labs - Research (RLR) division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Windows Mixed Reality</span> Mixed reality platform

Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) is a discontinued platform by Microsoft which provides augmented reality and virtual reality experiences with compatible head-mounted displays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HTC Vive</span> Virtual reality headset

HTC Vive is a line of virtual and mixed reality headsets produced by HTC Corporation. The brand currently encompasses headsets designed for use with personal computers as well as standalone headsets such as the Vive Focus line, Vive Flow glasses, and the Vive Elite XR mixed reality headset.

Oculus Touch is a line of motion controller systems used by Meta Platforms virtual reality headsets. The controller was first introduced in 2016 as a standalone accessory for the Oculus Rift CV1, and began to be bundled with the headset and all future Oculus products beginning in July 2017. Since their original release, Touch controllers have undergone revisions for later generations of Oculus/Meta hardware, including a switch to inside-out tracking, and other design changes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual reality headset</span> Head-mounted device that provides virtual reality for the wearer

A virtual reality headset is a head-mounted device that uses 3D near-eye displays and positional tracking to provide a virtual reality environment for the user. VR headsets are widely used with VR video games, but they are also used in other applications, including simulators and trainers. VR headsets typically include a stereoscopic display, stereo sound, and sensors like accelerometers and gyroscopes for tracking the pose of the user's head to match the orientation of the virtual camera with the user's eye positions in the real world. Augmented reality (AR) headsets are VR headsets that enable the user to see and interact with the outside world. Examples of AR headsets include the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3.

Foveated rendering is a rendering technique which uses an eye tracker integrated with a virtual reality headset to reduce the rendering workload by greatly reducing the image quality in the peripheral vision.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oculus Go</span> Untethered virtual reality headset by Oculus VR

The Oculus Go is a discontinued, standalone virtual reality headset developed by Meta Reality Labs in partnership with Qualcomm and Xiaomi. It is in the first generation of Facebook Technologies' virtual reality headsets, and the company's first device in the category of standalone VR headsets, which was a new category at the time of the Go's release. The Oculus Go was unveiled on October 11, 2017 during the Oculus Connect developer conference, and released on May 1, 2018. Xiaomi launched their own version of the headset in China as the Mi VR Standalone on May 31, 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oculus Quest</span> Virtual reality headset

The first-generation Oculus Quest is a discontinued virtual reality headset developed by Oculus, a brand of Facebook Inc., and released on May 21, 2019. Similar to its predecessor, Oculus Go, it is a standalone device, that can run games and software wirelessly under an Android-based operating system. It supports positional tracking with six degrees of freedom, using internal sensors and an array of cameras in the front of the headset rather than external sensors. The cameras are also used as part of the safety feature "Passthrough", which shows a view from the cameras when the user exits their designated boundary area known as "Guardian". A later software update added "Oculus Link", a feature that allows the Quest to be connected to a computer via USB, enabling use with Oculus Rift-compatible software and games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oculus Rift S</span> Virtual reality head-mounted display

Oculus Rift S is a discontinued virtual reality headset co-developed by Lenovo Technologies and Oculus VR. Announced in March 2019 and released that May, it is a successor to the original Oculus Rift CV1 model, with noted changes including a new "inside-out" positional tracking system with cameras embedded inside the headset unit, a higher-resolution display, and a new "halo" head strap.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oculus Rift CV1</span> Virtual reality headset by Oculus VR

Oculus Rift CV1, also known simply as Oculus Rift, is a virtual reality headset developed by Oculus VR, a subsidiary of Meta Platforms, known at the time as Facebook Inc. It was announced in January 2016, and released in March the same year. The device constituted the first commercial release in the Oculus Rift lineup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quest 2</span> Virtual reality headset

Quest 2 is a standalone virtual reality headset developed by Reality Labs, a division of Meta Platforms. It was unveiled on September 16, 2020, and released on October 13, 2020 as the Oculus Quest 2. It was then rebranded as the Meta Quest 2 in 2022, as part of a company-wide phase-out of the Oculus brand following the rebranding of Facebook, Inc. as Meta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meta Quest</span> Line of virtual reality headsets

The Meta Quest, initially the Oculus Quest until 2022, is a line of virtual reality headsets with augmented reality capabilities developed by Reality Labs, a division of Meta Platforms. The first-generation Oculus Quest was developed by Oculus and released on May 21, 2019. Since then, Facebook has released new Quest models and Quest OS updates. As of February 2023, over 20 million total Quest headsets have been sold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meta Quest Pro</span> Virtual reality headset

The Meta Quest Pro is a mixed reality (MR) headset developed by Reality Labs, a division of Meta Platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PICO 4</span> Virtual reality headset

PICO 4 is a virtual reality headset developed by ByteDance. It is designed for virtual reality games and is only available in Europe and East Asia. It is currently not available in the United States. PICO 4 is a competitor of Quest 2. In November 2023, VRChat was launched on PICO 4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple Vision Pro</span> Mixed reality headset by Apple Inc.

The Apple Vision Pro is a mixed-reality headset developed by Apple. It was announced on June 5, 2023, at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference. Pre-orders began on January 19, 2024 and became available for purchase on February 2, 2024, in the United States. It also became available for purchase in China, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore on June 28, 2024, in Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the UK on July 12, 2024, and in South Korea and the UAE on November 15, 2024. Apple Vision Pro is Apple's first new major product category since the release of the Apple Watch in 2015.

VIVE XR Elite is an extended reality (XR) headset developed and manufactured by HTC. Released in February 2023, the headset combines virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR) functionalities.

Meta Horizon OS, previously known informally as Meta Quest Platform or Meta Quest OS, is an extended reality operating system for the Meta Quest line of devices released by Meta Platforms. Initially developed for the embedded operating system on the Oculus Rift and Oculus Rift S, the platform has been based on the Android operating system since the release of the Oculus Go in 2018. It first supported augmented reality via grayscale camera passthrough upon the release of the Oculus Quest in 2019, and has supported color passthrough since the release of the Meta Quest Pro in 2022.

YouTube VR is a software application which offers an interface for YouTube made for VR headsets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meta Quest 3S</span> Mixed reality headset

Meta Quest 3S is a standalone virtual reality (VR) headset developed by Reality Labs, a division of Meta Platforms. It was unveiled on September 25, 2024, and released on October 15, 2024, as part of the third generation of the Meta Quest line, serving as a cheaper option for budget VR players.

References

  1. ↑ Robertson, Adi (September 27, 2023). "The Meta Quest 3 is sharper, more powerful, and still trying to make mixed reality happen". The Verge . Retrieved September 27, 2023.
  2. ↑ "vr-compare". www.vr-compare.com.
  3. ↑ "GPU GFLOPS Calculation". azcalculator.com.
  4. ↑ "CPU and GPU levels". meta.com.
  5. ↑ "iFixit". Meta Quest 3 Teardown. p.  https://i.imgur.com/zxyrQwS.jpeg.
  6. ↑ Heaney, David (September 27, 2023). "Quest 3 Full Specs - Compared With Quest 2, Quest Pro, Pico 4 & Apple Vision Pro". UploadVR. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  7. 1 2 "Meta Quest 3 Review: Huge Hardware Bump, But Who's It For?". WIRED. October 9, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  8. ↑ Robertson, Adi (September 27, 2023). "The Meta Quest 3 is sharper, more powerful, and still trying to make mixed reality happen". The Verge. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  9. ↑ Gurman, Mark (May 28, 2023). "A First Look at the Headset That Could Be Apple's Biggest Competition". Bloomberg News . Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Meta Quest 3 Coming This Fall + Lower Prices for Quest 2". Meta. June 1, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
  11. ↑ McMillan, Malcolm (June 23, 2023). "Meta Quest 3 display resolution revealed by Best Buy — here's what we know". Tom's Guide. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  12. ↑ "Meta Quest 3 Teardown and the Future of VR Repairability". iFixit. November 14, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
  13. ↑ Pierce, David (October 9, 2023). "Meta Quest 3 review: almost the one we've been waiting for". The Verge. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Meta Reveals How Quest 3's Controllers Are Tracked". UploadVR. June 4, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Quest 3 Now Has Inside-Out Body Tracking & MR Occlusion". UploadVR. December 15, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  16. ↑ Bailey, Dustin (June 1, 2023). "Meta Quest 3 launches later this year, costs $500". GamesRadar+ . Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  17. 1 2 Faulkner, Cameron (October 9, 2023). "Meta Quest 3 is a major VR advancement in need of more games". Polygon. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Quest 3 Game Upgrades Squeeze Quest 2 Storage". UploadVR. October 9, 2023. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  19. 1 2 Heath, Alex (February 28, 2023). "This is Meta's AR / VR hardware roadmap for the next four years". The Verge . Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Meta announces over 20 new games for Quest headsets". TechCrunch. June 1, 2023. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Samba De Amigo: Virtual Party Dances Onto Quest This Week". UploadVR. October 11, 2023. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  22. ↑ "Xbox Cloud Gaming Comes To Meta Quest 3 With Mixed Reality This December". GameSpot. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  23. ↑ Ngan, Liv (March 2, 2023). "Meta plans Quest 3 release for this year". Eurogamer . Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  24. 1 2 Hector, Hamish (May 31, 2023). "Oculus Quest 3 hands-on teases huge upgrades and one worrying downgrade". TechRadar . Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  25. 1 2 "A First Look at the Headset That Could Be Apple's Biggest Competition". Bloomberg.com. May 28, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  26. ↑ Goode, Lauren; Calore, Michael (June 1, 2023). "Meta Announces a New Quest Headset, Because Apple". Wired . Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  27. ↑ Faulkner, Cameron (June 1, 2023). "Meta announces Quest 3 VR headset". Polygon . Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  28. ↑ Turner, Nick (June 1, 2023). "Meta Announces $500 Quest 3 Headset Just Ahead of Apple Launch". Bloomberg News . Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  29. ↑ Holt, Kris (June 1, 2023). "The Meta Quest 3 is a $499 mixed reality headset with full-color passthrough". Engadget . Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  30. ↑ Lyles, Taylor (June 1, 2023). "Meta Officially Announces the Quest 3". IGN . Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  31. ↑ "WWDC 2023 Biggest Reveals: Vision Pro Headset, iOS 17, MacBook Air and More". CNET . Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  32. 1 2 "Meta Quest 3 VR Headset And Accessory Preorders Available Now". GameSpot. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  33. ↑ Song, Eric (October 9, 2023). "Meta Quest 3 Review". IGN. Retrieved November 13, 2023.
  34. ↑ Porter, Jon (June 1, 2023). "Meta is dropping the price of the Quest 2 back to $299.99". The Verge. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  35. ↑ Hollister, Sean (June 1, 2023). "Quest 3 won't replace Quest 2 for "quite a while," confirms Meta". The Verge. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  36. ↑ Hector, Hamish (September 25, 2024). "Meta has officially discontinued three of its VR headsets, including my current favorite". TechRadar. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  37. ↑ Romano, Sal (August 20, 2024). "Batman: Arkham Shadow launches in October". Gematsu. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  38. ↑ "Batman: Arkham Shadow Comes Free With Quest 3S & Quest 3". UploadVR. September 25, 2024. Retrieved September 27, 2024.
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