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 3. VR


THESE ARE THE VR HEADSETS META DOESN’T WANT YOU TO USE

By Hamish Hector last updated 18 days ago

Forget the Quest 3 or Project Cambria, we want to try Starburst

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A wall full of Meta's prototype VR headsets (Image credit: Meta)

Audio player loading…

Meta has been working on over a dozen VR headset prototypes, but it doesn’t want
you to use any of them. Ever. That’s because these bulky “time machines” as it
calls them aren’t aimed at consumers but are proofs of concept for its internal
designers only. 



During a virtual round table last week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and members of
Meta’s Reality Labs division demonstrated several of these prototypes. Many of
them have their internal circuits exposed, and some even look like you’re
strapping the entire contents of a desktop PC to your face – complete with
extra-large cooling fans and side handles to hold so your neck doesn’t snap
under the weight.



That latter one with the handles is a prototype called Starburst. Why so bulky?
Starburst contains a display that can achieve a brightness up to 20,000 nits so
as to improve its HDR capabilities massively over the Quest 2. A great TV can
achieve a few thousand at most and the Quest 2 can only achieve around 100 nits.




High dynamic range (HDR) is the tech used by displays to help bright colors pop
out from your screen while keeping dark objects in the same image well defined.
Without HDR, your picture can look washed out; like the contrast has been turned
down too far.

RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU...





Starburst in all its glory, complete with handles to hold it to your face.
(Image credit: Meta)

HDR is apparently the tech that is most commonly linked to improved realism in
VR. Unfortunately, Starburst is wholly impractical as an actual VR headset for
regular folk to use. But as with all of the other prototypes, Zuckerberg
explained that the goal is for these headsets to “help us identify which
technical paths are going to allow us to make meaningful enough improvements
that we can start approaching visual realism.”



By taking different aspects of its headsets to the extreme, Meta can work out
where the most gains can be made while also keeping its headsets usable. If
there’s an aspect – like HDR – that can have a massive impact but isn’t
practical to implement with current tech, Meta can use these prototypes to
determine which areas deserve more R&D resources.

So while we won’t ever see Starburst in action for ourselves, we could find
echoes of its tech in the headsets Meta does launch – like its upcoming Project
Cambria headset and the so-called Meta Quest 3 (a follow-up to the hugely
popular Quest 2).


META’S OTHER NEW HEADSETS 

Alongside Starburst, Meta also unveiled several other prototypes.

Butterscotch reduces the headset’s field of vision from the Quest 2 – cutting it
down by about half – but offers two and a half times the resolution. This
near-retina-quality display makes reading text in VR much easier and Zuckerberg
explains that Butterskoth offers 55ppd. 

Meta has previously stated that 60 Pixels per degree (ppd) is what it is
striving to achieve. This is the mark where our eyes start to stop noticing
improvements in visual fidelity but currently, the Quest 2 can only reach 21ppd.
Apple is also attempting to improve this aspect of its own long-rumored
headsets, with high-end displays seemingly a priority for the Californian tech
giant.



Meta's virtual Holocake 2 prototype (Image credit: Meta)

Then there is the Half Dome series of prototype VR headsets. Starting with Half
Dome Zero back in 2017, the fourth generation Half Dome 3 is lighter, and more
comfortable, and has replaced Half Dome 2’s mechanical parts with electronically
controlled liquid crystal lenses.

Using eye-tracking the Half Dome headsets are designed to mimic real-world
vision. If you’re looking at something off in the virtual distance it will be
brought into focus while your foreground blurs, or vice versa if you want to
look at something you’re holding.

According to Meta, this feature has helped participants immerse more in their VR
surroundings and made it a much more comfortable experience.

Last but not least was Holocake 2, the only headset prototype Meta discussed
that wasn’t a real object. This sleek design could be confused for a pair of
slim ski goggles and builds upon a 2020 model that used holographic optics.



How Holocake 2's holographic optics would work (Image credit: Meta)

As seen in the GIF above, the left-hand conventional approach requires a fair
amount of space and a thick curved refractive lens. Meanwhile, the holographic
optics method on the right can use much thinner, flat lenses and panels that can
be much more squashed together. The end result would be Holocake 2, a headset
that is super lightweight and small.

Meta is still some time from making these a reality though. As Mark Zuckerberg
explained, “We’ll need to do a lot of engineering to achieve a consumer-viable
laser that meets our specs; that’s safe, low-cost, and efficient, and that can
fit a slim VR headset.”

The safety concerns come from Meta using a laser instead of something like a
standard OLED display. Lasers and eyes don’t mix, and we imagine Meta doesn’t
want there to be any chance of one of its VR headsets – prototype or not –
blinding a wearer.

With Project Cambria still slated to launch this year it hopefully won't be long
before we see some of these prototype's efforts shown off in one way or another.
Based on what it has shown off already, we can't wait to see what Meta will be
bringing to the VR space next.

(via The Verge (opens in new tab))

 * Check out the best VR headsets you can wear today

Hamish Hector
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Hamish is a Staff Writer for TechRadar (@Hamish_Hector (opens in new tab) on
Twitter) and has been writing about tech for almost five years. He now lends his
experience to cover news and reviews across everything on TechRadar (from
Computing to Audio to Gaming and the rest). In his free time, you’ll likely find
Hamish humming show tunes while building Lego or playing D&D with his mates.

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