Once upon a time, the gadgets associated with virtual reality were just those View-Masters that enhanced the depth of an image, making it more immersive. VR would go on to eventually (and still) be used for flight simulation, training for the military, and even NASA. It wasn’t until the 90s that media (especially video games) became a primary focus for consumer-facing VR products, and even then, the tech was still in its infancy. After the first Oculus Rift came out in 2012, designer Palmer Luckey opened the floodgates, with exponential VR improvements coming from all sides of the industry. It was (relatively) cheap and easily the most intuitive VR headset to date, inspiring many other headsets from competitors such as Valve and Sony. When Meta purchased Oculus VR in 2014, a new future for VR was on the way. It can get confusing with all the rebrands, so simply put, the Meta Quest headsets are based on the original Oculus headsets, with both Meta (formerly known as Facebook) and Reality Labs (a Meta research outfit formerly known as Oculus VR) working together. And now they’re back with the long-awaited Meta Quest 3, a redesigned update of the Meta Quest 2.
Kicking things off, the Meta Quest 3 is 40% slimmer than its predecessor and will be more comfortable in general. Inside, the processing power has been doubled courtesy of the new Snapdragon chip, and the updated resolution will provide more immersive visuals. Augmented reality features have also been upgraded to offer more natural crossovers with physical locations, and the already popular controllers are also getting a redesign, now featuring TruTouch haptics.
Much of the apprehension among consumers regarding VR headsets is the cost, which is why the Meta Quest headsets have been so popular among fans given their reasonable prices and impressive performance. And the Meta Quest 3 certainly looks like it’ll be upholding this reputation.
The Meta Quest 3 VR Headset is arriving this fall starting at $499, with email updates available through Meta’s website.
