Meta's Augments: new leaks show how the Quest 3 can rival Apple’s Vision Pro

With Apple’s Vision Pro just over the horizon, Meta must consider its moves carefully. It has a huge ace up its sleeve with the promised Augments update for the Quest 3 — one of the best VR headsets around — and releasing it at the right time could be pivotal.

Oh, you need a reminder on what Augments are? Essentially, they are XR widgets: virtual things that you pin on your real life apartment walls and surfaces. To what aim? Productivity, fun or for the sheer cool factor alone.

AKA this is the most anticipated update for Meta’s latest headset and it was promised to come “sometime in 2024”. So how soon can we expect it to drop? Well, judging by some leaks — courtesy of reputable insider Luna — that may happen sooner rather than later.



Now, this is where you’d typically be able to view said leaks, but those can’t be shared around that easily. If you want to see them for yourself, you’ll have to navigate here. But in short, both clips feature different sides of the Augments feature:

• One of the clips seems to highlight the process of creating an Augment — not just pinning it, but actually devising one — allegedly via Spark Studio — and it appears that Meta is looking to convey that the process isn’t too challenging, which is great.
  
  
• The other shows a few use-cases for Augments, such as playing pinball in MR, having a task list or calendar put up on your wall and playing around with the augment, that was created in the first clip. Neat!

And, I must note that in the second clip, after the user takes off his headset, both actors keep looking at the plant, as if they are still seeing it. That’s not only a bit odd, but also raises a valid concern: is there a way for users — ones that are actually equipped with headsets — to see augments set up by others? Food for thought.

Said Augment-plant is basically a mixed-reality version of a grass-head. Judging by the video, you’ll be able to place it on a flat surface, change the color of its pot and then water it in order to have grass grow.

Could the Augments featured in the clips come pre-packed with the update itself? Time will tell.

Okay then, but is this all that Augments can do for you? Well, if the stars align: not by a long shot. See, Meta realizes that — at least to some extent — it has to compete with the Vision Pro, even if both devices aren’t in the same playing field. Apple is marketing the Vision Pro as a portable workstation, so it’s probably rational to assume that Augments on the Quest 3 will let you get your productivity on too.

At the very least, setting up multiple virtual monitors should be a given. But is that all that users want? Well, judging by the reactions on this Reddit thread, fans have other ideas too, such as: