Meta Quest (formerly Oculus Quest) VR headsets are some of the most popular on the market, particularly for gaming. While they may not neatly fit into the same market as the Apple Vision Pro in terms of productivity, or price, Meta is now testing a new feature that brings them one step closer to Apple’s design philosophy.
The Vision Pro is known for its floating virtual screens/windows which can be manipulated and organized to your liking, floating within a 3D space. Well, now the latest version of the Quest’s PTC (Public Test Channel) is rolling out and has been demonstrated online with a similar new feature.
Meta Quest OS v67 PTC brings ‘New Window Layout’
This new functionality is available in the Meta Quest OS (officially called Meta Horizon OS) v67 PTC which is now rolling out to users of the early access program. It opens up another level of multitasking to Meta Quest owners. Keep in mind that this is labeled an ‘Experimental Feature’ for the time being, so we’ll have to wait and see how it develops and what form it takes in a full version of the operating system.
Lunayian on X gave a demonstration of the new feature, but you can also find some more multi-window action over on this YouTube video from BMFVR, where he showcases a large number of windows running at once. We can see that you can move up to three windows around, keeping another three docked. Furthermore, you can toggle between flat and curved screens or lower the brightness of virtual environments, excluding passthrough mode for now on the latter.
We think that the Meta Quest 3 benefits the most from this kind of customization, given its mixed reality mode that’s missing from prior models. This really makes for the best comparison versus the Vision Pro, placing windows in a viewable 3D space in a way that nudges it closer to Apple’s ‘spatial computer‘ design.
A productivity boost for Quest users?
Even though we’d still regard the Vision Pro as the ultimate choice for virtual reality-based productivity, the Quest is getting there. Particularly the Quest 3, which has been marketed as a device for productivity as well as of late. Viewing multiple windows has been possible on Meta Horizon OS for a few years now, well before this new experimental feature started rolling out. However, it has been restricted to just three virtual windows docked side-by-side without freedom of movement.
This new update is a promising step in the right direction for those of you who want more than just a VR headset for gaming. From the video demonstrations out there so far, it doesn’t look like Meta gives the same level of freedom as the Vision Pro. Apple’s headset allows you to keep a window locked in place at a static within your home, say, one by your living room TV, and one within your office. This Meta Quest test seems to have a much more limited range for the time being, but it’s a good start.
