Quest for better mixed reality

Spatial computing or as the common people call it mixed reality or augmented reality is here to stay in some form or another While most of us canrsquot afford the exorbitant Apple Vision Pro Metarsquos Quest 3 headset may be within reach However should you really invest in such a device The answer may depend on several factors Letrsquos exploreWhat is mixed realityMixed reality or augmented reality blends the digital and physical worlds in a way thatrsquos more interactive and practical than traditional virtual reality Unlike virtual reality which creates a completely digital environment mixed reality allows you to see and interact with your actual surroundings but enhanced with digital objects It has practical applications across various fieldsFor example in education it can bring historical events to life right in the classroom In industries like architecture or design professionals can use it to visualise projects in real environments before theyrsquore built and not to mention gaming as well The Meta Quest 3 like the Vision Pro has video pass through that lets you see your surroundings through the cameras on the device Allowing the device to overlay digital things on real surroundingsIs the Meta 3 available in IndiaOfficially it isnrsquot but some enterprising businesses have put up plenty of devices on Flipkart and Amazon for sale However despite not being officially available in the country it does still work in India without issues Plenty of Indian YouTubers have bought unboxed and showcased the device already It is more expensive at Rs 65000 than the official 500 price tag but you have to pay the middle man tax for now if you want to playWhat about the Quest 2The Quest 2 is significantly cheaper and a lot of the programs do run on it but the Quest 3 is a significant jump not only in compute power but also in resolution allowing things to be a lot more immersive and natural Meta has improved the controllers as well However if you are not willing to pay the current price of a Quest 3 you can buy a Quest 2 at approximately Rs 32000 It is a nice introduction to the device There are also rumours of new cheaper iteration of the Quest 3 that is due to be released this year might be better off waiting for thatWhat can I do with itThere is a lot you can do with it for now mostly because it has access to the entire library of apps from Meta Quest 2 these include games utility apps Netflix Prime Video and a bunch of other things Unlike Applersquos Vision Pro you can also connect the Meta Quest 3 to a PC to play PC VR games You can do this via a USB cable or wirelessly and it isnrsquot restricted to Apple devices The programs are still largely based for the Quest 2 but because of the massive hardware upgrade there are new and interesting programs coming out for the Quest 3 A good example is Piano vision which lets you learn piano with a real piano with overlaid graphics showing you what keys you need to press There is Softspace which is a productivity app designed to get some work done There are also a ton of workout appsmdashand let me tell you these can really make you sweatThat being said there is no proper utility yet other than gaming and entertainment It may take some more time before you can actually use this as a virtual office or immersive video conferencing toolShould you buy oneFor now gamers may get the most utility out of it There are a lot of games that are releasing in VR and with Steamlink you can actually connect your Steam Account and stream VR games using your PC Considering there are no huge backpacks or heavy equipment or even a wire attached it makes gaming very comfortable Not to mention again the new controllers are the best VR controllers I have used So if you are a gamer who likes VR games the Meta Quest 3 is a sound investment considering its specs and price Please donrsquot buy a Vision Pro even if you can afford it