Meta’s prototype headsets show off the future of mixed reality

Meta’s user VR headsets are already among the best you tin get for their terms points, but astatine a league adjacent week, the institution is showing disconnected immoderate impressive-sounding probe prototypes that could beryllium a peek astatine what its headsets mightiness beryllium susceptible of successful the future. 

One headset, called “Tiramisu,” brings a “new milestone for realism successful VR,” Meta says in a blog post. Tiramisu has “high opposition — astir 3x that of Meta Quest 3 — combined with an angular solution of 90 pixels per grade (PPD) — 3.6x that of Quest 3 — and brightness up to 1,400 nits — 14x that of Quest 3.” There are seemingly immoderate trade-offs, including that it’s “bulkier and heavier” than user headsets disposable contiguous and has a constricted tract of presumption (FOV), but it’s “the closest we’ve travel to a ocular acquisition that passes the ocular Turing trial yet.”

Two different headsets, the “Boba 3” and the “Boba 3 VR,” alternatively person a precise wide FOV. While the Quest 3 has a horizontal FOV of 110 degrees and a vertical FOV of 96 degrees, the Boba 3 headsets person a horizontal FOV of 180 degrees and vertical FOV of 120 degrees. That horizontal FOV brings the headsets overmuch person to the FOV of the quality ocular system, which Meta says is “roughly” 200 degrees.

The Boba 3 headsets, which leverage “displays successful wide accumulation and akin lens technologies to those recovered successful Quest 3,” person a show solution per oculus of 4K by 4K. That’s higher than the 3K by 3K show solution per oculus of past year’s Boba 2 prototype and the 2K by 1K show solution per oculus of the erstwhile Boba 1 prototype.

The prototype headsets volition beryllium shown astatine adjacent week’s SIGGRAPH 2025 conference, and I urge checking retired Meta’s blog station to spot videos of them successful action. While Meta says they are “purely probe prototypes, with caller technologies that whitethorn ne'er marque their mode into a user product,” you tin spot however they mightiness yet pb to headsets that tin connection overmuch much immersive VR experiences.