Why Meta Quest 3 Shows the Future Is Both Mixed and Augmented Reality

VR may be the hot tech of the present, but the future is augmented and mixed reality.

I bought the recently-released Meta Quest 3 the other day in a fit of early adopter excitement. The VR headset, which came out September 27, is the latest and greatest tech from Meta. Like the Quest 2 (and the Quest before that), the Meta Quest 3 is a standalone headset and set of controllers that immerses you in virtual reality (VR) with ease. The new version is slimmer, a bit lighter, and has a higher resolution than its predecessor.

But that's really not what excited me.

What galvanized my purchase is what VR nerds call "full-color passthrough." The new Quest 3 has six cameras on the face of it (the 2 has three cameras, and the Pro only has five). Some of these track your hand movements and help map your physical space so you don't bump into walls while chasing aliens in VR, but they also allow for a full-color view of the world around you.

This is the stuff we call mixed reality, where digital objects can interact with the real world (or, in this case, a camera feed of the real world). The previous step, one you may be familiar with from your smartphone, is augmented reality, which superimposes digital objects on an image of the real world.

Either way, using the Quest 3 is the second time I've seen the future. The first was when I popped the Quest 2 on my head during the pandemic and felt the space around me, danced to the rhythm in Beat Saber, and worked out in some of the most beautiful spaces on the planet via Supernatural.

It felt like VR was finally here, and I was excited to be in it.

A Little Less Barfy

The problem, however, was twofold. First of all, the visuals weren't as crisp as, say, they were on my video game consoles on my HDTV. The Quest 2's frame rate, too, had me feeling nauseous in games that had a lot of motion in them. Secondly, I felt isolated from my family when playing any sort of game, watching Netflix, or working out while wearing the headset. There's a black-and-white passthrough system in Quest 2, but it's grainy and really only good for quick looks around you so you don't kick the dog.

The new Quest 3's 90Hz refresh rate can go up to 120Hz, and the faster rate helps me feel much less nauseous than the earlier one did. I can play games without needing a break 10-15 minutes in, and the higher resolution (on titles that have been updated for the new headset) helps me feel immersed in a much more immediate way.

The Real World Shines Through

What really works, though, is Quest 3's view of the real world. I strap the VR helmet on my face, and it immediately boots into passthrough mode. There's my dog, there's my TV, there's my iPhone. I can even sort of see what's on the screen of my iPhone in case I need to do a quick text reply.

It's not miraculous by any means. There's still a bit of graininess and a little bit of visual warping around the edges (which will eventually improve), but in practical terms, I'm not taking off my headset all the time to see what's going on in my space. A quick double tap to the side of my headset brings up this mode while in full VR mode, so I can answer the door for the FedEx guy without having to interrupt or pause my game.

It's not just me, either. Matt Cranfield, an IT and tech expert, notes that full-color visuals are a game changer.

"In VR/AR/MR, higher resolution cameras and full-color passthrough enable more immersive experiences," he said in an email to Lifewire. "A mobility rehabilitation project using virtual environments showed enhanced patient response and engagement with higher resolution and full-color visuals. The increased clarity and depth amplified immersion and elicited stronger cognitive/emotional responses."

"Remember the early pixelated VR days that caused discomfort or even motion sickness? Today's improved resolutions alleviate much of that," said data analytics, web3, and tech expert, Justin Chia, in an email with Lifewire. "While not a proven medical fact, there's talk that clearer visuals can reduce the psychological discomfort some feel in VR environments.

Chia cautions against just focusing on visuals, though.

"Higher resolution isn't the sole answer," he wrote. "Pushing 4K or 8K visuals demands more computational power, battery life, and heat management. And clarity doesn't fix poor content; a crystal-clear bad VR game is still a bad game."

First Encounters With Meta Quest 3

I felt this sea change for VR when I first put the Quest 3 on my face.

There's an app called First Encounters that comes with the new headset. It's a basic "shoot all the cute little puffballs you can see" sort of game. What makes this a fantastic showcase, however, is that the puffballs basically break into your house, through your walls, and infest your real-life space. I was walking around the room, finding brightly colored little spherical creatures behind my couch, under my coffee table, and more. I could even shoot the space creatures through the cracks in my wall, which showed a planet outside.

This is not a sophisticated game, but everyone who's come over to my house since has been forced to play it. Oohs and Aahs happen every time because you're literally moving around the real space while the video game happens there. You can step over the dog, avoid the side table, and keep from bumping into the delivery box you just got from the mail carrier. People in your environment can watch you play, but better yet, you can see them enjoying the experience, too. Full-color passthrough makes playing these games suddenly social in a way that VR is not.