Meta details the Meta Quest 3

Today at Meta Connect 2023, Meta provided all the details on their next generation consumer VR headset, the Meta Quest 3. Mark Zuckerburg took the stage to talk about how the Quest 3 improves upon the best selling Quest 2.

Zuckerburg called it their first consumer mixed reality headset. It's still a stand alone headset and offers tracking for both controllers and your hand, like a Quest 2.

The exterior cameras are a much higher quality so mixed reality is possible. That means full color, high resolution pass through video will be possible instead of the black and white, low resolution video you got from Quest 2. Having experienced some mixed reality in the past, it's really cool to see virtual objects in real space that you can interact with.

The cameras offer 10X more pixels than the Quest 2 and auto maps the space using two dedicated cameras along with a depth sensor. Scanning your room will be a snap and the Quest 3 will easily know where to place objects in your physical space. Mark expands on the mixed reality by showing things like virtual digital picture frames hanging on the walls of your room. There's static pictures as well as video shown in the virtual frames and the Quest 3's mapping of the room makes this all possible.

For those who just want to watch content, you can drop large virtual screens in place and enjoy all your media this way without having to dedicate a large space in your room to do so. With the Quest 3, you'll also have access to sporting events where you're right next to the action. I've used my Quest 2 to watch some sporting events and it's really immersive to sit court side in some NBA games.

For gaming, Xbox Cloud Gaming is also coming in December so for those who have that subscription, you can play your games on a large virtual screen. Of course, there's a large library of past games that you can tap into. Assassin's Creed Nexus was shown and the game's due out on November16th. Roblox is launching today so another large title will be VR capable. 

Inside the Quest 3 is a Snapdragon XR2 gen 2 that features 2X the graphics performance. The lenses are pancake lenses so they're thinner as well. The new HMD is said to be 40% slimmer than the previous one, but slightly heavier. We'll have to see if that has any effect on long term usage.

Shipping on October 10th, it'll cost $499, which is $200 than what the Quest 2 currently costs. Pre-orders start today.