UPDATED! Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: Join the New, Classy, Elegant LOVE Club for Free (But Today and Tomorrow Only!)

Love is under new management, with a new formal dress code and new rules, and I have found it to be a worthy and elegant successor to the Frank’s Jazz club(s) of yesteryear.
Vanity Fair, a photo taken by SL photogapher Aggie Rowlands in the LOVE club, April 3rd, 2024 (Flickr link; be sure to check out her photostream!)

As the uncrowned freebie queen of Second Life, I have tended to devote much of my time to posting about fabulous freebies in SL avatar fashion to my blog and to my Steals, Deals, and Freebies group in Second Life (more often lately to the latter than the former, as I have been slowly scaling back on my coverage of Second Life). But today I wanted to share a different kind of freebie: a limited-time opportunity to join a wonderful club I have found, before they start to charge a group membership fee to members!

I have greatly mourned the loss of Frank’s Jazz dance club, which used to be a place where you could throw on a suit, tuxedo, or ballgown, and listen to smooth jazz and golden oldies in a beautifully appointed, elegant environment. After the original shut down, several copycat upstarts popped up, but eventually all closed down. *

However, I recently chanced upon a place which I have been spending a lot of time at over the past week, and I think it is a very worthy successor to the Frank’s of ye olden days! It used to be a slightly seedy tag dance club which encouraged female nudity, but it has recently changed ownership, and imposed some new rules and standards of behaviour, and a new formal, non-sexist dress code.

I must confess that it has been truly wonderful to find a place where I can get all dressed up, and hang out in an elegant, romantic ballroom, listening to the smooth musical classics of yesteryear and more recent times: from jazz, swing, and R&B, to current adult contemporary ballads: Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Eva Cassidy, Barbra Streisand, Rod Stewart, Linda Ronstadt, Michael Bublé… the list goes on and on. In fact, I often leave Vanity Fair or a similarly well-dressed avatar standing in a discreet corner of this club, turn up the volume on the stream, and have it on as some relaxing, nostalgic background music while I do something else in another Windows tab on my PC, or even while tackling the dishes or a little housecleaning!

Vanity Fair (dressd to kill in a brand new ballgown from Son!a Edge), hanging out near the bar at the new Love club. Much more satisfactory than listening to the radio!

The name of this club is, simply, Love. I am on a much-needed vacation from work this week, and have been popping in at various times of the day and night all week to check this place out. Love appears to be quite popular, with anywhere from 20 to 70 avatars at any time, both during the day with a more European crowd, and in the evening with a more North American crowd. In addition to the default Legends Jazz music stream, Love’s new owners quite often schedule guest DJs, live singers and performers, and tribute acts.

The dancefloor at LOVE is busy during the day and into the evening
The LOVE club is well-stocked with singles and couples dances

Here’s the freebie part: you can join the Love club group for free, but only today, March 31st, and tomorrow, April 1st! Starting April 2nd, 2024, Love will require a group membership to attend most events. In a recent notecard posted to the group, the new owners state:

…Pass[ing] 2500 members and still striving to provide our members with the best possible services and high-quality experiences, as well as for enhancing our exclusive offerings, we have made the decision to ask for membership fees for all new members from 2nd of April, 2024.

It means that :

  • From 2nd of April, all new membership will cost L$790;
  • Current members will naturally remain members without any fees;
  • Access to the LOVE venue will be then [for] group members only from April 2nd;
  • “Love” group members will also have special access to special Noir’Wen events, activities and offers [Noir’Wen is the name of the region where the Love club has its home].

The group membership will give us scope to schedule and plan for Live Performers (singers, dance groups, DJs and Tribute Acts), offer a stipend to our official LOVE photographer and Cigarette Girl, as well as organize specialist “themed events” on a monthly basis.

We will be arranging regular “Open Nights”, and events which will give temporary access to non group members and guests.

Under the new management team and formal dress code, we want to assure you that we remain committed to providing value and quality to your SL experience. Your continued support enables us to innovate, grow, and provide you with the quality experience you deserve.

Anyways, I have found a place I feel quite comfortable visiting and enjoying, and wanted to give Love a shout-out in my blog, and alert you that you only have a couple of days to join Love’s group for free! The name of the group is “Love” (yes, with the quotes), and here is the group’s URI, which you can copy and paste into text chat in order to join the group: secondlife:///app/group/0ecc3e77-afdf-129d-cc5a-21dd9647e9f8/about. (There’s also a group join sign at the entrance.)

Please note that, while the female dress code is now much less sexist, and any lewdness and nudity will probably get you quickly ejected, that this is a club where tag dancing is still allowed (with rules). According to “Love” group description:

Welcome to “Love” a tag dance and romance venue. For flirtatious, glamorous, charming patrons with a creative sense of distinction. A stylish, sophisticated venue for intimate and romantic rendezvous. We encourage tag dancing in our ballroom dance venue, where patrons may cut in on a couple by politely touching a dancer on the shoulder. “Love” is a friendly elegant tag venue Tag Dancing, Jazz, Music, Romance and Sensual Fetish. Formal dress code applies to all,

Also, from a notecard recently posted to the group:

Welcome to “Love” a tag dance and romance venue. Our new luxurious and high-class venue for dance, romance and seduction with an elegant and smart theme.

Tag Visitors, share dreams of intimacy and romance.. We respect diversity and cultural differences, whether this be relating to gender, sexual preferences, ethnicity, or other identities.

Please, follow some basic rules for making this beautiful place yours and give respect to all Visitors and Staff.

FORMAL DRESS CODE : is expected to be formal dress and emphasize seduction and sensuality while remaining elegant and chic.

For Men, we suggest a smart style such as business or chic casual suits or a formal tuxedo, slacks & suit jacket, or simply a blazer. It is a must for respecting and honoring women… Yes Sir. You are here to seduce and to flirt, so look like you mean to do that!

For women, we welcome your good taste and your seductive creativity, whether formal, sexy, classic or more daring… Dresses, gowns, cocktail dress, evening suits (with pants) are encouraged. Emphasizing seduction and sensuality while remaining elegant, chic and at the same time feeling desirable if not sensual.

For fetish and more “kinky desires”, we will regularly organize specially “themed” dedicated events and activities, so during these themes you can “WEAR WHAT YOU DARE”

,,,

Please give genuine respect to all. This will be the base of our flexibility and [rapport]. This is an exclusive venue for humans, and no other living species will be permitted in the club. [In other words, adult human avatars only; no furries, dinkies, tinies, centaurs, etc.]

No nudity (showing genitals), no t-shirts, jeans, shorts, sandals or beachwear.

Wear our club tag as much as possible, please. And remove any commercial [i.e. visible group] tag such as “escort”, “prostitute” or “pimp”.

No financial dealings or operations will be accepted. As well as no harassment of any kind.

Try also to remain light in terms of scripts, as it causes lag and will jeopardize movement.

If you require a change of outfit or costume before arriving in the club, you will find a cabin at the landing space to do so.

Of course, we won’t accept weapons of any kind other than your seduction and tantalizing powers.

We will not accept or tolerate any misogynistic language, behaviour, or attitudes.

We will not tolerate or accept any child related porn, relations, childlike avatars or pedophilia.

We will not tolerate any racist abuse, language, behaviour or attitudes or any racial slurs.

So, if after reading all this, you are somewhat intrigued, and especially if you (like me) have really missed the grand old days of Frank’s Jazz club, Love might just be the place for you! I have taken advantage of the free group join to sign up both my main avatars and small army of alts. 😉 I must admit that I quite like the club, my female avatars and alts have not been pestered, and it looks like I will be regularly spending time here, listening to the oldies and looking fabulous as always!

Coupon Clip, dressed to kill, and listening to the Legends Jazz sound track in the classy environment of the Love romance club under new management!

And so, I cordially invite you to check out Love for yourself. Here’s your taxi: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Noir%20Wen/91/225/32.

UPDATE April 2nd, 2024: Well, I do hope that you took advantage of that free group join while it was available! Here is a 40-second video clip of my main male and female avatars, Heath Homewood and Vanity Fair, out on the dance floor at Love:

UPDATE April 5th, 2024: Just a couple more shots of Heath and Vanity dancing at LOVE. This is where ye olde system-layers-and-flexiprims ballgowns of yesteryear still really shine! Some things just cannot be improved upon, after all these years.

Heath and Vanity do some groovy dancing
Heath and Vanity dance the classics at LOVE

*Please note that Frank’s still has an Elite VIP club, which I believe costs L$1,000 to join as a member, but which is, sadly, a subdued echo of the original, powerhouse dance club. Vanity Fair was once a member, but as a freebie fashionista, I decided I had to keep all of Vanity’s spare group slots free for stores and events! Priorities, people!! 😉

X-HOUR Virtual Reality Showcase Series Taking Place in Austin, Texas and Online During SXSW 2024, March 7th to 11th

VenusSX, one of the participants, sent me a press release about this series showcasing the state of the art in VR, taking place on the sidelines of the actual SXSW 2024 conference taking place in Austin, Texas this week and weekend (I will assume that this series is not part of the official SXSW event). According to the press release:

The organizers of the VR conference IMMERSIVE X, together with Innovation Bridge Europe, are presenting a five-part series of events called “X-HOUR” from March 7th to 11th on the sidelines of SXSW 2024 in Austin, Texas. The series will showcase outstanding and award-winning VR projects from around the world. The hour-long sessions can be experienced Onsite in Austin, in Virtual Reality and via Livestream. Registration is available at https://immersive-x.de/x-hour.

While the Metaverse is often presented as a vision of the distant future, its many possibilities can be experienced even today. This is possible thanks to a creative scene of pioneers around the world who have set out to explore this space and bring it to life with groundbreaking ideas and bold initiatives. The lineup includes the award-winning experiences “Dragon Magic: Freedom Giants” by Juliana Loh and Mada de Leeuw and “Nymphs” by ShuShuVR and Niko Lang, as well as a live DJ set by XR pioneer Celeste Lear, will demonstrate how Virtual Reality enables the expression of cultural creativity. The session “VR for Social Change” will showcase the Africa VR Campus and Center to demonstrate how immersive technologies can promote social empowerment.

IMMERSIVE X and Innovation Bridge Europe have teamed up to present some of the most cutting-edge projects at this year’s tech festival in Austin. The selection of presenters is designed to give a vivid sense of the disruptive energy that Virtual Reality has in store for social and cultural spheres. “Immersive technologies will fundamentally change the way we experience content and interact with each other in the future”, says Thomas Zorbach, managing director of vm-people and initiator of IMMERSIVE X. ”As we enter the age of digital relationships, the Metaverse offers new modes of creative expression and interactivity, and we are revealing the empowerment of somatic experiential learning in a virtual environment.”, adds VenusSX, Virtual Sensory Designer and presenter of the X-Hour session “Unlock Our Potential: PlayroomSX and the VR Somatic Experience”.

There are three different ways to attend the X-HOUR sessions:

  1. Onsite via a rental VR headset in the following location: Innovation Bridge Europe House at the Thompson Hotel, 4th floor rooftop, 506 San Jacinto Blvd, Austin, TX 78701, USA.
  2. Virtual Reality via your own VR headset: If you have your own VR glasses, such as Quest 2, 3 & Pro, Pico Neo 2, or HTC Vive Focus, you can join our sessions from a remote location.
  3. Livestream via YouTube: If you are not in Austin and do not have a VR headset, you can watch the X-HOUR sessions via livestream. Location: https://www.youtube.com/@vmpeople

While the constant capitalization of the word metaverse in this press release makes my right eye twitch, I did sign up for the in-VR sessions, and registration was free. For more details on this series, and to register yourself, please see the X-HOUR website.

UPDATED WITH AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM LINDEN LAB: Linden Lab Is Investigating Serious (and Possibly Defamatory) Allegations Made Against Some Second Life Users and Companies, and Linden Lab Staff

I follow a number of Second Life YouTubers using Feedbin (a handy tool which I wrote about here; what I like about it is that I can organize my viewing, and not have to deal with YouTube’s notorious recommendation algorithm).

Last night, I watched a video from a Second Life user who announced that they were stepping away from SL, and why. In the description of the video was a link to an anonymous article which had been published on Medium on Feb. 24th, 2024, and updated Feb, 29th, which makes some very serious and disturbing allegations against several Second Life users and companies, and some people employed by Linden Lab, the company who makes and runs Second Life.

The Feb. 29th update includes a link to this New World Notes blogpost by Wagner James Au, who has been a longtime chronicler of Second Life:

Confirmed: Linden Lab Investigating Serious Allegations Recently Posted to Social Media, Say Sources

In recent days the Second Life user community has been roiled by serious but unconfirmed allegations posted on various social media channels regarding Linden Lab operations.

I can now confirm through at least two highly credible sources that the company is indeed investigating these claims — both the accusations themselves and whether they have defamatory intent.

That’s really all that can be reported at the moment.

Wagner links to a discussion on the matter over on the r/secondlife subreddit on Reddit here. In both Wagner’s blog post and the Reddit thread, unlike the Second Life YouTube video which first led me down this rabbit hole, there is no link to the original Medium article, and I will not be sharing it here, because although the allegations made in the article are highly troubling, they are not proven, they are potentially defamatory, and the author of the article appears to be hiding behind an anonymous name and picture. (Medium has flagged the article with the warning “The following content was reported as a potential violation of Medium’s rules and is under investigation,” and the article may indeed be pulled completely from the website.)

However, the ripple effects of that Medium article are already spreading. It would appear that some Second Life users (like the content creator who first alerted me to this situation via their YouTube video) have decided that the allegations are serious enough that they will be leaving the platform, even if only temporarily.

And this morning, I noticed that one of the Second Life stores I regularly shop at, has announced via their store group:

Hello, we changed the vendor system and old gift cards will not work with the new vendors. To get a new gift card for the new vendors, I need you SEND ME A NOTECARD (only notecards) with this:

YOUR USERNAME (no display name)
NAME OF THE GIFT CARD YOU HAVE AND ITS CREDIT

I will be replacing, but it’s a lot of gift cards to do, so please be patient. I will be doing it ONLY until MARCH 31st.

I will now be checking the group notices of various SL store groups I belong to, to see if any other stores are taking similar action. This has the potential to become a serious mess (as if it weren’t already). It was at this point that I realized that I was not going to be able to ignore the issue, and I would have to write about it today, since the controversy does have the potential to significantly impact Second Life users, communities, and businesses.

And, like Wagner, that’s really all that I can report on for now. It would appear that Linden Lab is already investigating the allegations, and we will simply have to wait and see what happens, and what they have to say about all this. I hope and pray that this will not become a witch hunt, and I do not want to have to update my historical list of Second Life controversies and scandals. And I am feeling just absolutely sick at heart today.

UPDATE March 5th, 2024: Well, I just checked this evening before bed (almost exactly 48 hours after I first read it), and the anonymous article has been taken down from Medium, now giving the following error message:

Error 410: This post is under investigation or was found to be in violation of the Medium rules.

Please note that I had briefly linked to (and quoted from) another well-known Second Life blogger who had posted two lengthy blogposts about this whole kerfuffle, but then I realized that they had actually linked to the article on Medium, so I quickly removed the link to (and quote from) their blog from this post! In their opinion (and they had a LOT to say), this was a smear campaign against the people and businesses named, but I also removed the link to their blog posts because they actually named the people and companies who were being discussed in the article, and I did not feel comfortable doing that. (You’ll also note that I very carefully did not identify, or link to, the person who created YouTube video I previously mentioned, that led me down this dark and twisted rabbit hole in the first place.)

In fact, I am now second-guessing myself, wondering if I made the right call to write about this at all. There’s also been a lot of back-and-forth on the subject on the Second Life subreddit post I linked to up top, where the moderators have done an excellent job to not allow any discussion of the dark, indelicate details of this particular incident, while still talking about the issues in a more general, non-specific way (much as I have tried to do, although I’m not 100% certain that I was successful).

This is not the first time when the lines between a hobbyist blogger and a journalist get awfully blurred. I have learned in the past that things I write here on my blog have consequences, and sometimes those consequences are painful, both for me and for the people, places, and companies I write about. At the same time, this is a blog about (as the tagline states) “news and views” in social VR, virtual worlds, and the metaverse, and it could be argued that this is news (albeit very depressing news, regarding a subject that is clearly illegal and punishable by law, if it is found to be true).

And that’s the whole point of this: IF this is true. At this point, all we have are allegations, which (because of people like the YouTube creator who I won’t name, Wagner James Au, myself, and the other blogger who I won’t name), have played a part in disseminating information about this situation (if not the specific details themselves). Where do you draw the line?

Where do you draw the line when reporting on potentially immoral and/or illegal behaviour? (photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash)

UPDATE March 20th, 2024: This afternoon, Linden Lab’s Executive Chairman, Bad Oberwager, released the following official statement, which I am reproducing in full below:

I want to take this opportunity to speak directly to the Second Life community. Thank you for being part of this wonderful world and giving us the time to carefully assess our situation after we became the subject of a blog post that has the potential to cause harm to our dedicated community members and the virtual world platform that so many people call “home.” 

The post contains a complex mix of accusations regarding Second Life, and it questions our strong dedication to maintaining a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for all members of the Second Life community.

Our Response to the Allegations

At the heart of the blog post were unsettling accusations about sexualized, virtual avatar ageplay, including alleged violations of our community guidelines. I want to be clear: we have a zero-tolerance policy against sexualized ageplay. The safety and integrity of the Second Life platform are paramount to us, especially concerning the protection of minors. 

We will continue to enforce our existing governance policies and community standards and we are proud of our collaboration with law enforcement and organizations like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to combat child exploitation. These efforts underscore our commitment to a safe online environment. 

With that said, I want to acknowledge that we can do better; this has been a harsh wake-up call for us that we need to take tangible actions to improve Second Life’s governance policies and protective features that benefit the entire community.

Our Actions Moving Forward

I promise you that we are taking this very seriously. Very. Full stop. 

I promise we hear you. We know you’re angry and you’re confused. We are working to do our best to resolve your concerns and restore your trust in us. These are complicated issues and we want to do things right. We will make mistakes along the way. I wish I could say we will not, but we will. 

As owner of Linden Lab, I have initiated a thorough investigation, both internally and with external partners, to review whether or not there have been any violations of our company and community policies by employees, contractors, or community members. While early preliminary internal investigations suggest that some of the accusations are unfounded, I want to make sure that we get additional investigative support externally to ensure that the process is fair and thorough.

One of our top priorities has been to ensure the safety of our residents, moles, employees, and families. There are real people behind the avatars, and it has been important to confirm that nobody was in actual physical danger. 

Additionally, I am taking proactive steps to review and revamp many of our policies, including a comprehensive review of our Community Standards, Content Guidelines, and Ageplay Policy. Any violation detected will be met with swift enforcement actions to protect our community. We’ll be sharing these revised policies in the coming weeks and, critically, we are turning to the community to help us shape the future of how governance operates within Second Life. 

Our Commitment to You

Second Life remains a vibrant platform for expression, creativity, and connection. I and the Second Life team are deeply committed to protecting our community and ensuring that Second Life continues to be a safe, inclusive, and welcoming space for everyone. Your trust is our priority, and we pledge to work tirelessly to maintain and enhance the integrity of our virtual world.

I appreciate the patience and support of our community as we navigate this challenge. Together, we will emerge stronger and more united in our mission to build the best possible virtual world experience.

Brad Oberwager
Linden Lab Executive Chairman

Please note: I haven’t had time to fully read and absorb everything in this official statement, but I did want to share it as an update to my original blogpost.

The Meta Quest 3 VR Headset: A Hands-On Review of Meta’s Latest Wireless Virtual Reality Headset

HOUSEKEEPING NOTE: I first started writing this blogpost in November 2023, but I haven’t had a chance to finish it until now! It is one of a huge backlog (over thirty) of half-finished blog posts, which I hope to complete and publish soon. So please stay tuned!

Also, with this blogpost, I have created a new blog post category called Review, which I will now be using to mark any hardware and software reviews I write from now on, here on the RyanSchultz.com blog.

As a librarian at my university, I am a member of the faculty union, along with the professors and instructors. One of the benefits we receive is a certain sum of money every year, travel and expense (T&E) funds, to be used to pay for our professional memberships, registration for and travel to and from conferences, books and journal subscriptions—and computer equipment! And so it was, that I used part of my T&E funds this year to purchase Meta’s latest wireless VR headset, the Meta Quest 3, which was just announced Sept. 27th, 2023 at the Meta Connect event (which I wrote about on my blog here).

Now, while I absolutely reserve the right to snark about some aspects of the Meta Connect event itself (Snoop Dogg and Paris Hilton as AI chatbots? Really?!??), I still do believe that Meta makes great virtual reality hardware! And so I ordered a Meta Quest 3 (512 GB model), plus an Elite Strap with Battery, and a carrying case to lug it all around in.

This will be a test unit, which I will evaluate to see how well it would fit into the selection of hardware which will form part of a virtual reality lab for my university library system (more info here), of which I am a member of the committee helping to steer the project.

As I unpack and set up the Meta Quest 3, I will be comparing it with my previous experience with the Meta Quest 2. You can read my review of the Quest 2 here: A Hands-On Review of the Meta Quest 2 (256 GB Model, Elite Strap with Battery)

These boxes are getting smaller all the time!

My first impression: Wow, these boxes are getting smaller and lighter every time! And: Wow, those hand controllers look tiny. Anyway, wasting no time, I started unboxing.

Inside the Meta Quest 3 box (with the default strap)

I scanned the QR code on the inside of the Meta Quest 2 box, and this is the first thing it showed me on my iPhone:

Regular readers of my blog will remember my distaste for Meta’s level of consumer surveillance, so I immediately hit the Don’t Share button! I think Meta is already vacuuming up an alarming amount of my personal data as it is!

Since I already had the Oculus app installed on my work iPhone from when I set up my Meta Quest 2, the QR code didn’t really do much of anything. I was somewhat irritated that there wasn’t a paper set of step-by-step instructions to set up the Quest 3, so I did a little searching and found this webpage, which gave me a helpful video and some tips on how to get started.

The head strap that comes with the Meta Quest 3, while serviceable, really doesn’t help to redistribute the front-heavy headset (the Quest 3 weighs about the same as the Quest 2, although it is noticeably thinner). So one of the first things I did was unpack the Elite Strap with Battery, and replace the default strap. In addition to prolonging the use of the Quest 3 for another couple of hours, the rigid strap design reduces pressure on the face, and evenly distributes the total weight for a more comfortable fit (which also contributes to longer use).

The Elite Strap has a knob at the back to adjust to fit your head, and you can also use it to make it more compact to fit into the solid-feeling carrying case:

You can use the knob at the back of the Elite Strap with Battery to make the Meta Quest 3 headset small enough to fit into the carrying case, which makes it easier to take it with you!

One thing I was less than happy with is the charging cable, which is incredibly short! Meta, would it have killed you to include a longer charging cable? Don’t be so cheap!

The charging cable is waaay too short!

While at first I thought the hand controllers on the Quest 3 were much smaller than its predecessor, in fact they are approximately the same size. They’re only missing the “loop” at the top, which has been replaced by improvements to the tracking system overall. (I have enabled, but not yet tested out, hand tracking, that is, using hand gestures instead of the hand controllers.)

The hand controllers on the Meta Quest 3 (right) seem smaller than the Meta Quest 2, but that’s only because the top “loop” has been removed.

UPDATE March 2nd, 2024: I must confess that I haven’t had as much of an opportunity recently to put the Meta Quest 3 through its paces, but I did pack it into my carry-on bag when I flew to Alberta to spend last Christmas with the rest of my family, and I did give several family members a taste of virtual reality using this device, putting them into a loft apartment world in VRChat. (My usual go-to for giving people their first VR experience, a favourite tropical beach world in VRChat, called Deep Blue, unfortunately only works with a high-end tethered PVCR headset like the Valve Index of Vive Pro 2.) The Meta Quest 3 is, in my opinion, the perfect portable device for giving people an introduction to the world of virtual reality!

Also, you can use a fibre-optic Quest Link Cable (available for purchase through the Meta website for CA$109.99) to turn the standalone Meta Quest 3 into a PCVR headset, by attaching it to a high-end Windows PC with a good graphics card.

I did want to comment on what an improvement the visuals are in the Meta Quest 3 compared to its predecessor, the Meta Quest 2. The so-called “screendoor” effect (where it’s possible to determine the gaps between pixels in your headset view) has been greatly reduced, and it really improves graphics, and makes things like reading text much easier. But where there’s really a noticeable improvement between the Quest 2 and 3 is in the full-colour pass-through! According to Meta:

With full-color Passthrough, Quest 3 and Quest Pro provide you with a more perceptually comfortable, high-fidelity, real-time representation of the physical world around you. These advancements in Passthrough aren’t just to improve the VR experience you currently know, but is also fundamental to new and upcoming features that allow you to interact directly with the physical world while in-VR. Activities supported by full-color Passthrough include:

  • Using mixed reality apps that combine and use items from both your physical and virtual world.
  • Using a physical keyboard and other objects on your physical desk.
  • Interacting with other people in the same room as a part of a collaborative experience, like having a meeting in [Meta Horizon] Workrooms.

I look forward to spending more time in my Meta Quest 3 over the next few months, exploring various apps and platforms, and I will report back more often on how things are going!