Meta is exploring a feature for its Quest headset that allows users to freely position windows, comparable to the Apple Vision Pro. Multitasking with multiple windows has been a feature of Meta Horizon OS (previously Meta Quest OS) for a few years, however it presently only enables three virtual windows docked side-by-side.
RoadtoVR recommends this example video from a data miner named Luna, who discovered the experimental functionality in version 67 of the Meta Quest Public Test Channel.
Meta Quest OS v67 PTC
Settings > Experimental Features > New Window Layout pic.twitter.com/jDq0hdoCOV
— Luna (@Lunayian) June 25, 2024
It gets the Quest 3, in particular, closer to Apple’s spatial computing when used in mixed reality mode, but based on the video, it doesn’t appear to perform quite as well. You can freely move up to three windows from 2D apps around your workspace, such as the browser or OS windows like your library and settings, while keeping the remaining three docked.
Other demos claim that the windows will only remember their location within a certain distance and will return to their default places if you alter orientation or reset the view. We haven’t tested it yet to know what the full restrictions are, but it appears promising.
The update also includes the ability to switch between curved and flat windows, as well as a dimmer for lowering the brightness of virtual environments while using 2D apps. (The latter does not yet work in passthrough mode.)
The Apple Vision Pro lets you to move windows around the location you’re in and keep them fixed in position even when you move around and remove the headset. That way, you can place one window next to your refrigerator and another close to the TV in your living room, and then move to and from them as if they were real things.
I’ve recently noticed more advertising that emphasize the Quest 3’s productive potential rather than just the gaming aspect. While Meta’s headset may not manage it as well as the Vision Pro just now, given that it costs $3,000 less, it doesn’t have to.
