Meta Quest: New update spruces up the virtual home
Meta Quest will receive a completely new, visually more appealing home environment with additional functions in the next OS update.
Quest users will soon be moving into a virtual loft.
(Image: Nori)
Meta is testing an update for Horizon OS, the operating system of the Meta Quest. The beta of OS version 81 has been rolling out to users of Meta's test channel since yesterday and brings a number of new features and improvements.
The previous home environment has been replaced by the "Immersive Home", a virtual loft with four interchangeable landscape backdrops, each with its own lighting. According to initial user reports, the new home environment looks much nicer than the old virtual environments, which will no longer be available with the introduction of the "Immersive Home". The following video and screenshots were provided to us by X user Nori.
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In the loft, users can now move freely and either by teleportation or fluidly. Previously, it was only possible to teleport to predefined points in the virtual environments. With this innovation, Meta is also testing system-wide settings for virtual locomotion, which are modeled on those of "Horizon Worlds", Meta's Metaverse platform.
Another new feature of the "Immersive Home" is an interactive Instagram photo frame that hangs on a virtual wall and displays pictures, stories and reels with an AI-supported 3D depth effect.
Meta returns to the old user interface
The update also brings the option of permanently anchoring 2D windows in the room via the control bar. In the home environment, they can be attached to virtual walls, whereas in passthrough mode they can only be attached in the room. Another new feature is the option to bring the avatar mirror and the Horizon Worlds portal into the real environment.
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Meta has been testing a new user interface called "Navigator" since OS version 77, which was intended to replace the older universal menu but has only been partially rolled out to users so far. With the beta of OS version 81, Meta is making the universal menu the standard again. However, users can switch to the "Navigator" in the settings, which is still under development.
(Image:Â Nori)
As part of the new OS update, Meta has also optimized its AI assistant Meta AI for use with Meta Quest. It is currently only available in North America; in Germany, it can only be used via a VPN.
These and other new features can be found in the official release notes if you scroll down and select the US language version.
As this is a beta, it is not yet clear which of the functions described here will be included in the final update. The latter is expected to be released in September.
To gain access to the beta of OS version 81, users must join Meta's test channel, the Public Test Channel (PTC), via the smartphone app "Meta Horizon". This can be done under Devices > Headset Settings > Advanced Settings, provided beta seats are available.
(mki)
