Get ready for native Meta Quest 3 full body tracking. With each previous entry, we’ve seen the platform fine-tune its VR experience, and it looks like the upcoming Quest 3 is going to go above and beyond with the technological innovation that it brings to the table.
“Full Body Tracking” has been all the buzz in VR enthusiast communities, but precisely what does it mean and how is the Quest 3 going to be achieving it? Here's Everything we know about full body tracking in the Quest 3.
For more on what it will bring, check out whether the Quest 3 has expandable storage. Or, read on below to find out everything you need to know about Meta Quest 3 full body tracking and how it works.
What Is Full Body Tracking?
Essentially, full-body tracking enables your whole body, head to toe, to be digitally represented within a virtual environment. This is normally achieved by attaching specialized devices to the user's hands and feet, allowing for real-time monitoring of their spatial position. In other cases, technologies such as Microsoft’s Kinect use a motion sensor camera to achieve full-body tracking.
The technology provides a more immersive experience in VR, making your time spent in the virtual space much more interactive and lifelike.
Did Meta Quest 2 Have Full Body Tracking?
The Meta Quest 2 was not designed with full-body tracking as a native feature. Technically, you can rig it to support full-body tracking, but the process is neither simple nor inexpensive. Enabling full-body tracking on the Quest 2 involves multiple components and a good deal of tinkering.
You'll need at least three trackers for your feet and waist, and potentially more if you want to extend tracking to elbows and knees. These trackers should be compatible with Steam VR and will require additional base stations for more comprehensive spatial tracking. Expect to invest upwards of $600 on equipment alone, including trackers, straps, and base stations.
It’s exactly for this reason that what Meta did with the Quest 3 in the realm of full body tracking is so good.
How Meta Quest 3 Makes a Leap In Full Body Tracking
Conventional limb-tracking technologies usually depend on a whole bunch of additional equipment. This could range from reflective markers attached to your body, which are then picked up by external cameras, to wearable bands equipped with wireless beacons positioned at different spots on your legs to send information about your movements. Sounds like a hassle, and it seems like Meta agrees.
The Quest 3 will be able to track your full body motion using only sparse sensors. The system will be able to estimate a user’s leg movement and body positioning solely based on the data from the VR headset itself and its two controllers. There are no leg bands required for tracking nor any external motion sensors involved in making this system work, all of which is beyond impressive by Meta.
Meta’s goal to achieve full body tracking using sparse sensors was made clear when they demonstrated testing for the same functionality using a Quest 2 late last year. However back then they admitted to having a few bugs they needed to iron out before rolling out the technology. Namely, the hardware’s issues in estimating accurate poses when the user moves fast enough or when they make strange poses.
Well, it seems the ironing is done, and Meta is finally ready to bring out the red carpet on their full-body tracking tech with the upcoming Quest 3.
What Would Full Body Tracking Mean For Meta Quest 3
In the case of the Quest 3, the incorporation of full-body tracking will significantly enhance the realism of its gaming experience. It takes the realm of possibilities beyond just hand and head movements, which could mean great things for the consumer appeal of both the platform’s current games library and future titles in the works.
To start, adding elements making use of full body tracking could completely revitalize and reenergize the communities for many games already on the Quest platform. As the feature allows for all sorts of movements to be tracked with high accuracy, the possibilities for game devs to play around with are endless.
This technological leap could also catalyse the development of entirely new titles that wouldn’t be possible without it. Consequently, it has the potential to expand an already robust games library available for the Quest VR line. Imagine martial arts games where your kicks are tracked or dance games that monitor your whole body's movement, not just your arms.
Beyond gaming, the introduction of full-body tracking could create significantly more immersive metaverse experiences. Users wouldn't just be stationary avatars; they could fully traverse virtual spaces, interacting more naturally with the environment than with past iterations of the Meta Quest.
Finally, this new sleeker form of full body tracking would mean you won’t have to worry about looking after a huge arsenal of different sensors. To the average consumer, knowing they only have to be responsible for 2 controllers and a headset to enjoy a full body VR gaming experience will go a long way toward increasing the Quest 3’s accessibility and subsequently its mass appeal.
Though how well full-body tracking works when the Quest 3 hits shelves, we can only wait and see.
Next, learn about how you can use the Quest 3 wearing glasses.