Even on a Budget, It Left Me Feeling Queasy

It’s been quite some time since I last strapped on a mixed reality headset. I mostly rely on my foldable Android device these days, so my Quest 2 has been gathering a bit of dust. However, after experiencing the Meta Quest 3S at Meta Connect, I’m rethinking if there’s room for this kind of adventure in my life again. That lingering queasiness, though—that’s something I could do without.

Meta recently introduced the Quest 3S, priced at a starting point of $300. It’s a tad more budget-friendly compared to the regular Quest 3, operating on the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 platform but sacrificing a bit of resolution for the savings. The field of view isn’t as expansive as the Quest 3, yet it’s an improvement over its predecessors, the Quest and Quest 2. This release seems to be targeted at folks like me who haven’t used a headset in a while and might be tempted to upgrade. It boasts full-color mixed reality passthrough, and during my demo, switching to this mode made maneuvering feel effortless.

Initially, donning the Meta Quest 3S rekindled a sense of nostalgia for this kind of experience. But as time went on, I was quickly reminded why these devices often stay shelved in my house—I get nauseous. It might’ve been the lack of food or perhaps the intense warmth of the venue, but roughly 32 minutes into the demo, I had to politely bow out for a breather back in the real world.

The moment that pushed me to my limits was the Horizon World’s Music Valley Experience. It features Sabrina Carpenter performing from a distance, reminiscent of her Disney Channel days. As you draw nearer to her “stage,” the immersion heightens to a level where it feels like you’re infringing on personal space. That was a bit too intimate for my liking.

An avatar joined me at one point, gracefully dancing alongside and offering a friendly virtual tour. Our exploration led us to a floating alien spaceship dispensing musical notes. Attempting to catch these notes with the joystick serving as my makeshift claw was challenging and incidentally where the unsettling sensation in my stomach began.

Despite this, I enjoyed other aspects of the Quest 3S. Watching the start of a Celine Dion special on Amazon Prime was a delight, her voice sounded phenomenal. Sitting amidst a field of daisies in an 8K, 3D YouTube video felt serene. I juggled some windows around and haphazardly stacked them just because. While I tried to play an Xbox game, the demo controller didn’t cooperate, yet I did manage to join a round of Just Dance. By then, my resilience was wearing thin.

The queasiness peaked in Horizon Worlds. The absence of a fixed horizon, unlike what you might find on a rocking boat to steady your gaze, intensified the nausea. I didn’t anticipate such a reaction while seated, which is likely how I’ll approach VR next time—firmly planted in a chair. Meta may have managed to cut down the Quest’s cost, but they’re still working on accommodating queasy stomachs like mine in the virtual and mixed reality realms.

The Meta Quest 3S is available for pre-order, starting at $300 for the 128GB model, with the 256GB version priced at $400. The official launch is on October 15.