The VR experience is too unwieldy to become a daily habit; we need a big virtual screen, or several. With an Xbox-branded headset, Meta leans into what can get more people to use its tech regularly.
I’ve been covering virtual reality for 12 years, ever since the category was rekindled by the Oculus Rift. I’ve used dozens of VR headsets and tried out all kinds of VR games, applications, and mixed-reality experiences. I’ve watched it pop off among enthusiasts and early adopters, attract curiosity from gamers and casual consumers, and get promoted as the future of all computing by manufacturers and developers.
I’ve also seen all of that enthusiasm fade among certain audiences. Now, with Meta and Microsoft announcing the Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition, I think it’s safe to say that the concept of virtual reality has lost a lot of the novel, high-tech charm that initially made it so interesting.
Virtual reality isn’t dead, but it isn’t enough to drive an entire device category, or to get people to regularly wear clunky headsets. The underlying technology still has a lot of utility, and Meta seems to have realized that with the Xbox Quest 3S. Virtual worlds are a novelty, but personal displays are useful and much easier to use.It’s the Meta Quest 3S With Xbox Extras
The Xbox Quest 3S doesn’t focus on playing VR games, or even mixed reality (XR) games that put 3D, interactive objects in your surroundings. It gives you a big virtual 2D screen to play Xbox games. You sit down, and a big-screen monitor only you can see floats in front of you. Maybe you can see your room through the headset’s cameras, maybe you’re sitting in a virtual space rendered by the headset, but your focus is on the screen, not your surroundings.
This has actually been available on the non-Xbox headset since its launch, with apps like Xbox Cloud Gaming and Steam Link letting you play games while wearing the headset. But for the Xbox Quest 3S, it’s the main draw, with an Xbox Wireless Controller and a three-month subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate included (along with the Elite Strap accessory). It’s asking you to spend $100 more than the standard Quest 3S to play Xbox games on a screen and not move around in virtual reality.
And you know what? That’s a pretty brilliant pivot. I don’t think it’s Meta abandoning VR. I think it’s Meta leaning into what can actually get more people to use the technology regularly. It’s showing off its headset not as a device primarily for putting you in a completely different setting to interact with motion controls as if you’re there, but as a personal XR display. I think that’s ultimately the future for any kind of headgear you can wear that projects an image into your eyes.Smart Glasses: The New Wearable Display Challenger
Besides VR headsets, I also cover smart glasses, devices that are very similar in concept but completely different in execution. They’re still portable displays that put a bright, colorful picture right in front of your eyes, like VR headsets.
