Character.AI's collection of virtual personalities based on real and fictional sources will speak up thanks to the new Character Calls audio feature. The artificial intelligence-fueled chatbots can now engage in two-way voice conversations for free on the startup's app.
Augmenting the synthetic people hosted on Character.AI's hub with voices is supposed to make them more fun to talk to, according to the company. Users can tap a button in the window of their chat and start talking to the bot in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Korean, Japanese, or Chinese. Tapping while the bot is talking will interrupt it and you can switch back to texting the same way.
Character counts
The Character Calls is an extension of the Character Voices feature launched in March, which only allowed audio responses from the AI chatbots, not human voice interaction. Character.ai says there are now more than a million voice options available. For those who'd like to make their own Character.ai chatbot or already have some, the voice options incorporate a lot of styles and accents.
The company tested the new feature before the launch and said more than 20 million calls have already been made by more than 3 million people. Those calls included people learning new languages, practicing for job interviews, and working on game characters and storytelling ideas.
Character.ai was early to the virtual celebrity and AI-powered pal market, but it may need this new feature to help it keep up with some recent competition. Meta now offers Celebrity AI chatbots linked to official partnerships with those celebrities. And Google is reportedly working on doing something similar, potentially centered on YouTube and YouTube influencers, as well as letting people design their own chatbots.
Anthropic has upgraded its Claude generative AI assistant to be more useful in the office. Claude Pro and Claude Team subscribers can now better organize and track their work with the AI assistant thanks to the new Projects and Artifacts features.
Projects are both a place for storing and interacting with data for tasks. Users can upload all their documents, code, and other relevant data into one place. Each project within Claude.ai includes a 200K context window, equivalent to a 500-page book. They can then ask Claude about it, and even set up custom instructions for how to respond in terms of tone or the context of who is asking and what they might need. The idea is to avoid what Anthropic calls “cold starts,” where users must start from scratch each time they engage with the AI assistant. By having a knowledge base to draw from, Claude can respond to queries more quickly and accurately.
Office Artifacts
The Artifacts feature is a kind of flip of the Projects in that it can produce a wide range of content the way Projects can store them. Users can ask Claude to make text, code, and other 'artifacts.' Claude will share the output in a dedicated window alongside the chat, like a preview window of what it's composing. This setup enables users to see and interact with the generated content in real time, providing immediate feedback and adjustments where needed. An additional upgrade lets users share the best bits of conversations with Claude with their team in a shared project activity feed.
Both Projects and Artifacts are powered by Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Anthropic’s latest AI model. According to the company, Claude 3.5 Sonnet outperforms recently announced models like GPT-4o and Google's Gemini 1.5 on a variety of benchmarks.
“Our vision for Claude has always been to create AI systems that work alongside people and meaningfully enhance their workflows,” Anthropic explained in a blog post. “With this new functionality, Claude can enable idea generation, more strategic decision-making, and exceptional results.”
Are you ready to stare down skyscraper-size Behemoths, box your way through Shardfall’s terrors, and power wash a time-traveling DeLorean?
This past month that’s what I’ve been up to thanks to the help of my Meta Quest 3 (and the new Quell immersive fitness system), and I’m here to break down my experience playing them all. Slight spoiler, this month’s VR games and apps were all superb – I highly recommend you pick up at least one of these as soon as you can.
So let’s get into what I thought of Behemoth, Power Wash Simulator and its Back to the Future DLC, and the new Quell game Shardfall. But first, something a little different.
Batman: Arkham Shadow
Usually, I reserve this column for games and apps I’ve played at some point in the past few weeks. But after that explosive Summer Games Fest trailer, we need to talk about Arkham Shadow – the VR Batman game coming exclusively to Meta Quest 3.
Ahead of the trailer reveal I had the pleasure of chatting with Ryan Payton – the Studio Director of Camouflaj (the team behind the game) – to find answers to my most burning questions.
Payton revealed that the main villain isn’t Ratcatcher like we expected – instead, he’s merely a follower of the actual big bad, the Rat King. He described the gameplay to me in great detail, calling Arkham Shadow a VR Translation of everything that made Arkham Asylum the smash hit it was – from the exploration to the story and characters to the dynamic combat. Payton also outlined why this game had to be a Meta Quest 3-exclusive.
You can read my full chat with Ryan Payton on Arkham Shadow for a more in-depth look at these topics, but just know that I’m even more hyped for this game than I was already. Its ‘Holiday 2024’ release date can’t come soon enough.
Behemoth
This past month I was lucky enough to try an early demo of Behemoth. The roughly 15-minute slice of the game introduced me to some of the enemies, weapons, puzzles, and monstrosities the game has in store for players.
My victory over the demo’s Behemoth was slightly lessened when I was told the boss was nerfed a little for the experience. However, the team tried to boost my spirits by explaining that’s because players would usually face it after a few hours rather than 10 minutes – so they’d be prepared for a tougher fight. I guess I’ll just have to try the full game so I can prove myself in a full-power rematch – and I can’t wait.
You can think of it as a virtual reality version of Shadow of the Colossus (to be a little reductive). You’re on a quest to hunt and kill massive behemoths that roam the lands, with the boss fights feeling more like action-based puzzles than a typical brawl.
That’s not to say you won’t get your fill of Dark Ages-style duels. As you adventure you’ll face off against many human-sized enemies looking to finish you off before you even have a chance to spy one of the beasts you’re searching for.
Yes, they’re a lot less imposing, but fighting these smaller foes is still challenging and exhilarating thanks to Behemoth’s sandbox approach to combat. You’re given access to a good variety of weapons to whirl around, as well as techniques to string together, like blocking, parrying, and grapple-hook acrobatics, to find interesting ways of decimating your foes.
Alternatively, you can rage out, dealing massively powerful hits for a limited time, and just blow your enemies away.
(Image credit: Skydance Interactive)
Speaking to Shawn Kittelsen, Vice President of Creative at Skydance Interactive for Behemoth, after the demo, he explained that after working on The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners the team wanted to basically make the complete opposite of that game.
“The Walking Dead Saints & Sinners has all these dark intimate spaces, and you never know if a Walker is waiting around the corner to grab you. We thought, what if we take our arc of motion physics that players love, our experience designing different weapons and enemy varieties, and apply that to something completely different – an epic fantasy game with wide open arenas.”
When the team considered what enemies players would find in these large spaces the answer was clear, Behemoths. From here the team crafted these antagonistic puzzles for players to best – giving them a few nasty tricks like player responsiveness. This means that rather than simply cycling through attacks these monsters will react to your actions.
This is something I noticed in my demo as my decision to run under the monster to dodge the giant ball and chain it wielded merely resulted in it choosing to kick me instead.
If you’re interested in trying Behemoth when it launches, it’ll be coming to Meta Quest 3, Oculus Quest 2, PSVR 2 and PCVR.
When discussing the power difference between these hardware systems, Kittelsen assured me that while the PS5 and PC-powered experiences will offer better visuals (and a few extra immersion features like PSVR2’s headset rumble) the Quest 2 experience will feel the same in terms of gameplay and with smooth framerate. He added, “It was important that we didn’t leave Quest 2 players behind.”
PowerWash Simulator & Back to the Future DLC
After my experience with Lawn Mowing Simulator, I was a little reluctant to try out another chore sim – my girlfriend even laughed at me when she heard I’d be spending my time doing virtual busywork for a second month in a row. But PowerWash Simulator manages to deliver everything I expected from Lawn Mowing Simulator and more. It’s a cathartic cleaning experience that I’ve been oddly addicted to since downloading it a couple of weeks ago.
Yes, the main game is very simple. With enough patience, and some help from the in-game checklist and dirt viewer, you can wave your cleaning wand over every surface and get the van/house/playground dinosaur looking as good as new with no difficulty. But there’s something meditative about meticulously scrambling over surfaces looking for the last specs of dirt you need to wipe off.
For those of you after more of a challenge, some modes task you with recleaning every level under a time restraint and water restriction, respectively. I’ve given these modes a whirl but feel my cleaning prowess is not yet up to snuff – the water trials are particularly challenging, requiring a level of cleaning precision I currently lack.
To continue my training, PowerWash Simulator offers additional bonus levels. Some are included in the base game, while some licensed locations are available via paid DLC – like the recently released Back to the Future pack.
While it’s not quite the immersive Back To The Future experience fans of the series might have hoped for, if you enjoy what PowerWash Simulator has to offer then these themed levels are a delight. I hope we’ll see more.
Despite my reaction being the reverse of how I felt about Lawn Mowing Simulator, I’ll admit that this monotonous chore sim won’t be for everyone. Trying to compare it to an action-packed hit like Behemoth it seems almost a little boring.
But at the same time, I’ve found PowerWash Simulator to be deceptively moreish. Whenever I try to put it down I want to slip my Meta Quest 3 back on and get straight back to cleaning.
Quell & Shardfall
Okay, so Quell isn’t a Meta Quest 3 game. It’s not even a VR game. But I needed to talk about it here as I feel it’s a great alternative to the VR fitness apps I’ve been talking about since I did my month-long VR workout challenge back in April.
This fitness-first gaming platform offers a lot of what I’ve fallen in love with from VR apps like Supernatural. Rather than working out just for the sake of it (something that can be a struggle for motivation), there’s a gamified element.
In Quell’s case, that’s the enemies you face off against in its first game Shardfall – a high-fantasy adventure. It’s not just an upper-body workout. You also have to jog, sprint, squat and jump your way past obstacles that occupy the space between fights. Because this adventure isn’t in VR, the team’s been able to incorporate these elements without as much risk of the player injuring themselves, or feeling nauseous.
It’s also added resistance bands – with three difficulty levels – which make punching more challenging. When I first tried Quell I was surprised how much more effort I was putting into my shadow boxing.
For a more in-depth look at this new immersive fitness experience, I’d recommend checking out my full feature about my experience with Quell. But TL;DR I’ve really enjoyed using it, even though I had the occasional frustrating issue with the tracker not syncing perfectly with my movements.
If you’ve struggled to get into VR fitness, or more traditional workouts then Quell could be what you’re after. But do think if Quell is definitely for you before you buy it as it is a little pricey at $ 339 / £299 (it’s, unfortunately, not available in Australia), with a subscription on top that’s $ 9.99 / £9.90 per month or $ 79.90 / £79.90 for a year. When it comes to dedicated fitness equipment this isn’t an unreasonable amount, though.
Google's latest AI experiment, Gemini, is about to get a whole lot more useful thanks to support for third-party music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. This new development was apparently found in Gemini’s settings, and users will be able to pick their preferred streaming service to use within Gemini.
Gemini has been running shifts all around different Google products, particularly as a digital assistant sometimes in place of and sometimes in tandem with Google Assistant.
It’s still somewhat limited compared to Assistant and is not at the stage where it can fully replace the Google staple. One of these limitations is that it can’t enlist a streaming service of a user’s choice to play a song or other audio recording like many popular digital assistants (including Google Assistant) can. This might not be the case for long, however.
Screenshots from PiunikaWeb’s tipster show that the Gemini app’s settings now have a new “Music” option, with text reading “Select preferred services used to play music” underneath. This will presumably allow users to choose from whatever streaming services Google deems compatible.
Once you choose a streaming service, Gemini will hopefully work seamlessly with that service and enable you to control it using voice commands. PiunikaWeb suggests that users will be able to use Gemini for song identification, possibly by letting Gemini listen to the song, and then interact with a streaming app to try and find the song that’s playing in their surroundings, similar to the way Shazam works. If that’s the case, that’s one fewer separate app you’ll need.
What we don't know yet, but hope to soon
(Image credit: Shutterstock/Dean Drobot)
This is all very exciting and from the screenshots, it looks like the feature is a good amount into development.
It’s not clear if PiunikaWeb’s tipster could get the feature to actually work or which streaming services will work in sync with Gemini, and we don’t know when Google will roll this feature out.
Still, it’s highly requested and a must if Google has plans for Gemini to take Assistant’s place, so it’ll probably be rolled out in a future Gemini update. It’s also indicative to me that Google seems pretty committed to expanding Gemini’s repertoire so that it joins Google’s other popular products and services.
Microsoft finally gives its iconic WordPad app the chop as a new Windows 11 Canary build reveals that the long-time word processing app’s time is up. The Canary channel is one of four release channels in the Windows Insider Program, Microsoft’s community that gives testers, developers, and enthusiasts access to try out new versions of Windows and new features to gather feedback and improve them before releasing them to the wider user base.
In WordPad’s place, Microsoft is directing users to use Microsoft Word to work with rich text files, which feels a little cheeky (more about that in a moment).
We found out that WordPad was being deprecated a little while back, and now Microsoft is making good on its promises. The company elaborated that no new WordPad developments were being worked on at the time of the announcement, and that future Windows 11 releases wouldn’t include it – which is what has happened with the latest WordPad-less Canary build.
Microsoft also revealed that the WordPad and People apps won’t be included by default upon a clean install of Windows 11, and you’ll no longer be able to reinstall WordPad at a later date.
(Image credit: Chase Chappell/Unsplash)
Users react
This development comes with a tinge of melancholy for many Windows fans because it has been one of Microsoft’s flagship programs for a long time. For many users, it was their preferred choice for a basic and straightforward simple rich text editor, being included in nearly every version of Windows starting with Windows 95.
Microsoft recommends “Microsoft Word for rich text documents like .doc and .rtf and Windows Notepad for plain text documents like .txt” for users who would like to know what to use instead.
Of course, the full version of Microsoft Word is part of the Microsoft Office suite, which isn’t free, so recommending a paid-for alternative to a free app they’ve just cut probably won’t go down too well. A much better alternative is LibreOffice Writer, which is part of the free, open-source LibreOffice suite – although I can imagine why Microsoft would be hesitant to send people to a free rival app.
The newest preview build, Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26020, also saw a move that was long expected from Microsoft – giving Cortana the chop. If you’ve already forgotten what Cortana is (or, rather, was), Cortana is Microsoft’s previous effort in its mission to create a personal productivity assistant.
Now, it’s leaving Cortana in the past and trucking forward with Windows Copilot, its newer and fresher take on the all-purpose digital assistant that’s powered by AI. According to Tom’s Hardware, Microsoft is so keen to make Copilot a hit (unlike the rather unpopular Cortana), it is now requiring partner keyboard manufacturers to have a dedicated Copilot key.
A final bow for WordPad – or is it?
To some, this move reminds them of when Microsoft wanted to ax Windows Paint. Many users were incensed, which is understandable, in my opinion, as I think Paint is one of the best apps ever made. In the case of Paint, Microsoft actually listened to users’ outcry and made the app available for download from the Microsoft Store. Since then, it’s been developed and upgraded for Windows 11, and even getting its own AI assistant named Cocreator.
It’s speculated that if there’s enough uproar about WordPad’s departure, Microsoft might consider doing something similar for WordPad. WordPad is a quality, solid app that’s simple and straightforward, installed by default, quick to load and get going, and offers more features than NotePad for simple text editing.
It’s safe to say many users are lamenting WordPad’s exit and are hoping it’ll be made available as an optional download. I guess we’ll have to see if Microsoft is actually interested in continuing to give users the option to work more simply and without unwanted AI features, or if it really is committed to dropping popular basic apps in pursuit of its vision of an AI-powered future.
The latest in a long line of Ayaneo PC gaming handhelds, dubbed the Ayaneo Next Lite, will not only be an incredibly affordable portable option but will also be changing course on its OS.
According to a statement posted on the official Ayaneo Twitter/X account, the handheld will come with Windows 11 64-bit Home Edition pre-installed instead of Linux. A great option for those who are more familiar with Windows OS versus a Linux-based one. However, for those who prefer the latter, users will still have the option of the open-source HoloISO project version of Linux, which is based on SteamOS.
All this and the Next Lite is still launching at the very budget price of $ 299 up to and during crowdfunding, which is far less expensive than other options on the market. It’s a switch-up from the Next and Next Pro, which seems to be sticking with the Linux-based OS. And that makes more sense as they’re both meant to compete with the Steam Deck.
Ayaneko could differentiate itself from the market
While in general, I’m quite agreeable with the idea of using Windows OS for the Ayaneo Next Lite, since it’s the most widely used operating system by a longshot, there needs to be a reckoning for PC gaming handhelds that use it in general.
What makes SteamOS so excellent is that it’s tailor-made for the Steam Deck, so it feels smooth and intuitive. However, other PC gaming handhelds that use Windows OS like the Asus ROG Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go, make the mistake of not tailoring said OS to the system which results in a much clunkier user interface.
Though we don’t know what Ayaneo is planning with the Windows 11 OS it’s using for the Next Lite, crafting a unique user interface would be a great way to differentiate it from other handhelds that otherwise have gotten more attention due to its brands being more well known.
Then again, Ayaneko has also made some unusual decisions, like choosing HoloISO which hasn’t been updated in months (at the time of this writing) instead of ChimeraOS for the Linux-based OS. So there’s no telling what the manufacturer is planning other than targeting a much larger market. We'll have to wait and see how things shake out when the handheld finally launches.
WhatsApp Channels is preparing for a global tour as the feature will be released to users in over 150 countries over the coming weeks.
As a quick refresher, Channels is the platform’s “one-way broadcast tool” allowing specific entities to send various forms of content like photos or videos to followers. It’s primarily a way for people to receive live updates from local government institutions, sports teams, artists, and celebrities. Channels is kept separate in its own section so you won’t have to worry about your chat rooms suddenly getting flooded with extra messages. The company states in the announcement post it protects “the personal information of both admins and followers.” The Channels you’re subscribed to will not be visible to anyone else.
Alongside the official launch, WhatsApp will also be adding four new Channels-centric features. All these are the result of user feedback the platform received during the testing phase.
First, there's Reactions to, well, react to posts using a single emoji. Everyone will be able to see the total amount of emojis a piece of content has to gauge whether it was well–received or not. Next is Forwarding, which lets subscribers share posts with friends. The forwarded message will “include a link back to the [source] so people can find out more.” Then there's the Enhanced Directory to help you find popular or newly formed Channels to follow. Do note that what you see in the Directory is “automatically filtered” for your country only.
(Image credit: WhatsApp)
There is more on the way as WhatsApp plans to expand the feature even further. Soon, Channel “admins will be able to make changes to their [posts]”. They have up to 30 days to make edits. After that, the platform will delete everything from their servers. Later down the line in the coming months, it will be possible for the average user to create their own personal Channel. A specific date was not given.
Rolling out
The upgrade is currently rolling out so keep an eye out for the patch when it arrives.
There is a waitlist for mobile devices that you can join on the WhatsApp Help Center page for Channels. The link doesn’t work on desktop however, possibly hinting that the expansion will be exclusive to smartphone users. We should mention WhatsApp has created its own Channel for users to follow and stay up-to-date on the future of the platform.
We reached out to WhatsApp asking when will Channels for desktop launch as well as when will people be able to create their own feed. This story will be updated at a later time.
YouTube announced that it’s working with Universal Music Group (UMG) to create a new program that would ensure artists and rights holders would be properly compensated for AI music.
The program, called YouTube’s Music AI Incubator, will create a partnership with music industry talent like artists, songwriters, and producers to decide on how to proceed with the advent of AI music. According to YouTube, “In 2023 alone, there have been more than 1.7 billion views of videos related to AI tools on YouTube.” And the video hosting and streaming site is interested in harnessing that level of viewership.
UMG was most likely chosen as the first partner for this problem because of its reservations toward AI, most likely due to the issue of music being fed into algorithms to train it and then recreated into new songs without compensating any of the artists involved.
And while UMG cracked down on AI music on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube through copyright strikes, pulling songs, and filtering out AI tracks, it also entered a partnership with artificial intelligence music company Endel earlier in 2023 to create AI-assisted music. This shows that it does have a willingness to work with AI, but on its terms.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Balancing rights with progress
According to Rolling Stone, UMG repeatedly stated that there’s potential for AI to assist artists in the song-making process. Music industry stakeholders, however, should draw a hard line on practices that infringe on artists' intellectual property and draw ears away from ‘real’ human-produced music.
It seems that YouTube also understands that desire to both use AI as a tool to assist artists, as well as set up structures that would guarantee permission and compensation for any music used to train these AI models. The official blog post discusses how YouTube has balanced protecting the rights of copyright holders with users over the years, as well as its content ID that “ensures rights holders get paid for use of their content and has generated billions for the industry over the years.”
YouTube also noted its existing policies that protect against “technically manipulated content” that could be used to mislead users or make false claims. And it’ll work to apply new standards to make sure AI isn’t used for “trademark and copyright abuse, misinformation, spam, and more.”
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan stated that “I’m incredibly excited about the opportunity of AI to supercharge creativity around the world, but recognize that YouTube and the promise of AI will only be successful if our partners are successful.” We’ll see how much that statement holds true, depending on the success of this program.
The Meta Quest 3 is reportedly getting a charging dock, as per a US regulatory filing, meaning it’s stealing yet another great feature from Meta’s best VR headset.
With this charging dock – which sounds exactly like the one that came with the Meta Quest Pro – you wouldn’t need to plug the headset into a USB-C charging cable. Instead, you’d just set it down on the base when you’re finished using it, and it’ll recharge via contact charging (metal pins on the base line up with contact points on the headset, and the charge is passed through this connection).
Interestingly, while the base will use contact charging for the headset, it will apparently use 2.5W wireless charging for the controllers (by smartphone standards this is low, but for much simpler controllers we expect charging will be speedy enough). This is a minor upgrade over the Quest Pro’s base, as wireless charging requires you to be a lot less precise with how you place the controllers on the base.
It’s because of this wireless charging change that we know about the base this far in advance of the Meta Quest 3's September 27 official announcement at Meta Connect 2023 – it was listed with the US Federal Communication Agency (FCC), which is tasked with certifying all products with electromagnetic emissions. If the base only used contact charging Meta wouldn’t need to get FCC certification for it, and it would have been kept under wraps for a little longer.
A must-have Quest 3 accessory
Charging docks are not all that exciting – I’d say the Quest Pro's was the most mundane upgrade that headset offered over its predecessors. At the same time, it’s also the best improvement by a country mile because of how much it improves the gadget’s usability.
The Quest Pro and its controllers on the charging dock (Image credit: Meta)
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve strapped on my Quest 2 only to discover that the battery is completely dry because I forgot to plug it in when I last stopped using it. In the roughly eight months I’ve had a Quest Pro I’ve never had the same issue, and that’s entirely thanks to the charging dock – when I’m done, I just put the headset back in its place and it instantly starts recharging.
The controller charging is handy too. Sure, the Quest 2 handset’s batteries need changing infrequently, but the less I have to think about whether I have AA batteries at the home the better. What’s more, the base is a significantly simpler solution for charging controllers than what other VR brands have used – when I was testing the HTC Vive XR Elite I found that it didn’t come with a helpful charging base, but with separate charging cables for each controller and the headset, necessitating the use of three plug sockets for charging instead of one.
The only question that remains is if the base will be included in the Quest 3’s box or sold as an add-on. Given Meta’s open desire to keep the Quest 3 relatively budget friendly with a streamlined suite of features we can see a world in which it sells the charging dock separately. Equally, $ 499 / £499 / AU$ 829 is a decent chunk of change, and we hope Meta wouldn’t nickel and dime us by forcing us to pay extra for charging accessories that improve the experience significantly.
We’ll just have to wait and see what it announces at Meta Connect 2023.
Your favorite VR games and apps’ visuals could soon be sharper than ever as Meta is unlocking a new resolution-boosting tool for developers.
Developed in collaboration with Qualcomm – the manufacturer of the Snapdragon chips used by Meta’s headsets – Quest Super Resolution upscaling tool promises to boost image quality and deliver a smoother experience. So expect the best VR games and apps to have sharper images, and be running at higher framerates on your Oculus Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro than they did before the upgrade.
The Quest Super Resolution upgrade follows a major boost to the CPU and GPU performance of Meta’s headsets that came last month in June 2023. Both the Quest 2 and Quest Pro’s CPUs saw a 26% speed boost last month, while the Quest 2 and Quest Pro’s GPUs got a performance boost of 19% and 11% respectively.
Meta was able to achieve these upgrades via a software patch rather than releasing new hardware because it has allowed the existing components to run at higher clock speeds. To avoid the systems getting too hot while you’re wearing them, the Quest headsets’ components were underclocked – read: their maximum performance is held back compared to what it should be able to do running normally. June’s update removed some of these limitations, with Meta likely deciding it was being a bit too conservative with its underclocked approach.
Thanks to Quest Super Resolution, developers have a new way to utilize the Quest system’s improved GPU capabilities. But we’ll have to wait for them to implement Super Resolution into their software before we see any improvements in the VR software we love.
How does Meta Quest Super Resolution work?
Meta’s blog post gets a little jargon-heavy in its “What is Meta Quest Super Resolution?” section – calling it a “single-pass spatial upscaling and sharpening technique.” What you need to know is that upscaling is a way to get better visual quality out of your hardware without sacrificing performance.
Quest Super Resolution in action (Image credit: Meta)
In general, upscaling works by having a GPU render an image at a lower resolution (say, 1080p or full-HD) and then using tricks to scale it up to a higher one (like 4K, or even 8K). While an upscaled image typically won’t look as crisp as one rendered at the target resolution, it’s a lot less taxing for a GPU to create an upscaled image – as such it can usually run upscaled software at a higher framerate.
Higher smoother framerates are a must-have for VR apps. If the visuals are choppy, or run below a minimum of 90fps, that’s when wearing a headset can make you feel motion sick.
Meta Quest Super Resolution's upscaling algorithm has a few special tricks up its sleeves, too. The highest setting can apparently greatly reduce artifacts caused by upscaled objects blurring into one another at their edges. You can see this in the image above, the Super Resolution image looks the most crisp, with well-defined edges to the objects in the complex scene.
Want to learn more about upscaling? Check out our Nvidia DLSS vs AMD FSR piece to learn about how these two technologies stack up against one another.
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