Meta Quest Pro is here: Everything You Need to Know about Meta’s New Device
Over the last year or so, the internet has been awash with both rumour and occasional official titbits about the proposed Project Cambria – the device that Meta aims to really capture the VR market with – but now much of it has come to fruition with the release of the Meta Quest Pro.
Marketed squarely as a professional developer device, the Quest Pro is likely to set a new bar for VR headsets with new features like Mixed Reality and far greater spatial awareness for both the user and the system. The Quest Pro is not intended as a direct replacement for the current Oculus 2 device, but rather the first in a series of enhanced headsets that are designed to help serious developers create. The Quest Pro shouldn’t be considered to be the Oculus 3, but much of the technology within it is likely to find its way into the new mass-market device, when it is finally released.
The Quest Pro is jam-packed with cutting-edge features such as high-resolution sensors for robust mixed reality experiences, crisp LCD displays for sharp visuals, a completely new and more streamlined design, as well as eye tracking and ability to determine Natural Facial Expressions of the user, which will help a developed avatar reflect the user more naturally in virtual reality worlds and spaces. The Quest Pro is seen as a major attempt to introduce much greater quality of both content and personnel experiences to the growing Metaverse, by allowing developers to utilise high-end equipment and in that way, establish an overall quality baseline for content. The hope is that, by the time the Quest 3 becomes available, VR content will be considerably better than it is now.
To achieve this, the Quest Pro has some impressive hardware behind it. The Meta Quest Pro is the very first device to be driven by the brand-new Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ platform. This framework is developed specifically for virtual reality use and allows the Meta Quest Pro to run at 50 percent more power than the Meta Quest 2 while also allowing for better thermal dissipation, which ultimately results in significantly improved performance. The Meta Quest Pro comes equipped with 12 gigabytes of RAM, 256 gigabytes of storage space as standard, and ten high-resolution sensors. Five of the sensors are located inside the headset, and the remaining five are located outside of it. These sensors contribute to the enhancement of a variety of different immersive experiences as well as helping with greater articulation.
To help developers get the most out of the system, the Quest Pro has some seriously-upgraded graphics. Using a completely new optical stack, the Quest Pro boasts 37% more pixels per inch and 10% greater pixels per degree than Meta Quest 2, all from a graphics system that is considerably slimmer and lighter than the older system could manage. Unlocking a high-definition, full-colour mixed reality experience may be accomplished with the help of Meta Quest Pro’s all-new sensor architecture, which is equipped with high-resolution outward-facing cameras. These cameras record four times the number of pixels as Meta Quest 2’s exterior cameras. Passthrough on the Quest 2 only allows the user to see the world outside the device in black and white, but on the Quest Pro, the user is able to see their outside physical environment in full colour. In this approach, Meta intends to encourage developers to consider how their projects would look when used in augmented reality mode, which will enable rich experiences when used with Meta’s Presence Platform builder. The new camera and sensor systems make the Quest Pro perfect for Mixed Reality applications too, and this is plainly an area that Meta wants to grow.
The overall design of the Quest Pro has been considered by Meta, and this is no simple step-up from the current Quest 2, and the Meta Quest Pro is the company’s thinnest and most well-balanced virtual reality gadget to date. This is mostly because of its pancake lenses and the curved-cell battery that is housed in the back of the headset, giving better overall weight distribution. The inter-pupillary distances (IPDs) that can be accommodated by the continuous lens spacing adjustment mechanism found on the Meta Quest Pro are between 55mm and 75mm, which is a far wider range than the one found on the Quest 2 system. The user is also able to change the lens distance from their eyes using a new eye relief dial that is included on the headset. This allows the user to achieve optimal comfort, face tracking, and viewing experience. Because of this feature, a wider variety of users are able to customise the headset to their specific preferences. The Quest Pro should be much more pleasant to use as a result of these thoughtfully designed characteristics, which should allow for longer periods of use.
The Quest Pro controllers have been redesigned to be more ergonomic and well-balanced, giving the impression that they are a natural extension of the user’s hands when they are used. They also come with enhanced haptics that are powered by Meta’s new “TruTouch” Haptics system, which offers a larger and more accurate range of feedback. In addition, the batteries in these come in a rechargeable form. When a user purchases the Quest Pro, they are given a charging station as well as a 45W USB-C power adapter. With these two accessories, the user is able to keep both their headset and controllers charged and ready to use. The new controllers can also be purchased for linking to the Quest 2, giving owners of these a taste of the new features and haptics available to Quest Pro users.
The Meta store is open for pre-orders to a number of countries, including the United States, the UK, much of Europe, and Taiwan, and is available from the Meta Store, with the official release date stated as being 25th October. The device and a range of accessories can also be pre-ordered through the Meta store and Amazon.
By releasing such a powerful tool at under $1,500 – the UK and worldwide price still needs to be confirmed, but is likely to be comparable – Meta have shown that they are committed to getting the best out of the Metaverse. If the Quest 3, when it lands, is anything like the Quest Pro, then there are going to be a lot of happy-users out there.
