At the annual developer’s conference, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Meta Quest Pro. An advanced headset built for collaboration and creativity, packed with innovative new features like high-res sensors for robust mixed reality experiences, crisp LCD for sharp visuals, a wholly new sleeker design with eye tracking, and Natural Facial Expressions to help your avatar reflect you more naturally in VR. For those unaware, Quest Pro represents a significant upgrade on Meta’s existing Quest 2, which was launched back in 2020.

Let us now explore the new features and benefits that the pro headset has to offer.

Quest Pro Hardware

With its cutting-edge technology, Meta Quest Pro is the first-ever device powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ platform, which is optimized for VR to run at 50% more power than Meta Quest 2, resulting in significantly better performance. In addition, Meta Quest Pro comes with 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, and 10 high-res sensors (five inside the headset and five outside), enhancing immersive experiences.

Pancake Optics

Meta Quest Pro’s next-generation optics replaces the Fresnel lenses in Meta Quest 2 with thin pancake optics providing 75% more contrast, 33% more pixels per inch in resolution, and a 40% slimmer profile. Thus, reducing thickness and weight while providing clear and sharp visuals.

Full Color Mixed Reality

Meta Quest’s new sensor architecture provides high-resolution outward-facing cameras that capture four times the number of pixels compared to Quest 2. In addition, with Meta Quest Pro, you can view your physical environment in full color. Furthermore, it features a stereoscopic mixed reality Passthrough, which combines multiple sensor views to create a natural view of the world in 3D.

Sleeker Design

The Meta Quest Pro is the thinner and sleeker device the Meta has ever made, thanks to pancake optics and the curved-cell battery that sits at the back of the headset. The Quest Pro features a continuous lens spacing adjustment mechanism, accommodating inter-pupillary distances (IPDs) between 55mm and 75mm. In addition, it offers an eye relief dial that allows you to adjust the lens distance from your eyes.

Self-Tracking Controllers

Meta says the new Quest Pro controllers were re-engineered to be more ergonomic and balanced with upgraded haptics. The brand-new controller comes with three inbuilt sensors in each controller respectively to track their position in 3D space, providing 360 degrees of motion along with rechargeable batteries.

Facial Expression Tracking

Meta says it’s important to have avatars that not only look like you but can move and express themselves like you would in real life. This is a new feature that tracks not only the user’s eyes but also their facial expressions, showing their authentic self. Metal believes that this will make the experience more natural.

Wireless Charging, Cost, and Availability

The Quest Pro comes with a dock for wireless charging of both headsets and controllers. It can also be charged via the USB-C port on the side. Meta claims that the battery lasts between 1-2 hours. The Meta Quest Pro is priced at $1,500 and is open for pre-orders.

“The future just got closer to the present.” Mark Zuckerberg claims Quest Pro is the “first in a new line of advanced headsets.” However, as meta takes a step closer to the near future, numerous organizations compete to stand out. So, it is hard to conclude whether the Meta Quest is the best or the first version of what the future holds.