Your Oculus Quest 2 just got better hand-tracking to boost your virtual boxing skills

Meta has released the v56 update for the Meta Quest Pro and the Oculus Quest 2, which introduces a bunch of upgrades for two of the best VR headsets out there.

With the new Quest update Meta is rolling out Hand Tracking 2.2, which says aims to bring responsiveness more in line with what users experience with controllers. According to Meta, Hand Tracking 2.2 will reduce the latency experienced by a typical user by 40%, with a 75% latency reduction for fast hand movements. 

Meta recommends that you download the Move Fast demo app from App Lab to get a feel for what these improvements mean in practise. It looks like a simple fitness trainer in which you have to punch, chop and block incoming blocks while looking out over a lake decorated with cherry blossom trees. Meta has said we can expect more hand-tracking improvements when the Meta Quest 3 launches later this year. It's yet to be seen if these upgrades can keep up with the hand-tracking Apple is expected to launch with its Apple Vision Pro headset.

Another important improvement is coming just for Meta Quest Pro owners. One of the premium headset’s best upgrades over the Quest 2 is its display, which offers local dimming. This allows screens to achieve deeper black levels and improved contrast, something which can help a lot with immersion, as dark spaces actually look dark without it being impossible to see. However, local dimming isn’t available in every app, so with v56 Meta is launching a Local dimming Experimental Setting (which can be found in the Experimental menu in your headset’s Settings).

The feature is off by default, but if you turn it on you should see the benefits of local dimming in a load more titles – that is, unless a developer chooses to opt out. Just note that as with other experimental settings, you may find it isn’t quite perfect or causes some problems.

Quest 2 users aren't missing out on visual upgrades entirely though, as Meta recently announced that a Quest Super Resolution upscaling tool is coming to help developers make their games look and run better.

This month Meta is also improving the accessibility of Quest titles by introducing button mapping and live captions. Live captions will appear in your Quest headset’s Settings, under the Hearings section of the Accessibility menu. Once turned on you’ll see live subtitles while using the Meta Quest TV app, Explore, and the in-headset Quest Store. In the same Accessibility menu, go to the Mobility section and you’ll find an option to remap your Quest controllers – you can swap any buttons you want on the handsets to create a completely custom layout.

These accessibility settings won’t revolutionize your headset overnight, but they’re a great first step. Hopefully, we’ll see Meta introduce captioning to more apps and services, and perhaps it’ll launch custom-accessible controllers like the ones that Sony and Microsoft offer for their PS5 Access controller and the Xbox Adaptive Controller.

New ways to stay connected 

Beyond these major upgrades, Meta is rolling out a handful of smaller improvements as part of update v56.

First, when you leave your headset charging on standby between play sessions it can smartly wake up and install updates whenever it detects that your installed software is out of date. This should help to reduce instances of you going to play a game only to find that you need to wait for ages while your headset installs a patch.

Second is the new Chats and Parties feature. Whenever you start a call in VR a chat thread is also connected with all of the call members, so you can keep in contact later; you can also now start a call from a chat thread (whether it’s a one-on-one chat or a group chat).

Third, and finally, meta is making it easier to stream your VR gameplay to Facebook, and while you play you’ll be able to see a live chat, so you can keep in contact with your viewers. While the platform isn’t many people’s first choice, it hopefully opens the door for easier real-time live streaming to more popular platforms like YouTube and Twitch.

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Mikey Garcia vs Jessie Vargas live stream: watch the boxing online anywhere

Few recent bouts have pitted two fighters with such a wealth of experience against each other – don't miss a moment of the action with our Mikey Garcia vs Jessie Vargas live stream guide. Watch all the boxing action from this weekend's big fight online the easy way.

Saturday's showdown in Texas marks the return to the ring of four-division world champion Garcia, who fights for the first time since his points defeat to Errol Spence Jr – which ended an impressive 39-fight winning streak.

Meanwhile, former WBA and IBO super lightweight champion Vargas comes into the fight off the back of a TKO win over Humberto Soto - a victory which ended a frustrating run of two draws in his previous fights.

The fight sees Vargas dropping down in weight. That could play into Garcia's hands, as Vargas boasts a considerable three-inch reach advantage over his opponent and, perhaps more significantly, is also a massive five-inches taller.

The big question remains how will Garcia respond to stinging defeat to Spence Jr which ended one of boxing's greatest ever winning streaks. There's loads at stake, too, with tonight's victor being tipped to a big-money showdown with Manny Pacquiao, one of the sport's all-time legends.

Read on to find out how you can watch the fight with our Mikey Garcia vs Jessie Vargas live stream guide.

How to watch the Mikey Garcia vs Jessie Vargas fight from outside your country

If you want to watch the boxing outside of your country you may find that the content is geo-restricted. That could mean that, despite having access when on home turf, you are blocked while away. Fret not, that can be rectified with the use of a clever piece of software called a VPN – far better that than hunting for an illegal stream.

How to live stream Mikey Garcia vs Jessie Vargas in the US

How to live stream Garcia vs Vargas in the UK

How to watch the Garcia vs Vargas fight for free in Canada

How to live stream Garcia vs Vargas in Australia

Garcia vs Vargas: main card fights

  • Mikey Garcia vs. Jessie Vargas
  • Kal Yafai vs. Roman Gonzalez
  • Julio Cesar Martinez vs. Jay Harris
  • Joseph Parker vs. Shawndell Winters

Garcia vs Vargas: undercard fights

  • Jesse Rodriguez vs. Marcos Sustaita
  • Leo Ruiz Acevado vs. Dennis Knifechief
  • Alexis Espino vs. Delvecchio Savage
  • Israil Madrimov vs. Charlie Navarro
  • Diego Pacheco vs. Oscar Riojas

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