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GLBA First Look At The Meta Quest 3
0Article by Sammi Messina
Have you ever dreamed of being able to explore the infinite and ever-growing possibilities of other worlds, right at your own fingertips (or, more specifically, sitting right at the edge of your nose)? Have you ever wished your friends, family, and belongings could be featured and present right alongside you for the journey? And, last but not least, have you ever wondered if you could actually be wearing pants the whole time?
Meta Quest 3 VR Headset by Meta
This holiday season, the incredibly skilled team that brought us the Metaverse has sought to provide an answer to all of these questions and more with the launch of their newest virtual reality construct: the Meta Quest 3. While the social media and virtual reality conglomerate has been a true pioneer for the past few years in the expansion and mass market distribution of virtual world accessibility, the Metaverse has not ceased in its efforts yet to attempt to blend real world experiences with virtual ones even more seamlessly, rewardingly, and inclusively. Where virtual reality as a medium continues to grow every day in both its capabilities and curiosities, the creation of Meta Quest 3quoted as being the world's first device featuring the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 platform developed in partnership with Qualcomm Technologies seeks to reward the space in between: Meta Quest 3 is the first mixed reality headset to hit the mass market for purchase.
While virtual reality nowadays just commonly referred to as "VR" has had a rapid increase in popularity and mass appeal for a multitude of various multimedia desires, the Meta Quest 3 brings a newer abbreviation to the tech world table to consider commercially: "MR." Mixed reality as a product of the Metaverse not only addresses previous concerns around the VR user experience by offering an adjusted, streamlined, and elevated physical world design of the headset itself, but by offering a few special bridges between the virtual and physical world, too.
Meta Quest 3 VR Headset by Meta
The launch itself still promises all the grandeur VR has to offer while simultaneously emphasizing that "the physical world and the connections you've made there are pretty important, too." That's why, just strictly starting from the basic operation of the device, the Meta Quest 3 is quoted at having a 40% slimmer profile when compared optically to its previous iteration; it's lighter, more balanced on your noggin, more customizable and comes equipped with full-color Passthrough optics to keep your physical world just as vibrant as your virtual ones (at ten times the pixels as the last headset, mind you!). Whether you're choosing to augment reality with glasses on or just got your hair done and are trying to get in a quick gaming session before prom, the soft adjustable strap is ready to move with you and your needs. The headset's controllers have gotten a significant upgrade of their own, too, undergoing a design shift since the Meta Quest 2 and adding in TruTouch haptics technology to make for a friendlier, more operationally sensitive hand-feel when in use to maintain unbroken, lifelike immersion. Additionally, the control you quite literally have at your fingertips plays a new role in the virtual world experience for certain games, media, and menu experiences in the Meta Quest 3 by allowing users to utilize their physical hands as navigational devices. Last but not least, paired perfectly alongside all these wonderful features is a newly enhanced, 40% louder 3D audio system built right into that sleek, comfy new design to accompany the model's stunning 4k visuals. Regardless of intent, The Meta Quest 3 stands equipped and ready to engulf you in whatever wondrous worlds you wish to occupy, at however fully a level you wish to dive into them.
Meta Quest 3 VR Headset by Meta
That last part is arguably what sets the Meta Quest 3 leagues ahead of its VR predecessors the easy and smooth ability it offers users to choose between an entirely engrossing virtual world and realistic virtual overlays across your physical one. That's right! The Meta Quest 3 has built-in projection map technology that can space out and identify objects in the physical space a user occupies when using the headset, giving them "the option to choose your level of immersion and helps ease newcomers into all that MR has to offer." Since the journey to home-accessible VR has occasionally been clunky and disorienting on the path to success (has anyone else watched those videos of grandparents accidentally falling over living room coffee tables cuz they forgot they were wearing a headset? Or the I Think You Should Leave sketch of a man forgetting to breathe when in VR since his lungs didn't generate in the world with him?), yet another impressive quality of this headset is its seamless transference of reality hopping: simply double tap the side of the Meta Quest 3 headset to bring yourself out of the virtual world and right back into your real one, instantly. The ability to switch almost effortlessly between virtual reality and your very real life with the double tap of a button truly does offer an added sense of ease for users of all ages and levels of experience with virtual reality and on the other hand, being able to forge a three dimensional fortress on top of a very real board game in your humble abode, breaking open a portal to another realm on your apartment's accent wall, or transforming your partner's nightstand into a playable virtual piano creates an even more dynamic experience that can fit more easily into users' physical spaces and day to day lifestyles (without as much risk of Grandma falling headfirst over the virtual piano-table if she can actually, y'know, see it IRL).
Meta Quest 3 VR Headset by Meta
Whether it's you, Grandma, or a grandchild getting their hands on a Meta Quest 3 sometime soon, there's something spectacular to discover for everyone at impressive technological feats. Claiming to have double the processing power of the Meta Quest 2 while also being backwards-compatible with it, this third installation also claims to have one of the largest libraries for virtual world content at over 500 titles and franchises and still growing--with about 100 new ones on the way specific to the Meta Quest 3 that plan to really incorporate their particular mixed reality patent, excitedly taunting on their official site the prospects such as "throwing a virtual ball in a game and watch it bounce off your actual wall. Need to dodge some incoming fire? You can duck behind your coffee table." And, coming just in time for Christmas by December, Xbox gaming fans can look forward to Xbox Cloud Gaming, enabling users to enjoy their favorite games anywhere, anytime, and elevated by bringing a two dimensional gaming screen with them anywhere their headset goes. Going even beyond Christmas, Meta Quest 3 users can also anticipate a brand new MR feature called "augments," which are essentially customizable widgets and decorations that can virtually live in the very real parameters of your physical space while enjoying the headset.
Meta Quest 3 VR Headset by Meta
And, of course, anything else you can put your mind to in the world of VR outside of gaming is set up to be just as dazzling an experience from virtual gyms and workout rooms, a seemingly endless surround-sound screen for the fullest possible viewing of the latest Hollywood flicks, or simply connecting with friends all over the world, Meta Quest 3 users can expect load times at the speed of light and details designed to both enhance and entrance. Now that you've got all those fun tech specifics, you're probably still wondering what that whole "pants" question was talking about from earlier? Well, by summer of this year, a long time criticized feature of the Metaverse thus far was finally addressed: the notable observation that despite all the incredible things the Metaverse did have in terms of detail and immersion no user avatars appeared to have had any legs. And while a fair amount of users may have found it particularly jarring to be playing the newest Lord of the Rings Metaverse game as a legless Legolas, Mark Zuckerberg's commentary addressing it for previous headset iterations mainly boiled down to the concept that avatars didn't don an entire body basically because: it was just too complicated before! Past VR headset developments have found it a challenge to accurately guesstimate where pivotal pinpoints like a user's elbows or legs actually are in correct proportion for proper immersion, so instead of risking breaking the illusion, the folks at Meta just set a standard floating torso plateau.
Meta Quest 3 VR Headset by Meta
However, as of the launch of the Meta Quest 3 (as well as adjacent Metaverse franchises like the mobile game and some current beta versions), VR users have, at long last, been granted two fresh new appendages below the belt! And while it's not quite the full-body immersive experience at all times as displayed in the infamous Metaverse teaser trailer by an animated Zuckerberg himself (which, evidently, was just the product of CGI and body tracking suits all those years ago), Meta Quest 3 users can witness the joy of virtual legs by going up to any mirror surface in their home environment and modeling newly customizable shoes, pants, and accessories alongside the vast array of previous customization options.
The Meta Quest 3 officially hit virtual and real-world (hey, just like how the headset works!) shelves for purchase on October 10, 2023 after announcing pre-order in September of this year. It is currently available in two storage capacity versions to suit your desired mixed reality needs: $499.99 USD for a 128GB sized version, as well as a larger 512GB sized version for $649.99 USD. At the time of writing this, there are also a handful of limited-time deals with bonuses, such as: any Meta Quest 3 purchase coming bundled with Asgard's Wrath 2, valued at $59.99 USD, and a six-month trial of Meta Quest+ for the 512GB SKU.
Meta Quest 3 VR Headset by Meta
So, what do you think about the latest and greatest invention from the Metaverse? Is the Meta Quest 3 headset going on any holiday gift lists this year, for yourself or anyone else in your life? Sound off your VR opinions, experiences, and stories to the rest of the Renderhub Community.
