Riding Apple MR heat, Meta Quest 3 exposure

Source: VR Gyro

Author: Ran Qixing

Recently, news about Apple's MR head-mounted display products has been flying all over the sky, almost occupying the highest attention on the XR category in the entire Internet. Google Trends shows that the keywords of "Apple VR" have reached the highest peak in the past five years since WWDC 23 was approaching.

The release of Apple MR has a great impact on the XR industry. The acceleration of investment in related industries and the improvement of consumer awareness are very likely to make the XR industry the next huge market like "TWS" and "smart watches". Recommended reading: "Apple MR Will Trigger the Third XR Investment Boom".

Source: Screenshot of the webpage

When Apple MR is about to debut, many manufacturers have been unable to hold back. Not only many domestic start-ups, but also the overseas giant Meta, it can't wait to show you the next generation of consumer-grade XR explosion - Quest 3.

Recently, Mark Gurman, a well-known overseas technology whistleblower, got a chance to experience the prototype of the Meta Quest 3 headset.

This kind of preemptive experience is undoubtedly provided by Meta. It seems to want to remind everyone that it is the recognized "leader" of the XR industry, and the consumer XR product Quest 3 is also worth looking forward to.

Mark Gurman is the main source of news about Apple's MR headset development story. Mata asked him to experience Quest 3 and make related comments. The purpose of Meta is very obvious.

However, through Mark Gurman's tweets, we can also see that this experience is relatively objective and fair, and Meta did not strongly praise Quest 3. It's just that on the cusp of Apple's MR, we have seen more news about Quest 3, which makes us look forward to it.

Source: Network

Quest 3 "mixed reality" experience upgrade, this time a little different

In the past year, a major trend in the XR industry is undoubtedly the full-color perspective effect brought about by the increase in RGB cameras. Representative products such as PICO 4 series, Quest Pro, HTC vive XR Elite, and iQiyi Qiyu MIX have all described their mixed reality. story.

On Quest 3, Gurman wants to emphasize the same "mixed reality" experience. Compared with the previous generation of products, mixed reality is also the most notable feature of Quest 3 upgrade.

According to reports, the new VR headset will feature three "pill-shaped sensors," two color see-through cameras on the left and right, and a depth sensor in the middle. The Quest 2 has a redesigned monochrome tracking camera that provides a grayscale mixed reality view, and while it's a clever use of previous tech, expectations have climbed considerably this year.

Source: Network

Meta's high-end VR headset Quest Pro, released last year, also features an upgraded full-color See-through experience that combines a stereoscopic grayscale view with a monochrome camera. Although the view is still noisy in the actual experience, and you can occasionally glimpse monochrome edges on the hands and nearby objects (not successfully rendered), the overall effect is still good, especially when combined with some game content experience.

Gurman was impressed, but not overwhelmed, by the Quest 3's upgrades, saying, "While I don't believe the Quest 3's VST performance will come anywhere close to what Apple's MR (which will have about a dozen cameras) will do, it's not as bad as it sounds." It’s an undeniable step up from the Quest 2.” Apple’s MR headset is also expected to have a very realistic mixed-reality mode, and it’s boasting that it can also ride a bicycle while wearing an MR headset.

He went on to describe the mixed reality view in more detail, noting: "Thanks to the dual RGB color cameras, the VST on Quest 3 can render colors more accurately and provide an almost realistic rendering of the real world. using your phone at the same time, which is not normally possible on the Quest 2." That sounds like a major upgrade, even surpassing the Quest Pro's VST effects.

Source: Network

Quest 3 is equipped with a depth sensor or reduces user debugging costs

One regret in last year's Quest Pro was the lack of a depth sensor. According to Zuckerberg, the Meta Quest Pro was supposed to have a depth sensor for better mixed reality effects, but the 3D camera was missing in the final product.

Hardware analyst Brad Lynch has revealed that Meta discovered the glass shattering issue shortly before production. Another rumor has it that Meta has discovered that the contours of the body can be recognized with a 3D camera. To avoid reputation-damaging abuse of the technology, Meta ended up not using the depth sensor in the Quest Pro.

And on Quest 3, the depth sensor technology has now been confirmed by Gurman, and it will be on board. Depth sensors allow VR headsets to calculate distances to objects to create a 3D map of the play area. This technology eliminates the need for "draw guides", making it quick and easy to set up even if you move to a different location.

In other words, the adoption of the depth sensor, with the help of related algorithms, allows users to manually set the space without placing the handle controller on the ground while standing, which will greatly reduce the debugging cost of VR equipment and improve user experience. Further achieving "out of the box" is also the key to the future popularization of XR products.

CAD rendering of Quest 3 (Source: SadlyitsBradley)

Based on the combination of depth sensors and full-color camera sensors, mixed reality games and applications have great potential to allow users to interact with the environment when the room is scanned and defined. For example, bouncing a ball off a wall or table in an XR game, placing virtual furniture and decorations in your physical space, or taking cover behind a cupboard.

The mixed reality technology that started last year is being increasingly applied to the C-end, and has triggered a new wave of development scenario exploration, MR+office, MR+games, MR+social...

Thinner headset design adopts Touch Pro "lower version"

According to the data and CAD renderings provided by Lynch earlier, as well as the current personal experience of Gurman, Quest 3 is likely to use the Pancake folding optical path, which will make the front-end core optical engine part of the headset thinner than Quest 2.

In addition to the Pancake folding optical path, according to earlier news, Quest 3 will be equipped with a single LCD display with a resolution of 4128×2208, that is, 2064×2208 per eye. The number of pixels is 30% higher than that of Quest 2, and the refresh rate can reach up to 120Hz. LCD panel suppliers may be JDI and BOE.

With this combination, the display quality of Quest 3 will theoretically be greatly improved. However, Gurman said, "The actual clarity and VR display in Quest 3 feels very similar to Quest 2 - although the resolution is rumored to be slightly higher."

Source: Network

Of course, based on Gurman’s tweet, the overseas media Mixed also pointed out that the media is not an XR industry or industry media, so it may not be familiar with the technology between the Fresnel lens and the Pancake folding optical path. If the Quest 3 had adopted a Pancake folded light path similar to the Quest Pro, the image quality should be sharper around the edges and eliminate God rays (Tyndall effect).

The overall performance experience of the Quest 3 headset interface and applications is also said to be very good, most likely due to its use of Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2. The news at the beginning of the year pointed out that the first batch of test chips of the platform has been sent to Meta and other companies.

In addition to the change in the appearance of the headset, the 6DoF handle has also ushered in an update. According to Gurman, the Quest 3's controller, which no longer has the large tracking ring of the Quest 2, looks similar to the Quest Pro's Touch Pro controller, but is grayed out to match the Quest 3.

Touch Pro controller (source: network)

The Touch Pro controllers are much more precise than the Quest 2 controllers, and each contains self-tracking cameras and processors. This independent tracking allows the headset to recognize the position and angle of each controller with 6DoF, even when behind it.

However, Gurman said the new Quest 3 controller doesn't include a camera. He speculates that "the new controllers have a hard time figuring out where they are in space, which can degrade the experience in some games, and Meta is looking to counteract this with various other tracking improvements."

Gurman's experience just confirmed earlier rumors that although the Quest 3 controller is similar in appearance to the Touch Pro, it does not support the Inside-Out self-tracking function. Because Quest 3 is positioned as a consumer-grade VR head-mounted display, if the same configuration and tracking design as Touch Pro are used, the product cost will be greatly increased, and the final price cannot be controlled to be competitive.

Source: Network

Write at the end

Meta Quest 2 currently starts at $399, and today's report says Meta may sell Quest 3 at a higher price. However, if the price isn't too high, Gurman thinks it "could turn out to be a bit of a buzz this holiday season."

However, in the past few years, even if the price of the VR headset is low, the price of the Quest 2 has been reduced to 299 US dollars, and it has not gained the same appeal as the Nintendo Switch, smart watches and other electronic products in the general consumer market. However, with the help of Apple MR and the launch of many new products, VR headsets may usher in a small increase this year, at least not as in 2022.

According to reports, Meta will launch Quest 3 in October. However, at the Meta Quest Gaming Showcase that Meta will hold on June 2, we may see related trailers for the headset flow out, as well as more unannounced Quest VR games.

Reference source:

[1] Meta Quest 3 hands-on experience reveals mixed reality upgrade

[2] Hands-on with the slim, lightweight Quest 3 with a loopless controller

[3] Meta Quest 3 VR headset is 'lighter and thinner' than Quest 2