Meta Quest Pro VR Headset is An Ill-Fated Journey Toward the Metaverse

Meta has announced that it will stop producing Quest Pro, one of the most advanced VR headsets on the market. The decision was influenced by several factors, such as low demand, slow adoption of the metaverse, and high cost.

Quest Pro was marketed as a premium product for professional use in the metaverse. However, such customers are limited, as very few people work inside the metaverse, even within Meta.

The marketing campaign focused on the Quest Pro as an enterprise headset, but this is not a use case well suited for VR. YouTuber and VR/AR expert ThrillSeeker shared a video in which Meta mentioned the word “work” 41 times during its announcement of the Quest Pro.

The resolution of the Quest Pro is not high enough to make it comfortable for reading or working on documents, and the pass-through mode is not clear enough to be used for tasks that require precise hand-eye coordination.

There are third-party applications that offer better work-related functionality than Quest Pro’s native software. For example, the Immersed application allows users to work on multiple virtual monitors in a shared workspace and is available on all Meta Quest headsets.

The Quest 3 headset, which will be released in a few months, offers significant improvements over the Quest Pro at a lower price. Quest 3 has a higher resolution display, a faster processor, and better support for augmented reality.

Besides, even Meta is not practicing what it preaches when it comes to using VR for work. Employees across the organization generally do not use headsets, even those in the VR part of the organization. Meta only provides headsets to employees who have signed up for an internal program to test new features before the public.

According to Bloomberg, some teams have tried experimental VR meetings, but they abandoned the practice after finding it uncomfortable and glitchy. Meta’s safety warnings advise a break every 30 minutes due to possible nausea and discomfort from the headsets. The graphics cannot match the real world, making the experience of being a cartoon avatar feel “weird” and unprofessional.

Meta’s decision to release Quest Pro in its current state is puzzling. The headset has many impressive features, but it is not for any of the use cases that Meta has marketed it for, ThrillSeeker said in his video.

Some of the Quest Pro’s best features include a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2+ chip, 12 GB of RAM, 256 GB of storage, dual 1800×1920 LCD panels with quantum dots, and Mini-LED backlights, which provide a wider color gamut and more contrast than the Quest 2. It also has stepless IPD adjustment, which supports eye distances of 55-75 mm. It has a better battery due to its increased horsepower. Moreover, it includes eye and face tracking, so real-time gaze and facial expressions are mapped to the avatar.

Quest Pro was conceived with intentions that have not been in sync with the market’s current demands, even though it has excellent features. The device was designed as a high-end VR headset for work and enterprise use. However, the metaverse is not yet widely adopted by businesses and there are few professional use cases for VR. Simpler headsets targeted at everyday users like Quest 2 or PS VR2 are what the audience currently demands. This partly explains the fall of Quest Pro, which launched not even a year ago.