Facebook parent company Meta has started testing the ability to play short-video feature ‘Reels’ on its Quest headset for the Instagram app. This feature will allow users to seamlessly view and scroll through Reels videos using the virtual reality (VR) headset.
Meta Is Testing Instagram Reels On Quest Headsets
Announcing the new feature on Meta’s Instagram broadcasting channel, Meta’s founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, said, “We’re testing Reels on Quest.” He also shared a 13-second video explaining how a reel would appear in virtual reality (VR), complete with the standard Reels features and components, including captions and other control buttons.
Speaking in a statement to The Verge, an Instagram spokesperson Tatin Yang said that the Reels will appear in your Meta Quest Explore feed and will only be available to a “small number of people” for now.
Instagram Reels On Quest Headset
The news of Meta testing the ‘Reels’ feature on its Quest headset comes about a week after Zuckerberg announced its next-generation virtual and mixed reality headset ‘Quest 3’.
This is the first mainstream headset with high-resolution color mixed reality, better displays and resolution, and 40% thinner. The 128GB headset will come with an option for additional storage space. It will be powered by the next-generation Qualcomm chipset delivering twice the graphical performance of the previous-generation Snapdragon GPUs in Quest 2.
“On Quest 3, our best-in-class Meta Reality technology allows you to effortlessly blend your physical and virtual worlds. These new experiences go beyond today’s mixed reality by intelligently comprehending and responding to objects in your actual area, allowing you to navigate it in natural, intuitive ways that were previously practically impossible,” the company said in its blog post.
Starting at $499.99, Quest 3 will be compatible with Quest 2’s entire library to be launched later this year. More information will be revealed at Meta’s Connect conference on September 27.
Currently, it is unknown how and when Reels will be integrated into Meta’s Instagram app for the Quest, as well as when it will become available for widespread use or testing.
Recently, Apple launched its much anticipated high-end mixed-reality headset, Vision Pro, for $3,499, which is likely to threaten Meta’s Quest headsets despite its pricing.
By integrating Reels into VR, Meta is aiming to make VR more social and engaging by offering a unique experience to its users with the seamless merger of the physical and virtual worlds.
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