Updated October 3, 2023
With Apple on the verge of revealing what is now known as Apple Vision Pro at its WWDC event on June 5, Meta leapt into the fray in early June and beat the Cupertino giant to the punch. Officially revealing its Meta Quest 3 VR/MR headset with a strong serving of detailed information, Meta grabbed plenty of attention from those salivating at the idea of what next-gen VR/AR/MR will bring.
The Lowdown
Meta Quest 3 was announced just 32 weeks after Quest Pro started shipping and after a long string of leaks had become public. Yet, at a third of the cost of the Pro device, this timing doesn’t put Quest 3 in competition with Quest Pro. Instead, they appear to complement each other while aiming at different markets. At $499.99 USD for its 128GB model, Quest 3 is far more affordable than Pro but still has plenty of advanced tech to offer both newcomers and veterans of VR.
Capable of functioning in both VR and AR (which Meta is now referring to as Mixed Reality), Quest 3 boasts high fidelity full-color passthrough, pancake lenses, an increased per-eye resolution, and twice the graphical performance of Quest 2 thanks to a next-gen Snapdragon chipset. Meta speaks of the “seamless” blending of virtual objects into your real-world surroundings thanks to what it’s calling Meta Reality technology. (One example being playing a virtual board game on your very real (and barely tidy) kitchen table.) MR is surely the next technological arena in which major manufacturers and developers will be battling, so it is a sensible move for Meta to focus here. Quest 3 sports a slimmer, lighter design than Quest 2, improving on that previous model’s IPD adjustment tool with a handy dial. Controllers have also been redesigned, losing the tracking ring thanks to new developments in tracking tech. Tactile feedback will be provided by TruTouch haptics, and Quest 3 will also be compatible with Touch Pro controllers. All of this will increase wearability and comfort, which will be needed for more MR-oriented activities. This is especially key when it comes to VR and MR porn, where prolonged use will likely only increase along with the tech.The Question of Quest 2
Some may be wondering where the arrival of Quest 3 leaves the ever-popular Quest 2. Meta has announced a price drop that brings Quest 2 back to $299.99 USD (128GB model) and $349.99 USD (256GB model). Existing Quest 2 users may not care about that price reduction, but they will care about a forthcoming software update that will increase CPU performance by up-to-26%, GPU performance by up-to-19%, as well as the introduction of Dynamic Resolution Scaling for improved pixel density without frame drops.The full details about Meta Quest 3 will be revealed at Meta Connect in September.
Update: Info From Connect ‘23
For those eager to continue exploring the ever-expanding world of VR and XR porn, Meta Connect had a few key reveals about the upcoming Meta Quest 3 that should prove pretty exciting. Sure, gamers will be thrilled to find a 100+ catalog of Xbox titles coming to Quest 3 at the end of this year, but porn fans have even more to be thrilled about.
Significant new details about the specs and performance of Meta Quest 3 came to light in late September. Meta Quest 3 will, compared to Quest 2, offer users twice the GPU power, a more than 33% increase in CPU performance, 8 GB RAM, 2064×2208 per-eye resolution with a default buffer of 1680×1760, a FOV that’s approximately 15° wider, full-color passthrough with a 10x pixel increase, and a powerful Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 processor. Those are some impressive specs, especially at a sub-$500 retail price. Preorders are now open.
Bodies in Motion
After receiving ample criticism for its legless Metaverse avatars, Meta has not only added lower appendages but native upper body tracking upon arrival of an update also due in December ’23. Quest 3 will include cameras on the headset’s sides that will point toward the torso for ground-breaking tracking features that will undoubtedly aid any physical game, creative app, or social interaction.
As far as these new legs are concerned, they won’t be captured by cameras but instead generated by machine learning systems that predict the movement of legs based on head- and upper-body-tracking data. This is awesome news for those VR porn fans seeking to engage in more interactive experiences. Imagine your Quest 3 tracking your upper body and matching lower body movements as you thrust into a VR sex partner, and we’re looking at pretty ground-breaking VR sex tech.When Meta Quest 3 starts shipping and user reports come in, we’ll have a better idea of the tech and user experience that will support interactive 3D full body avatars, but it is already an obvious game-changer for certain kinds of virtual porn.
Quest10 says
One step closer to the Quest 10
vrjoeker says
Sweet!
GimmeMoarVR says
Love the passthrough potential.
JustSquat says
I am excited about this release. The thinner design is a huge selling point for me.