Meta's Quest headsets offer some of the finest VR/AR experiences you'll come across at an incredibly accessible price.
However, beyond impressive hardware and an excellently designed platform in Horizon OS, Meta's continued software improvements consistently underscore the brilliance of some of the best VR headsets you can buy today.
Some of Meta's more recent updates to its Android-based Horizon operating system have seen an overhaul of the platform's 6DoF interactive screens and Meta AI launch on the Quest 3.
But a single app release to the Meta Quest Store this week may have trumped both of Meta's recent feature-rich operating system updates as one of the most vital pieces of software to make its way to Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest Pro headsets in years: the Meta Quest HDMI link.
Meta Quest HDMI Link
Announced yesterday on the Meta Quest blog, the Meta Quest HDMI Link is now available to download for Quest headsets and will greatly expand the potential of these devices when it comes to enjoying content across a far broader range of devices.
Meta's family of "Link" software improves the versatility of its standalone headsets by allowing them to connect to PCs or laptops through the Link Cable or wireless Air Link options. This is a fantastic way to enjoy some incredible PCVR titles and regular 2D games in VR or AR environments, not to mention a handy option for accessing your desktop remotely for a rich spatial computing experience.
However, HDMI Link takes things up a notch, greatly expanding your Quest headset's connectivity to include any device with an HDMI or DisplayPort output. This means enjoying a wide variety of 2D content on a giant, near-zero latency virtual screen from within your Quest headset pulled from media players, game consoles, handheld PC gaming consoles, laptops, tablets, smartphones, and more.
This effectively unlocks the option to play the latest Xbox games without relying on the Quest's Xbox Cloud Gaming app, a huge canvas to enjoy Nintendo Switch games from in virtual space, and a super simple way of accessing millions of Google Play apps through your Android smartphone or tablet.
Near universal connectivity for Quest headsets: What's the catch?
HDMI Link brings the incredible immersion of the Quest's huge virtual displays to everything from your PlayStation 5 games library to your favorite Windows Gaming Handheld experiences by allowing your headset to act as a 1080p, 60Hz TV or monitor for a wide selection of devices.
The only catch is that the app requires you to use a third-party UVC and UAC-compatible capture card as part of your setup. Thankfully, the process isn't much more complicated than that, with the HDMI Link app simplifying the process enough to retain the plug-and-play-like simplicity of other Link options supplied by Meta.
Sadly, you won't be able to hijack the controls of these devices with the Quest's Touch controllers, as your headset will only receive their video feeds. However, there's still more than enough leeway here to enjoy all sorts of entertainment in the Quest's VR and AR environments.
Outlook
I recently put aside my laptop to run a setup based around a tiny XREAL smartphone-like spatial computer with a pair of AR smart glasses, and Meta's HDMI Link would be able to supply much of the same experience — though with a greatly expanded field of view and with full 6DoF.
This means being able to use your smartphone and Quest headset in tandem to build a mobile spatial computing station, easily accessible anywhere and everywhere with access to millions of Android apps via the Google Play store (something Quest headsets have been sorely lacking).
While this new app doesn't give Quest headsets direct access to Google's app storefront, it does go some way to supplying a pipeline to it, somewhat further leveling the playing field between Meta's headset and the premium counterpart in Apple's Vision Pro.
One thing is for sure, this simple app could turn Meta's Quest headsets into vital accessories for console gamers seeking immersive excellence from their gaming libraries as they play through their favorite titles across expansive virtual displays. I can't wait to test it for myself.
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