Meta’s VR glasses strike a balance between the wow factor of the Vision Pro and the simplicity of the Galaxy XR, and I wish I didn’t have to take them off
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Experience counts for something, and nowhere is that more evident than in the Meta VR headset I finally used this morning.
These lightweight, intuitive and engaging VR headsets eliminate the weight and overdesign of previous VR and mixed reality headsets to deliver a subtle, smart, eminently comfortable and fun wearable experience that’s just as at home entertaining you with crazy VR movies or expansive, productivity-enhancing virtual desktops.
Granted, my tour of the $1,299 VR headset expected to arrive next spring (April-early June) of next year was 45 minutes, but it was enough time to realize that the Meta VR headset really built on all the lessons from not only Meta Quest VR, but also from watching competitors like Apple and even Samsung struggle to inspire consumers with impressive but also expensive or somewhat unwieldy mixed reality experiences.
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In my opinion, Meta’s decision to move the headset’s compute, storage, and battery to a 300g drive that can be worn on a belt or pocket pays design dividends. The wearable, which looks like a slightly oversized pair of sunglasses, is so comfortable that I barely felt them on my face, and after 45 minutes of continuous wear, I took off the 100-gram frames with a feeling of relief. If anything, I was sad that my brief interlude was over.
Without needing to support CPU, GPU, NPU, RAM, a heavy battery or even SD storage, Meta could focus on basic aesthetic appeal. The Meta VR glasses feel and look sober, but in a positive way. By design, they don’t separate you from the outside world (there will be an optional light shield), so there’s no need to put a pair of blinking animated eyes on the lenses.
Of course, I had my doubts that the Meta VR headset would be all that immersive or inspiring, given what looked like essentially eye-sized lenses and no visible cameras, inside or out.
All of that turned out to be misleading.
Precise tracking for an immersive experience
When I said that Meta clearly learned from everything that came before, I wasn’t kidding. The metaphors for setting up eye tracking were essentially the same as what I did for the Apple Vision Pro (I didn’t have to adjust the pupillary distance, although you can easily do that) and, to some extent, the Galaxy XR. You look at a circle of dots floating in space and, yes, you use your fingers to pinch and select each one.
Obviously, there are cameras that track your eyes, your hands, and the outside world. I was impressed by the accuracy, which matched what I experienced on the Vision Pro.
Likewise, when I first saw the floating menu, I was surprised by the visual quality (it’s worth noting that Meta put in a pair of prescription magnetic inserts to match my eyes, and those inserts will probably add $150 to the final cost). For the record, Meta lists the resolution of the Micro-OLED display as 5K and based on what I saw, I believe it.
Disney+, a TV app, the Avengers: Infinity War VR experience, and a dozen other app icons floated in space, each swelling when you looked at it.
Meta VR Glasses software doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel of mixed reality. I had no problems opening apps, closing them, or even moving windows. Adds a gesture I appreciated: scrolling.
To scroll through any window, I gently made a fist and then ran my thumb along the side of my index finger to scroll left, right, up and down. I was surprised how quickly I learned this; I think that has a lot to do with the accuracy of eye and gesture tracking.
My experiences were limited to a handful of apps, but each was compelling in its own way.
We started with a Billie Eilish concert in 8K virtual reality where I was practically sitting front and center, close enough to take a selfie with the singer. The volume started out a little low for my taste. Still, I was able to use the volume controls below the right temple to make the audio loud enough to drown out the voices of the Meta executives trying to guide me (they were watching what I was seeing via a stream on a nearby PC; the Meta VR headset can also stream to your phone).
We moved on to the final game of the NBA Finals, in which the Knicks won the title, which put me on the court. At one point, I realized that the almost 360-degree view was probably taken by a camera that was also almost on the court. Meta told me that they partner with Kosmo (Hesai Kosmo), which uses relatively small 360-degree cameras to capture the action. As the replay of the game continued, I noticed that Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Kardashian were also on the court. I waved, but they didn’t seem to notice me.
I played a puzzle game called Dragon Forestwhich, unsurprisingly, featured a little green cartoon dragon that landed in my outstretched hand and let me pet it. I was reminded of a similar experience with Vision Pro and a butterfly. By launch, Meta expects to have more than 75 hands-free games.
Meta believes the primary use cases for the Meta VR headset will be entertainment and productivity. On the entertainment front, I watched Avengers Infinity Wars VR Enhanced, which took the original film and then embellished it with 360 immersive virtual reality visuals and even allows some of the characters to break out of the frame of the original film. It was cool but also a little strange. Why would a director who intentionally chooses to film a scene a certain way want you to look anywhere other than his original film? However, it made the movie feel more like an amusement park attraction, which may be appealing to some.
business class
On the productivity front, the Meta VR headset basically starts where everyone else spent years traveling to get to. I had huge desktop screens around me that I could move and resize with gestures. At one point, I placed a screen on the ceiling above me. Plus, you could take any screen and make it ultrawide. The only hiccup was when an encoding screen stretched the code text to an ultra-wide, nearly unreadable format. This is all preliminary software, so bugs like this are to be expected.
Like the Vision Pro and Galaxy XR, the Meta VR headset has a floating keyboard, but they’ve also added something new to the mix: a surface keyboard. To enable it, I selected the floating keyboard option and then placed my hands on the table surface. After a quick scan, a transparent keyboard and trackpad appeared on the table. You could use them as you would any standard physical keyboard and mouse. My only problem is that, since I’m a terrible touch typist, the lack of physical feedback from the keys could make my typing even worse.
When I took off the frames, it felt like I had taken off a pair of glasses, not a helmet that did its best with straps and head rings to lessen the load on my face. There were no burns on my nose or eyebrows.
Of course I have questions. For example, even at the most affordable price of $1,299, consumers will buy this to enjoy a big-screen experience on a plane and when they’re alone at home (you’re not going to sit next to a family member and tune out your own VR experience, right?). Gamers, especially those who are tired of wearing heavy headsets, will surely be interested in the Meta VR Glasses, although I don’t know if the Qualcomm Snapdragon Reality Elite (XR2 Gen 3) processor, which can supposedly support all the apps in the Quest library, has the capacity to run true AAA titles. I’m glad Meta has the productivity part figured out because I still think it may be the best option for any of these types of portable devices: knowledge workers, business travelers, and enterprises.
Who knows, though, maybe Meta VR Glasses will be the mixed reality headset that finally cracks the consumer market. I was impressed and to be honest I can’t wait to use them again.
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