Meta announces Quest Pro, a $1,499 “mixed reality” device coming Oct. 25 - Ars Technica

Pro specs, pro price. —

"High-end device" features thinner design, higher resolution, unfastened design.

Kyle Orland - Oct 11, 2022 6:09 p.m. UTC

Enlarge / The $1,499 Meta Quest Pro.

Meta

Just nether 1 twelvemonth aft rebranding arsenic Meta, the institution formerly known arsenic Facebook announced the Quest Pro, a $1,499 "mixed reality" headset that volition beryllium shipping connected October 25.

Part of that "mixed reality" pivot comes successful the Quest Pro's much unfastened lens design, which lets users spot the carnal satellite astir them successful their peripheral vision. That should let users to execute elemental tasks successful the existent satellite without taking disconnected the headset, specified arsenic "jot[ting] down a note, grab[bing] thing connected your desk, oregon conscionable be[ing] alert of what's going connected astir you," Meta said. Users who privation a much immersive experience, though, tin clip connected magnetic "light blockers" to the broadside of the headset for a much traditional, secluded VR experience.

Quest Pro besides sports new, full-color passthrough cameras that seizure 4 times the solution of those connected the Quest 2, Meta said. Combined with a extent strategy that tin observe the determination of objects successful your environment, that allows for a mixed-reality layering of virtual items connected a stereoscopic show of your real-world surroundings, implicit with caller "anchoring" exertion that locks those virtual items successful place, Meta said.

Tech-wise, the Quest Pro touts a Snapdragon XR2+ processor that Meta said generates 50 percent much processing power, with amended thermal dissipation than the Quest 2. A caller pancake lens design, meanwhile, folds airy from the displays implicit itself aggregate times connected the mode to the eye, allowing for a lens enclosure that's 40 percent thinner than those successful Quest 2.

Those displays person 37 percent much pixels per inch than the Quest 2 and 75 percent much contrast, Meta said. On the different extremity of the device, Meta's "first ever curved compartment battery" tucks down the user's skull to supply amended wide balance, Meta said.

The Quest Pro controllers person besides been upgraded truthful they are "basically their ain computers," Meta said. Those controllers tin present way themselves without relying connected immoderate outer oregon headset cameras and don't necessitate the tracking rings connected aged Rift and Quest controllers, either. That allows for a afloat 360-degrees-of-motion state for your hands successful VR. New "TrueTouch haptics" let for much realistic unit feedback arsenic well, Meta said, portion an optional clip-on stylus lets you gully precisely successful the VR space.

The Quest Pro besides features inward-facing cameras that tin seizure a user's facial expressions, allowing for VR avatars that amusement the "non-verbal expressions and gestures that tin beryllium much important than what we bash oregon say," arsenic Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg enactment it. Short demos showed those avatars capturing everything from eyebrow raises to subtle smiles to larger rima movements similar eating food.

Quest Pro is "the archetypal successful our caller enactment of precocious headsets" and "a high-end instrumentality designed for enactment and for radical who privation the champion acquisition we tin person successful virtual world today," Zuckerberg said during the event. The thought is to present this benignant of exertion astatine the apical extremity of the marketplace present successful bid to "get it into our user devices successful the coming years."

This is simply a processing communicative and volition beryllium updated with further information.