Quest for the Best Mixed Reality Headset: Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3
Picture this: a future where the line between the virtual and physical worlds blurs, creating a playground of endless possibilities. Imagine hopping from your bed into a tennis court just with a tap, or watching a 3D movie on a virtual cinema screen from the comfort of your own lounge. This transformation is driven by the exciting domains of Mixed Reality (MR) and Spatial Computing, where innovation will pave the way for the remarkable technology we are about to experience soon. In the last few years, we've witnessed the rise of VR gadgets and marveled at the AR capabilities of our trusty smartphones. What awaits us next has finally begun to unravel.
Pioneering this wave of mixed reality are Apple’s Vision Pro and the very recently announced Meta Quest 3, with the former set to release in the early months of 2024 and the latter already available for pre-order and set to hit stores in just a week. While both these devices give you a glimpse of what’s to come in Mixed Reality and Spatial Computing, the final verdict will arrive when they become available to the end user. That said, we have substantial information to figure out where Apple’s Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3 are similar and where they will turn out vastly different.
Before we dive deeper into the features, the elephant in the room is Vision Pro’s hefty price tag of $3,499. Meta Quest 3’s $499 when compared alongside Vision Pro seems absurd. Does Apple promise higher specifications with the Vision Pro? Absolutely. Whether or not these specifications are worth the price tag, we will find out in due time.
Design:
Meta Quest 3 takes a cue from the Quest 2's stylebook. It rocks that classic all-white plastic look, with a comfy black foam lining and a fabric head strap. But here's the twist: it's 40% slimmer, giving it a slicker appearance which means better comfort during those marathon gaming sessions. Unlike its predecessors, Quest 3 steps up with three sensors on its front, giving it a bit of a futuristic edge. Find out how Quest 3 steps up in comparison with Quest 2 here.
On the flip side, Apple Vision Pro stands out in terms of luxury. When the Apple Vision Pro is powered off, it's like a Meta Quest Pro. Upon turning it on however, it turns into a much different device with making your eyes visible to the people around you, thanks to a nifty feature called EyeSight, designed to make interactions as natural as can be. Vision Pro packs a whopping 12 cameras, six microphones, and five sensors, working in harmony to track your eyes, hands, and voice. The headset comes with a knitted headband with premium fabrics, a sleek 3D curved glass front, and a metallic casing. The premium materials suggest it might be on the 'chunkier' side, and the separate battery might raise a few usability and accessibility questions.
Ports:
Quest 3 keeps things straightforward, bidding farewell to the 3.5mm headset jack from Quest 2. It opts for a single USB-C port, handling both charging and data transfer duties. While the new release has a lost a bit of versatility with the removal of the audio jack, it's still a champ when it comes to connecting with various devices.
On the other end, In typical Apple fashion, Vision Pro says goodbye to ports altogether. Instead, it goes for a magnetic connector on the side for the battery pack.
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Controllers:
Like Quest Pro, Meta Quest 3 brings back ring-free Touch Plus controllers, with upgraded haptics. Most of the familiar elements are there, like middle-finger and index-finger triggers, along with the trusty capacitive joystick, touchpad, and face buttons.
But here's the exciting part: Meta Quest 3 elevates your virtual experience with upgraded sensors and a focus on Mixed Reality (MR). That means you can dive into the virtual realm using just your hands, with precise hand and finger tracking.
Apple Vision Pro ditches the traditional controller entirely, relying solely on ultra-accurate hand and finger tracking to navigate the operating system. Of course, if you're up for some Apple Arcade gaming, you can connect it with a PS5 DualSense controller. But here's the catch – many VR games lean on controllers heavily. So, it'll be fascinating to see how developers adapt and bring their titles to this new frontier.
Experience:
Vision Pro has its sights set on a broad range of applications, both at work and home. It all starts with Apple’s familiar home screen that you can interact with using eye tracking and pinch gestures, all captured by the sensors. You are able to fine-tune your VR/AR blend with the Digital Crown on the headset, dialing up or down your immersion into the digital world of your choice.
Meta Quest 3 also introduces a colorful MR experience thanks to full-color passthrough cameras. This means apps and games can seamlessly blend into the real-world environment around you, a massive leap from the grayscale image on Quest 2. What has garnered the most interest for us is the upgrades in gaming thanks to Quest 3's depth sensor.
While it may seem like these devices are very different at first glance, both of these devices are the early adapters to MR and spatial computing, targeted mostly towards developers, professionals and companies. Both of them come with their own sets of pros and it is likely that they will be centered around different markets and technologies. Where Meta Quest 3 wins in affordability and its strong focus towards VR, Vision Pro champions in its display, hardware and operating system.
Editor’s Note:
Another thing to mention here is how game development companies are going to take up this new wave of MR and spatial computing. Unity is already collaborating with Apple, promising exciting features like pass-through and Dynamic Foveated Rendering, alongside Unity's AR Foundation and XR Interaction Toolkit. However, the increased cost of using Unity may offset some of the benefits, potentially affecting the affordability and reach of applications and games developed for Vision Pro.
With the launch of Meta Quest 3 in just a couple of days, many people have questioned why consider a $3,499 Apple headset when you can get something similar and substantial at a 7x lesser price. If you come to think of it, Apple finally jumping into the world of AR and VR might become the push people have been waiting for to finally accept the concept of metaverse with open arms, which is something Meta has not been able to do despite continuous efforts and losses. Even if Vision Pro goes for gaming - a low hanging fruit in the metaverse, it could mean resuscitation of digital ownership and NFTs. As blockchain and crypto pick up pace in the expanding ecosystem, the applications supported by Vision OS will also evolve.
In retrospect, the Apple Vision Pro draws parallels to a product that initially faced challenges but went on to reshape an entire industry – the iPhone.
When the first iPhone hit the market in 2007, it came with a hefty price tag of $499 and lacked an App Store. However, with the arrival of the iPhone 3G in 2008 at a more affordable $199 and the introduction of a robust third-party software ecosystem, Apple's smartphone journey truly took off. The combination of a lower price point and an ever-expanding library of third-party apps eventually cemented the iPhone's position as the epitome of the modern smartphone. At the outset, the iPhone was technologically advanced but carried a high price and faced limited consumer adoption.It is quite likely that Vision Pro follows a similar pattern in the future and serves as a prototype for what Apple brings out next in its product line of MR and spatial computing.
Algoryte is a leading web3 game, virtual /artificial reality and metaverse development company with a strong track record in creating virtual experiences in Meta Quest 2 and Quest Pro made on Unity and Unreal Engine. For inquiries and collaborations, please feel free to reach out to us here or email us at hello@algoryte.com