One of many key promoting factors of the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional is how straightforward it’s to attach it to a Mac and use it as a big exterior monitor. Now, Microsoft is teaming up with Meta to play catchup for Home windows.
As a part of its Microsoft Ignite press convention right this moment, the corporate promised to convey the “full capabilities of Home windows 11 to combined actuality headsets, beginning with Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S.”
Now, that doesn’t instantly imply you’ll be able to instantly exchange your PC with a VR headset—like with the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional, the key phrase right here is streaming. Whereas the headset will allow a digital multi-monitor workstation (which is definitely an enchancment on the Imaginative and prescient Professional’s single monitor setup), it’ll want to connect with both your individual Home windows 11 PC or a cloud-based Home windows 365 occasion first.
Microsoft says it’ll solely take “seconds to attach,” which ought to be an enchancment over present third-party options like Digital Desktop, and even Meta’s personal Horizon Workrooms. Whereas Microsoft hasn’t mentioned precisely how this seamless connection will work, Mark Zuckerberg beforehand mentioned throughout this yr’s Meta Join convention that Quest customers will quickly solely have to “take a look at their keyboard” to connect with a PC, with no need to put in any software program on the system. A video posted by Microsoft right this moment appears to again up that assertion.
Particular particulars about simply what number of screens you’ll be able to have or what kind of decision sacrifices you might need to make are nonetheless unclear, though with public preview coming someday in December, it shouldn’t take lengthy to seek out out.
Microsoft additionally didn’t point out Volumetric Apps, a trick introduced in Could throughout this yr’s Construct convention that may permit customers streaming Home windows to a Quest headset to view sure property in 3D, presuming that the app they’re working permits it. For instance, Microsoft confirmed a demo of a consumer pulling a 3D mannequin of an Xbox controller out of their digital Home windows monitor and inspecting it in full 3D area, even having the ability to take it aside and take a look at an exploded view of the controller’s insides. Provided that Microsoft didn’t convey it up once more right this moment, it’s unlikely Volumetric Apps will probably be accessible at launch.
