meta quest 2

New Quest Dev Tools to Add Leg Estimation for More Convincing Avatars

October 2, 2023 From roadtovr

Meta announced that it’s offering new developer tools for Quest headsets to make avatars more realistic. The company also unveiled a Quest 3-exclusive upper body tracking feature that supports a much wider range of body motion.

Announced at Connect 2023 late last week, Meta showed off some new features coming both to Quest 3 and the rest of the Quest platform.

On Quest 3, Meta says it will be able to use inside-out sensor data to optically track wrists, elbows, shoulders, and torso—or something the company is calling ‘Inside Out Body Tracking’ (IOBT). The Quest 3-exclusive feature also tracks where your legs are relative to your torso, making avatars capable of bending forward and peering over a cliff.

By using this upper body data to extrapolate lower body actions, the company says it can make avatars replicate more natural movements than traditional inverse kinematics (IK)-based methods.

The company also announced a feature called ‘Generative Legs’, which is headed to Quest 2/3/Pro in December. The developer tool is said to create more realistic leg movement using either three-point body tracking or the Quest 3-exclusive IOBT. It’s capable of recreating more natural standing and sitting poses, a more lifelike gait when walking, and also supports jumping, ducking and squatting.

Since it’s essentially guessing where your legs might naturally be in any given situation, Generative Legs won’t account for individual leg movement like a dedicated tracker might, such as a SteamVR tracking puck or Sony’s Mocapi motion capture device—that means your avatar can’t do karate or breakdance.

Still, it’s pretty impressive how much better the whole system is in comparison to standard IK. Granted, Quest users won’t be able to pull of the fancy footwork CEO Mark Zuckerberg did on the virtual stage at Connect 2022 last year, but it’s starting to look pretty close.

Check out Meta’s Generative Legs and the new Quest 3 upper body tracking feature in action in a Meta-built showcase app called Dodge Arcade:

Meta is Dropping the Price of Quest 2 to Make Way for Quest 3

June 1, 2023 From roadtovr

With the announcement of Quest 3, Meta is dropping the price of Quest 2 starting on June 4th to make way for its new flagship headset.

The story of Quest 2’s price takes yet another turn. Let’s recap.

When the headset launched in 2020, it started with a somewhat unbelievably low price of $300 for the 64GB model, and later the company sweetened that deal even further by offering the headset with 128GB for the same price. That price point was apparently so aggressively low that Meta may even have been losing money on each headset sold, which prompted the company to raise the price of the base model last year to $400. This was purportedly in response to supply chain and inflation struggles.

But now, just about a year later, Meta has announced that it’s (re)reducing the price of Quest 2, apparently to make room for Quest 3 which will launch this Fall starting at $500. It seems likely this move is an effort to start selling off remaining Quest 2 stock, and perhaps to better differentiate Quest 2 from Quest 3.

So, starting June 4th, Quest 2 (128GB) will return to its original $300 price point, with the 256GB model priced at $350.

Even in the face of Quest 3, that remains a killer deal for the most complete standalone VR headset on the market, one that’s been very hard for other players in the space to contend with. Maybe (just maybe) another reason for this price change is to highlight the contrast between Quest 2 and the rumored $1,500–$3,000 price point of Apple’s first headset.

Quest 3 Features Confirmed in First Hands-on

May 29, 2023 From roadtovr

It seems Meta is looking to stoke some hype for its next Quest headset just days before Apple is slated to unveil its own, as Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman released Quest 3’s first hands-on, confirming a number of features from previous leaks in the process.

Gurman detailed a number of features in his hands-on with the upcoming mixed reality headset, saying that Quest 3 feels lighter and thinner than the Quest 2, featuring a stronger strap with fabric sides.

Like we’ve seen in previous renders, Quest 3 is said to feature three vertical “pill-shaped sensor areas” on the front of the device. On the left and right are color video pass-through sensors and standard cameras, while a depth sensor is placed in the middle, which is used for environment meshing and automatic identification of surrounding walls.

Tracking cameras are found on both left and right bottom sides of the device, departing from Quest 2’s four-sensor array placed on each corner of the headset. Sounds pretty similar to the image featured in a previous leak from Bradely Lynch.

Quest 3 is said to come with a physical interpupillary distance (IPD) adjustment wheel next to the volume rocker which will allow users to dial in a finer IPD measurement. As a departure from its Quest Pro-esque feature set, Quest 3 is said to lack face and eye-tracking, which means none of the lauded ‘social presence’ features or foveated rendering.

Notably, Gurman says the actual clarity and VR displays within the Quest 3 feel “similar to those in the Quest 2 — despite the resolution being rumored to be slightly higher.” It seems Quest 3’s claim to fame will be its color mixed reality passthrough and faster performance thanks to a second-generation Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2.

“[V]ideo pass-through on the Quest 3 presented colors more accurately and offered an almost lifelike rendering of the real world. I was even able to use my phone while wearing the headset, something that often feels impossible on a Quest 2,” Gurman says.

There’s no mention of optics, or whether it will indeed use pancake lenses like Quest Pro or a Fresnel lens like Quest 2.

From Gurman’s description, it seems Touch controllers aren’t getting the Pro-level design either, as they appear to be optically tracked by the headset via IR markers à la Quest 2. It’s said to lack both Quest Pro’s embedded controller sensors and Quest 2’s hoop-style tracking design, which could be interesting.

Pricing for the Quest 3 isn’t finalized, however it’s expected to be higher than the Quest 2 at around $500. Meta is also expected to concurrently offer Quest 2, making for the widest headset lineup the company has ever offered at one time.

Gurman says Meta is set to target the cheaper headset segment while Apple targets the upscale market with its reported $3,000 mixed reality device. While Apple’s headset is expected to make its debut on June 5th, Gurman says Meta is bringing Quest 3 in October.

Report: Meta to Open ‘Horizon Worlds’ to Younger Teens Amid Renewed Retention Push

February 8, 2023 From roadtovr

Meta’s social VR app for Quest, Horizon Worlds, is lagging behind the competition when it comes to attracting and retaining VR users. According to a leaked memo obtained by The Wall Street Journal, the company is now ostensibly looking to boost numbers by more transparently appealing to younger teens in addition to funding a slew of new second-party content.

WSJ only posted snippets of the memo, entitled ‘Horizon 2023 Goals and Strategy’, which was allegedly written by Meta Vice President of Horizon Gabriel Aul. The memo is said to outline the team’s objectives for the first half of 2023.

Here’s some highlights we formatted into a bulleted list, which also includes additional info supplied by a source cited by WSJ:

Competitors are outperforming HW. Improving user retention is most important, especially among teens and young adults
HW to open to teens aged 13 to 17, which could come as early as March
Meta is working with outside studios to build new worlds and experiences for HW
The team is aiming to launch at least 20 new Horizon-hosted experiences built by second-party studios. Of the 20, it’s hoping for five medium hits and at least one a major hit
The flatscreen version of Horizon for mobile and desktops is set to come sometime in H1 2023

Additionally, WSJ reports the memo outlined some key performance metrics, claiming Horizon Worlds’ weekly retention rate was 11% in January, which the company aims to increase to 20%. The goal for monthly active users for the first half of 2023 is said to be 500,000, with hopes of reaching one million for the full year. Currently the platform is at 200,000, or just below the December peak, the reported memo outlines.

The previously reported flatscreen version, which is said to launch by the end of the first half of 2023, is hoping to achieve 150,000 monthly cross-screen Horizon users.

Meta’s Quest 2 headset is technically only available to users aged 13 and up. Horizon Worlds on the other hand has been limited to users 18+ since it was launched in 2021, and only to those in US, Canada, UK, France, Iceland, Ireland and Spain.

While none of this seems to have hindered children below 13 from playing all the Quest 2 has to offer, Horizon Worlds included. More transparently appealing to young teens though will likely come with a host of safety requirements that the company needs to fulfil for liability reasons.

Meta issued a response to WSJ, supporting in part its move to focus on teens:

“Teens are already spending time in a variety of VR experiences on Quest,” Meta spokesman Joe Osborne told WSJ, “and we want to ensure that we can provide them with a great experience in Horizon Worlds as well, with age-appropriate tools and protections in place.”

This comes hot on the heels of Meta reducing its workforce by 13% late last year, one of the biggest tech layoffs in recent memory, which saw 11,000 jobs cut from payroll.

Meanwhile, the company’s Reality Labs XR division has dramatically increased its operating budget in an ostensible bid to maintain market dominance over similar metaverse pushes from the likes of Apple, Google, etc. At the same time, Meta has slashed some XR projects, including first-party title Echo VR.

Provided the report is true, it appears Meta is making another important step towards competing more directly with cross-platform social gaming titans like Roblox and Rec Room.

Meta’s Social VR App is Coming to Web & Mobile Soon, Alpha Begins for Members-only Rooms

January 31, 2023 From roadtovr

Horizon Worlds, Meta’s social VR platform for Quest users, is expanding with alpha tests of new members-only spaces, allowing creators to manage up to 150 card-carrying members in their private worlds. Meta says it’s also gearing up to release Horizon Worlds on non-Quest devices for the first time.

Meta is now rolling out alpha access to its new members-only worlds, which aims to let creators build and cultivate a space in Horizon Worlds. Each members-only world can have up to 150 members, although only 25 concurrent visitors can gather at any given time.

“Every community develops its own norms, etiquette, and social rules over time as it fosters a unique culture,” the company says in a blogpost. “To enable that, we’ll provide the tools that allow the creators of members-only worlds to set the rules for their communities and maintain those rules for their closed spaces.”

Meta says moderation responsibilities can be shared among trusted members, so creators can better control who gets in and who’s kicked out, however the company says its Code of Conduct for Virtual Experiences is still in effect in privately owned spaces.

What’s more, the Quest-only social platform is also going to be available on the Web and mobile devices “soon”, the company says, adding that rules will be made and enforced “similarly to how mobile operating systems manage experiences on their platforms.”

As it is today, Horizon Worlds plays host to a growing number of user-generated content in addition to first-party worlds. The release of Horizon Worlds outside of Quest would represent a massive potential influx of users and user-generated content, putting it in direct competition with cross-platform social gaming titans such as Roblox and Rec Room.

As a similar free-to-play app, Horizon Worlds offers an Avatar Store featuring premium digital outfits—very likely only a first step in the company’s monetization strategy. For now, the company says it allows creators to earn revenue from purchases people make in their worlds, which includes hardware platform fees and a Horizon Worlds fee, which Meta says is 25 percent.

In late October, Meta showed off a tempting preview of its next-gen avatars, although it’s clear there’s still a ton of work to be done to satisfy its existing userbase. Floating torsos are still very much a thing in Horizon Worlds, and that’s despite Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s insistence that full body tracking was in the works. It was too good to be true.

For now, Horizon Worlds is only available on Quest 2 headsets in the US, Canada, UK, France, Iceland, Ireland and Spain—something we hope they change well before it ushers in flatscreen users.

Celebrate New Year’s Eve In VR With Shaquille O’Neal

December 20, 2022 From vrscout

The virtual event kicks off on December 31st at 3:30pm PST.

It’s been a crazy year, so why not celebrate its end with an equally crazy New Year’s Eve countdown event hosted by NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal in VR?

“The Shaq’tacular Spectacular” will feature an impressive lineup of big-name celebrity guests like Rob Gronkowski and Camille Kostek. We can also expect performances from artists such as Cardi B, Ludacris, Lil Yachty, Killer Mike, WHIPPED CREAM, and Shaq himself as his musical alter ego, DJ DIESEL.

Credit: Meta

“This year we’re ringing in 2023 with new experiences and connections. I’m excited to celebrate with some of my favorite artists and athletes in a way that you can enjoy with friends and family in VR across the world,” said Shaq in an official release. “From music, laughs and much more, we’re celebrating New Year’s Eve and welcoming 2023 with a spectacular party you won’t want to miss.”

Produced by Westbrook Media, Media.Monks and Jersey Legends Productions, the hour-long special event will kick off on December 31st at 3:30pm PST. The show will take place inside Horizon Worlds, Meta’s social VR metaverse available on Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro VR headsets, and Meta Quest TV.

For more information visit here.

Image Credit: Westbrook

VR Show Behind The Dish Is A Mouth-Watering Delight

December 14, 2022 From vrscout

Go behind the scenes of the culinary world in this beautifully shot episodic series.

The Meta Quest TV app features no shortage of immersive 360-degree content to enjoy, from groundbreaking VR series like Space Explorers: An ISS Experience to live concerts featuring popular artists such as the Foo Fighters and Billie Eilish.

Available now on Meta Quest TV, Behind the Dish is the latest VR series to hit Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro VR headsets, offering viewers a mouth-watering look at high-end cuisine brought to life in incredible detail using a custom-designed 3D macro camera system.

Developed by the Emmy-nominated VR studio TARGO in partnership with Meta, the three-part series follows three female chefs “reshaping a male-dominated industry.” This includes 6-Michelin-star French Chef Helène Darroze, Soul Food Chef Deborah VanTrece, and Sushi Master Yumi Chiba.

“Behind the Dish highlights the journeys of three chefs who made it to the top by being unapologetically
authentic,” said TARGO in an official release. “Hélène Darroze had the courage to put an end to a century-old family restaurant and became the most renowned French chef.”

“Yumi Chiba survived breast cancer by turning the art of sushi-making into her source of solace and self-expression,” added the team. “Deborah VanTrece redefined her life and career as an African-American lesbian flight attendant to become a Soul Food chef fascinated with other cultures.”

In addition to shining a spotlight on the inspirations and impacts of each chef, Behind the Dish also offers an unprecedented look at various cuisines filmed in 8K 3D 360° video using a custom 3D macro camera system. VR brings each dish to life in stunning detail, from Chef Deborah VanTrece’s delicious-looking mac-n-cheese to Sushi Master Yumi Chiba’s Edomae sushi.

Watching the series on Meta Quest Pro I was absolutely blown away by the incredible use of macro 3D video. Close-up shots look nothing short of stunning when viewed on a VR headset in immersive stereoscopic 3D. Watching Sushi Master Yumi Chiba expertly slice through fish in slow motion was an incredibly satisfying experience.

All three episodes of Behind the Dish are available now on Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro VR headsets. Simply visit the Meta Quest TV app and look for the Behind the Dish playlist.

For more information on this VR gastronomy series visit here.

Image Credit: TARGO