June is here, and like clockwork the latest update for your Meta Quest 3 headset is ready to roll out.
The standout upgrade for v66 is to the VR headset’s mixed reality (again) – after it was the main focus of Horizon OS v64, and got some subtle tweaks in v65 too.
We aren’t complaining though, as this improvement looks set to make the image quality even better, with reduced image distortion in general and a reduction to the warping effect that can appear around moving objects. The upshot is that you should notice that it’s easier to interact with real-world objects while in mixed reality, and the overlay that displays your virtual hands should better align with where your actual hands appear to be.
If you want to see a side-by-side, Meta has handily released a video showcasing the improvements to mixed reality.
If you’re using your hands instead of controllers, Meta is also adding new wrist buttons.
Should you choose to enable this option in the experimental settings menu, you’ll be able to tap on your right or left wrist to use the Meta or Menu buttons respectively.
According to Meta, wrist buttons will make it a lot easier to open a menu from within a game or app – either the in-game pause screen, or the system-level menu should you want to change to a different experience, take a screenshot or adjust your headset’s settings. We’ll have to try them out for ourselves, but they certainly sound like an improvement, and a similar feature could bring even more button controls to the hand-tracking experience.
Lastly Meta is making it easier to enjoy background audio – so if you start audio or a video in the Browser, it’ll keep playing when you minimize the app – as well as a few changes to Parental Supervision features. Namely, from June 27, children aged 10 to 12 who are supervised by the same parent account will automatically be able to see each other in the Family Center.
As Meta warns however its update is rolling out gradually, and because this month’s passthrough change is so big it’s saying it will be sending out updates even more slowly than usual – and what’s more, some people who update to v66 might not get all the improvements right away.
So if you don’t see the option to update right away, or any passthrough improvements once you've installed v66 on your Meta Quest 3, don’t fret. You will get the upgrade eventually.
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