Meta Quest 3 will soon allow users to easily watch spatial videos and control using new pinch gestures, features similar to those found in Apple's much more expensive Vision Pro headset launched this week. Both changes will be rolled out gradually as part of update v62, which most owners of Quest 2, Quest 3 and Quest Pro headsets should receive starting the week of February 7.
Spatial video support will allow users to watch 3D videos captured with Apple Vision Pro or iPhone 15 Pro/Pro Max.
Apple's spatial 3D videos come with metadata that Vision Pro can use to calculate the difference between the left and right images seen by each eye. As stated by Meta, users will be able to upload spatial videos to the Meta Quest mobile app, with a maximum length of 20 minutes. Later, when they put on the headset, they can access these videos from the File menu.
Meta's Quest 3 launched last year for $499 -- significantly less than the $3,499 Vision Pro . Meta has poured millions into building out the Metaverse over the past few years, but the company's bold bets have also resulted in some major loss.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also teased an early look at playing space videos on Quest in a post on his Instagram broadcast channel . His post included a clip of the Quest headset playing a tree space video. short film.
Meta also provides a spatial video demo in the "Spatial Video" section of the "File" application to allow users to try this feature before the update arrives. Some Quest 3 owners have shown how to convert Apple's spatial video into a standard side-by-side 3D format for playback on their headset, but official support should mean being able to skip that extra step.
In addition to spatial video, Meta's v62 update brings other changes to the Quest headset. These changes include expanding the existing pinch control, adding a short "pinch and release" gesture to open the universal menu, or a longer "pinch and hold" to reposition the headset perspective. This is similar to the pinch gesture Apple added when using the Vision Pro, and is also reminiscent of the "air tap" gesture we use when using Microsoft's HoloLens.
Meta has also added the ability to use external gamepads in the Quest browser to enhance the ease of accessing streaming games, while updates to Quest Link, including support for 120Hz refresh rates in compatible PCVR games, should make it easier to use the headset. The experience of playing PC games on this device has been greatly improved. Quest headset users will also soon be able to take advantage of a new continuity feature to continue tasks in various applications across different VR experiences.
