All signs point to Meta going to unveil Meta Quest 3 in full and give us a sale date at the September 27 special event. Until then, we’ll learn more about the device through leaks — like the latest one revealing its depth mapping capabilities.
Dug into and posted a clip from the Meta Quest 3 firmware Reddit (via user Samuel And Upload VR), we see a short animation that visualizes how the depth mapping will work. In short, it looks quite advanced and is way ahead of the Oculus Quest 2.
We see a detailed mesh covering all the objects in the room, and there seems to be some sort of object identification going on here too – the couch is labeled with a couch icon, for instance, so the Meta Quest 3 clearly knows what it is.
Next, the player avatar is shown chasing a digital character around the room, as it jumps on and behind furniture. This is an example of mixed reality occlusion, where digital elements appear to be in the same world as physical elements, and it hints at some of the experiences that will be possible on the new headset.
Meta Quest 3 room mapping visualization found in the firmware. by r/OculusQuest
A room with a view
On the current Oculus Quest 2, you have to manually map a free space in a room. You can also draw out rectangular cubes for furniture and walls, but that takes time – and these maps aren’t fully utilized by developers anyway.
This looks like a much slicker and more comprehensive solution, and it matches another clip unveiled in June. Meta has been making noises about the Meta Quest 3 “intelligently understanding” what’s in a room, but that’s all that’s been made official so far.
The depth mapping and the way that mapping is used seems even beyond the latest Meta Quest Pro headset. That device does have some automatic room-mapping capabilities, but it doesn’t include a dedicated depth sensor.
Meta has another of its Connect showcases scheduled for September 27, and they should all be revealed by then. While you wait, you can check out the latest teaser trailer for the device, and everything we know about it so far.