With Meta’s Quest 3, Mixed Reality Is Here. So Now What?

The New York Times columnist Brian X. Chen tests the Quest 3, which Meta is marketing as the first mainstream mixed-reality headset (Via Meta)
The New York Times columnist Brian X. Chen tests the Quest 3, which Meta is marketing as the first mainstream mixed-reality headset (Via Meta)
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With Meta’s Quest 3, Mixed Reality Is Here. So Now What?

The New York Times columnist Brian X. Chen tests the Quest 3, which Meta is marketing as the first mainstream mixed-reality headset (Via Meta)
The New York Times columnist Brian X. Chen tests the Quest 3, which Meta is marketing as the first mainstream mixed-reality headset (Via Meta)

By Brian X. Chen

Last week, I spent several hours trying Meta’s latest goggles, the Quest 3. They ship next month. The headset runs virtual reality games with a novel twist: While shooting a blaster gun, snatching bats from midair and controlling a robot, I could see the real world through built-in cameras.

This is what Meta and its new rival, Apple, which recently unveiled the $3,500 Vision Pro headset, call “mixed reality” or “spatial computing,” interchangeable terms to describe computers that blend digital data with the physical world.

These immersive computers, the companies say, could eventually become indispensable tools that change the way we live. Imagine reading a holographic recipe in the corner of your eye while cooking, for example, or staring at furniture parts with digital assembly instructions overlaid on them.

But for now, the devices are primarily used for playing games, and killer apps have yet to surface.

Meta’s $500 Quest 3 headset, arriving in stores on Oct. 10 (pre-orders start on Wednesday), has sharper graphics than its predecessor, the Quest 2, which costs $200 less. Its marquee new feature is a set of high-resolution, “pass-through” cameras for seeing the outside world in color. They are a big improvement from the Quest 2’s weaker camera system, which rendered a muddy monochrome picture.

After a two-hour session playing with the Quest 3, I removed the goggles and asked Meta employees the $10 billion question about mixed reality: What’s the point?

Meta’s answer to that is vague. The ability to simultaneously interact with virtual and physical space, the company said, would make it easier for people to feel connected to one another while wearing goggles. That could eventually be useful for collaborating on work tasks. What kind of work? Those apps are actively in development, a Meta spokesman told me.

To market the Quest 3, Meta highlighted mixed reality games. In First Encounters, a space game, I used a blaster gun to shoot a virtual wall, removing pieces of it brick by brick to see into the real world.

In Stranger Things VR, a game based on the popular Netflix series, I took on the role of the show’s antagonist with telepathic powers. I could see virtual cracks embedded into the physical room surrounding me; when I pointed at the cracks and spread my fingers outward to open them up, bats flew out of the chasms. I grabbed them to squish them dead.

In Bam!, I could see other Quest 3 wearers in the room while we controlled miniature robots that battled each other inside a virtual arena. Each player could see a virtual platform containing the arena and adjust it to be level with the physical tabletop in front of them. The game was fun, but seeing others flail around their motion controllers while donning the geeky goggles didn’t improve the game (though it certainly made me feel more self-conscious).

The experience of socializing with others while playing games reminded me of the LAN (local area network) parties of the 1990s, when gamers carried bulky computers to one another’s homes to play together. It was a type of social gathering that feels antiquated now that internet speeds are zippy enough for us to play games online from our own homes.

Some mixed-reality app developers I later interviewed offered more clarity than Meta about the benefits of the technology. Naer is a start-up working on a mixed-reality app for office workers to brainstorm ideas on virtual white boards and sticky notes.

Developers there said that being able to see into the real world while juggling virtual tasks would make the experience less jarring for professionals to wear headsets while working alongside colleagues in an office.

A founder of Naer, which is based in Norway, Sondre Kvam, said: “When you’re fully closed off and somebody taps your shoulder, it’s very uncomfortable.” “But when you’re using mixed reality, you’re still a very much part of the real world — you’re no longer surprised.”

Peeking into the outside world might also make V.R. gaming more comfortable. Tommy Palm, the chief executive of Resolution Games, said that in mixed reality, gamers would probably feel more confident playing games that involved fast movement.

In his game Blaston, where players shoot guns at each other in a virtual arena, people can crouch to avoid digital projectiles. Being able to see around you would help prevent collisions with objects in the room like furniture, he said.

Those examples of mixed reality sound convincing. But after spending a few hours with the Quest 3, I got the impression that the outward-facing cameras won’t solve virtual reality’s most nagging problems with comfort, which will prevent it from becoming a mainstream hit.

Weighing about 0.4 Kg, the headset felt heavy on my head after about 15 minutes, causing neck strain. The graphics were bright and intense on the eyes. Bending over, twisting around and swinging my arms eventually felt exhausting.

So the Quest 3 may be a fun toy to entertain house guests, but most gamers looking for a social experience will probably prefer the old-fashioned setup of sitting on their couch with a game controller.

The New York Times



Robots Set to Move beyond Factory as AI Advances

 Attendees watch as a robot walks around during a demonstration at the Unitree Robotics booth during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 9, 2025. (AFP)
Attendees watch as a robot walks around during a demonstration at the Unitree Robotics booth during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 9, 2025. (AFP)
TT

Robots Set to Move beyond Factory as AI Advances

 Attendees watch as a robot walks around during a demonstration at the Unitree Robotics booth during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 9, 2025. (AFP)
Attendees watch as a robot walks around during a demonstration at the Unitree Robotics booth during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 9, 2025. (AFP)

Today's robots perform safety checks at industrial plants, conduct quality control in manufacturing, and are even starting to keep hospital patients company.

But soon -- perhaps very soon -- these increasingly humanlike machines will handle more sophisticated tasks, freeing up people while raising complex questions about the roles of artificial intelligence that are gaining attention.

At a panel hosted by the American Association of Retired Persons at this week's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), experts described the next five years as a period where robots transition primarily from industrial sites to service settings, helping to address a worsening health care labor crunch.

Seeing robotics in places like theme parks or universities "will lead to the companion robot probably at the end of the decade," said Marc Theermann, chief strategy officer for robot company Boston Dynamics.

Cris Gardner, a vice president in futurecasting at AARP, predicted robots will provide emotional support as they enter homes and assist with daily tasks.

People "will own a generalized humanoid robot the way they would own a car," she said.

- Upheaval ahead? -

Dystopian prophesies of a robot-centered future have long featured in the public imagination. However, recent breakthroughs in generative AI have given more credibility to predictions of billions of humanoid robots in everyday life.

The centrality of robots in the coming years is "widely underappreciated," said a report from Abundance 360, a conference and education venture led by entrepreneur Peter Diamandis.

Robots could enable an "era of unprecedented abundance," lowering costs while freeing humans "to focus on creative and fulfilling pursuits," it said.

However, the analysis also identified nine sectors facing potential job displacement, including manufacturing, elder care, agriculture, education, and surgery.

"The speed at which multimodal generative AI and humanoid robot development is progressing, paired with the lack of public discourse on this subject, indicates that there will be significant job disruption and societal upheaval," it said.

Disputes over automation have been a recurring factor in labor negotiations, most recently involving US dockworkers, who reached a tentative agreement with a shippers group, averting a strike.

The International Longshoremen's Association permitted ports to add semiautonomous cranes only if more workers are hired, according to the Wall Street Journal.

- Worker shortages -

At CES, companies described robots as performing tasks that humans either shouldn't do because they are dangerous, or don't want to do because they are grueling, tedious, or unpleasant.

Hong Kong company R2C2 showcased industrial robots that can perform functions such as inspections at power plants and technician work on trains, according to San Wong, the company's founder and chief executive.

Working on trains involves "lots of grease everywhere, and it's dirty and hot" so turnover is high, San said.

Vehicle and equipment maker Oshkosh has used automation to phase out high-burnout jobs such as the finishing work on firetrucks, which requires workers to wear a mask and often leads to shoulder and elbow problems, said chief executive John Pfeifer.

Those workers have been shifted to other assembly line work, such as welding. While these jobs are currently safe, they may "one day" be automated, Pfeifer said.

"This has been the evolution of the economy for 250 years," he said. "People move into more productive ways to help the economy grow."

At CES, US agriculture machinery giant John Deere showcased autonomous vehicles developed partly in response to persistent farm labor shortages.

Automation allows farmers to focus on more challenging tasks, such as managing grain movement from a field to a storage area, said Deanna Kovar, president of Deere's worldwide agriculture and turf division.

"We need to continue to make sure we're evolving the skill sets of our employees, of our customers, so that they can take advantage of the technologies and not see them as a threat," she said.

AARP's Gardner noted that the aging US population points to a significant labor gap for caring for the next generation of seniors.

"The demand is going to be enormous, it can't be covered by human beings," said Gardner, who views improved robotics as key to enabling older people to stay independent for longer.