Summary
In a fun and unusual update,Meta Quest Proheadsets now support tongue tracking. While the addition might sound a bit bizarre, theMeta Questheadsets previously haven’t been able to track tongue movement, limiting player expressiveness in apps likeVRChat. The update expands upon the hardware’s head, eye, and hand-tracking capabilities within the Meta Quest Pro.
Despite the Meta Quest 3 being the newer piece of hardware, the update is currently only offered for the Meta Quest Pro headset. WhileMeta Quest 3 reviewshave largely praised the hardware, calling it the best VR headset currently available, the Meta Quest Pro has carved out a niche as a piece of premium mixed-reality technology for creative collaborators. Because of this, the Meta Quest Pro largely focuses on body and face tracking to make meetings more immersive.
In an effort to make collaboration within VR seem more natural, a Meta Quest Pro update has added support for tongue tracking. ALVR developer korejan has even taken to social media to showcase the new technology. As fun as the update is, support for this feature within various apps is currently lacking. Tongue tracking isn’t currently available for Meta avatars and the Quest version ofVRChatdoesn’t yet support the update either. However, various workarounds such as using Steam Link or Virtual Desktop allow for tongue tracking inVRChat. Still, most apps and games have yet to support any sort of form of face tracking or body tracking.
Because so few apps and games support face and body tracking, the Meta Quest Pro headset has been relegated to being a rather niche piece of hardware. The Quest 2 is officially the budget option for those interested in VR, while the Quest 3 is seen as the best all-around headset. As the most expensive headset of the bunch, theMeta Quest Pro received a massive price dropafter retailing for $1,499.99.
Tongue-tracking technology isn’t the only update worth checking out.Meta Quest headsets added Xbox Cloud Gamingsupport earlier this month. In addition to having an impressive library of exclusive games, the Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, and Meta Quest Pro headsets now all have access to Xbox titles through Xbox Cloud Gaming.
In addition to the Xbox Cloud Gaming update, the past few weeks have been an exciting time for VR gamers asAsgard’s Wrath 2launched exclusively on Meta Quest headsets. Overall,Asgard’s Wrath 2reviewshave praised the expansive RPG, calling it the killer app that Quest owners have been waiting for.
Meta Quest Pro
The Meta Quest Pro is a premium VR and mixed-reality headset that allows users to work, create, and collaborate in a virtual space while staying in their physical world. It packs 5 infrared eye and face tracking sensors with a 120-degree field of view each, that capture upper and lower facial movements for accurate virtual representation of the user. The Quest Pro is powered by the Snapdragon XR2+ processor that allows it to deliver a 90 Hz refresh rate to each eye.
