META QUEST PRO
MUCH HAS BEEN said about Mark Zuckerberg’s reveal of the Meta Quest Pro at the most recent Meta Connect event. The concept of legs coming to the metaverse was talked about more than the headset itself, and we’re going to go out on an, er, limb here and say that the tech world wasn’t particularly surprised when it turned out Zuckerberg’s lower half had actually been motion captured. It all muddies the water around an exceptionally powerful device that demands clarity. The stylish $1,500 Meta Quest Pro is not a VR headset. This is an MR or mixed reality set of goggles. And that means there are some key differences to think about if you just want a gaming device.
The Meta Quest Pro has been designed specifically for mixed reality experiences. So where the majority of VR headsets go to great pains to eradicate even a glimpse of the outside world, the Quest Pro has been purposefully designed with gaps at the sides of the headset so you can see the outside world.
Combined with the color pass-through from the high-resolution front cameras, this is designed to give you a seamless mixed reality experience and make you feel like you’re truly interacting with a digital version of the real world. There will be an optional add-on for use with VR games but this is a clear indicator of what the headset is specifically designed for and the kind of experiences Meta wants you to have. Think design work and collaboration rather than zombie killing in The Walking Dead: Saint sand Sinners.
In both design and sheer power, the Quest Pro considerably outstrips the Quest 2. The battery sits on the back of the plastic strap instead of a part of the headset itself, which makes for a more comfortable fit, and there’s now a Snapdragon XR2+ processor with 12GB of RAM. There’s a massive upgrade in visual fidelity too. The Quest Pro also makes the most of ultra-bright mini-LED LCD panels which, as we have seen on new TVs over the past couple of years, offers a considerable upgrade in contrast and detail too. Add in a standard storage of 256GB over the Quest 2’s 128GB and this is a beast of a headset.
But that’s not the only upgrade for this headset. The Quest Pro officially has more sensors than you’ll know what to do with. A camera replaces the outer loop on the controllers for finger positioning, you can add a stylus for more accurate design work, and Meta has followed Sony with eye-tracking technology inside the headset. It also has face tracking to mirror your expressions and recreate them in the digital world. That might not be ideal for gaming but Meta’s aim of globally collaborating on work projects means that smiles may matter. Just don’t ask Meta whether or not you’ll have legs.