Meta Quest 3 passthrough is reportedly ‘almost lifelike’

The forthcoming Meta Quest 3 VR and augmented reality (AR) headset reportedly has passthrough that offers an “almost lifelike rendering of the real world”, according to a tech journalist who has had a pre-release trial of the device.

The Quest 3 is expected to be released in late 2023, when it is likely to compete with Apple’s first mixed reality headset, which has not been officially confirmed but is also expected to come out late this year.

Meta’s headset is expected to retail at around $500, so will be a lower-end device compared to Apple’s, which is expected to sell for a far higher price. However, a trial on the Quest 3 by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggested that the Quest 3’s passthrough capabilities were impressive.

Passthrough is a headset’s rendering of the ‘real world’ to the wearer’s vision, achieved with cameras on the headset filming their surroundings and relaying it to the wearer’s viewing area.

Gurman wrote that due to the Quest 3’s dual RGB color camera, “video 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,” he added.

This could mean higher-quality mixed reality experiences for VR porn and other adult content such as virtual strip bars, that use augmented reality.

Gurman said that the Quest 2 felt “far lighter and thinner” than the Quest 2, and noted that it had fabric on the sides of the headset instead of plastic. The device has three vertical pill-shaped sensor areas across its front, each featuring one color video passthrough camera plus a standard camera.

In terms of overall performance, Gurman said that “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. But there are two areas where I saw major improvements: video pass-through for mixed reality and the device’s speedier performance.”

VR porn is a big growth area of the adult online content industry, but there are doubts as to whether VR and mixed reality headset use is set to go truly mainstream any time soon, despite Mark Zuckerberg’s confidence in the metaverse.

Apple’s headset is, however, expected to shake up the mixed reality industry, with Gurman noting that its release could set up an industry war between Meta and Apple that could mirror Apple’s with Google and the latter’s Android devices. Its announcement is expected this month.