We issued Meta Quest 2 – VR headsets to our employees this month to start investigating how enterprises can leverage the Metaverse. Some possible ideas include setting up an online VR shop for purchasing insurance. The best way for us to find out was to get ourselves head deep into the Metaverse. After purchasing and putting on the headset my quick, first impression was how deeply submersive the VR experience is. I’ve played VR games at Japanese VR arcades and sat in Disney VR attractions before, but this is a different level. The quality of the graphics and the ability to see your hands in the controller changes the level of immersion to a different level.
Metaquest Packaging
The packaging feels much like buying a new iPhone or opening up a Christmas present. It comes in a long white box with very few instructions and you open to the picture shown below. Inside are just a headset and the two touch controllers.
Hardware Specifications
| Memory | 6GB |
| Storage | 128GB |
| Display | Fast-Switch LCD Display 1832 x 1920 Resolution Per Eye 60, 72, 90 Hz Refresh Rate Supported Glasses Compatible |
| Processor | 2 built in speakers / 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Sound | 3D positional audio is built directly into the headset, allowing you to hear what’s all around you. The 3.5 mm audio port lets you play with or without headphones. |
Configuration
Configuration took a few minutes and required pairing my iPhone with the headset and setup of the Meta Quest store with my credit card. And this is where it got interesting, the Meta Quest headset does not need to be connected to your PC. The VR headset is an all-in-one device with its own operating system, processors, memory, and storage. It runs standalone. If you want it to keep it fully powered at all times, you will need to connect it via an USB-C cable, but once its fully charged you can unhook the cable and you are ready to go.
Experience
The shocking part was the additional configuration that came afterwards. The headset turned into AR mode and I could suddenly see the entire office. I was subjected to a series of squats to help the headset understand how far I was from the ground. Then I was asked to center the display with the help of the two meta touch controllers in my hands. Being able to see your hands partly in the metaverse makes it feel more like you are actually inside of a different universe. The AR effect made it feel like you were actually playing a video game in the real world.
Afterwards, I was instructed in AR mode to draw a circle on the ground in the office in AR mode. I was dropped immediately dropped into a demo mode where I was moving from the inside of the ocean to an African safari. The graphics at this point were quite jaw-dropping. Though the graphics do not compare to what you are seeing on a PS5 or on your PC today. The pictures you find on the internet such as the one below really do not give justice to how mind-boggling different the sensation is from playing a 2D video game.
Whats Next?
Our next steps are to try put all of our employees into a Horizon Worlds meeting while working at home remotely. I will continue to post more as we figure out where and how to use the next generation of devices and applications for the enterprise.