Forget Oculus Quest2: Oculus Quest Pro may be on the way

Forget Oculus Quest2: Oculus Quest Pro may be on the way

The Oculus Quest 2 has only been on the market for five months, but Facebook may already be thinking about a souped-up version called the Oculus Quest Pro.

Andrew Bosworth, the company's vice president of augmented and virtual reality, hinted at all things Oculus during an Instagram AMA (Ask Me Anything) session. In response to a comment from a user asking for a $600 headset with enhanced specs, Bosworth said, "Quest Pro, huh? Interesting," he replied, then winked at the camera, UploadVR reported.

While this is far from an official announcement, let alone a complete list of specs for the Oculus Quest Pro, it at least suggests that this is what Facebook has in mind.

The Oculus Quest 2 is by far the most convenient way to play great VR titles like Beat Saber and Superhot, thanks to its all-in-one design that doesn't require a PC or standalone camera, but it is still weak on the power front. The Snapdragon XR2 chip on board is a significant improvement over the original Quest, but Qualcomm says the GPU in the Snapdragon 888 (the one in Samsung's Galaxy S21) is 35% more powerful.

Of course, one of the attractions of the Oculus Quest family is the headset's ability to play more demanding titles via Oculus Link cable and a gaming PC, so its limited specs are not holding everyone back. Still, if developers feel compelled to upgrade existing Oculus titles to take advantage of the theoretical benefits, the arrival of the Pro version is nothing short of exciting.

This was not the only interesting finding of the AMA. When asked about the possibility of eye tracking in Quest, Bosworth added that the technology is "something we will incorporate into future headsets" and could "dramatically improve performance by rendering only what is within the fossa's field of view."

Perhaps inevitably, Bosworth was also asked about the recently announced PSVR 2. He said, "PSVR was a very big hit and a big money-maker for developers.

Indeed, the fact that two companies as large as Facebook and Sony seem committed to the future of VR is a great insurance policy for developers, with the best VR games already appearing on both PS4 and Oculus Quest: Beat Saber, The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, Pistol Whip, Arizona Sunshine, Job Simulator, Rec Room, Superhot, and other VR experiences have been hits on both platforms.

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