Alright, so get this: there’s this tech conference coming up, and the folks over at Meat’s Reality Labs Research (gotta love these tech names) decided to spill some beans about their new VR and MR headsets. I mean, before the big show and everything. Talk about spoilers.
So, here’s the gist: They published a paper before the ACM SIGGRAPH 2025 shindig, bragging about these two headsets. I swear, these things have a horizontal field-of-view of 180 degrees. Just let that sink in. That’s like night and day compared to whatever Meta has now, some measly 100 degrees on the Quest 3 or something.
First up, there’s this pure VR headset. They’re saying it uses these “high-curvature reflective polarizers” to stay not-bulky while giving you that all-around view. Whatever that really means, I didn’t major in polarizers.
And then, the MR headset. Same optics stuff but with extra goodies—four cameras for that wide passthrough vision. 80MP and rolling at 60 FPS. Like, how do they even manage that? It’s those tiny details I find fascinating, even if I don’t totally get them.
Anyway — shoot, where was I? Oh right. So, they compared these toys to the Quest 3. Honestly, it’s wild. The MR headset feels almost too good to be true; see your friends, chairs, and even snack attacks all in your peripheral vision. Just imagine the multi-tasking potential here—mind blown.
One interesting tidbit: both headsets seem to use this ‘Constellation’ tracking system. Kind of a blast from the past since it first appeared with the original Oculus Rift. Seems like the researchers like dusting off the oldies for a little innovation flavor.
Apparently, plenty of headsets with wide views already exist (uh, Pimax anyone?), but those are hefty beasts. Reality Labs seems to think their stuff is more lightweight, maybe closer to what the regular Joe would actually wear without creaking under the weight.
The lab nerds really believe these headsets could shake up VR and MR experiences. Wider field-of-view means more immersive gaming, or even pretending you’re virtually present somewhere snazzy. Fun fact: Meta’s done tons of R&D before with cool tech that never made it out of the lab. Who knows if these gadgets are headed our way or not?
Now, in 2018—take this for example—Meta was teasing a headset with varifocal displays. Jump ahead a few years and… crickets. They haven’t put it on a shelf yet. Boz Bosworth (Meta’s CTO, by the way) has his reasons though. Wider fields-of-view might be pricier, bulkier, and chew through battery like nobody’s business. Could be they’ll reprioritize, though.
And there it is, just some thoughts on these fancy headsets. I guess all we can do is hang tight and see if any of these gizmos actually grace our local tech stores. Fingers crossed, eh?
