Do you own a Meta Quest 3? Here’s how to watch Apple’s spatial 3D videos

I have now watched spatial videos on Meta Quest 3. I have seen what all the fuss was about. Are we experiencing the future? At least we see the future on the $500 Quest 3?

Spatial videos look on the $3,500 Vision Probut that’s a lot more money to improve what is, at least for now, a 3D gimmick.

However, this article isn’t about feelings. This article is about getting spatial video to work on a much more affordable XR platform than originally planned. This hack sounded pretty cool to me, so I decided to give it a try and find out what all the fuss was about.

Also: This $50 Meta Quest 3 accessory is a game-changer for glasses wearers

And that, dear reader, is what we’ll get to after much switching between options, wearing headsets, and making random gestures in the air. Here’s the full story.

How to watch spatial Apple videos on the Meta Quest 3

What you need to get started

Let’s start with the must-haves, the hardware and software requirements that are necessary. You need:

• A Meta Quest headset: Meta says you can play spatial video on “your Meta Quest headset.” It doesn’t specify which headset model, which suggests people with Quest Pro, Quest 2, and Quest 3 can watch it. I tested it on the Quest 3.
• Operating system build v62 or better: I’ve had some trouble getting this OS version to show up. Check out my full article on how to find out what version you’re running and how to connect to the public test feed if you need to force an update.
• An iPhone 15 Pro (or Pro Max): I’ll tell you more about that below, but if you want to upload your own spatial videos, you won’t get them without an iPhone 15 Pro on your Quest. Period.
• Some spatial videos: We shot some small room videos using my wife and pup’s iPhone 15 Pro Max. You can find my full guide here.
• The Meta App: Make sure it is installed on your iPhone 15 Pro and bound to your current Quest headset.

Theoretically, you could get by with running the four sample room videos provided and do without the iPhone 15 Pro, but since there is no way to transfer additional room videos to the headset without that iPhone, you won’t get very far with that.

Also: Get the latest Quest 3 updates early: How to enable Meta’s public test feed

Now that you’ve met your requirements, we’re moving some videos.

Seriously, RTFM

It is actually quite easy to play spatial videos on the Quest 3, as long as you all of the above prerequisites. I (and some other users online) did not do this, which led to some confusion. You have this article so you don’t have to suffer the humiliation we experienced when trying to force upload videos on iPhones that aren’t iPhone 15 Pro.

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I’ll tell you my little story of discovery. Then I’ll show you how easy it really is to play these videos. As you can see from this Facebook post, what seems intuitively simple isn’t for those of us who don’t pay. full Please note the instructions.

I had the same problem. Meta’s instructions say to tap the hamburger menu in the bottom right corner of the Meta app and then tap “Gallery”. When you are on the home page of the app and tap the hamburger menu, you will be taken to this page:

You’ll notice that there is no gallery icon on my iPhone 12 Pro Max screen. To be fair, Meta doesn’t say there should be a gallery symbol. However, if you just need to tap on “Gallery”, it is located in the bottom menu. You don’t need to tap the hamburger menu first.

Also: Meta Quest now offers multitasking with six windows – here’s how to enable it

Meta’s instructions then say, “Tap Upload in the top right.” When I opened the gallery from the bottom menu, I found no upload button. There was only a cast button, which was used to share the Meta app with a Chromecast device.

Now let’s take a moment to read through Meta’s instructions again, paying particular attention to the highlighted section.

I figured since we had recorded the room videos on my wife’s iPhone 15 Pro Max and all the magical room video recording work was already done on her phone, we could just share the finished videos on my iPhone 12 Pro Max and then send them to the Quest headset from there since my headset is tethered to my phone.

Also: How to record spatial videos with the iPhone 15 Pro (there’s a trick)

I assumed (apparently incorrectly) that the special spatial video files were like any other files and could be uploaded from any phone. When we make assumptions, we make fools of ourselves. (Yes, Mrs. Demerest, you taught me that in middle school. And you weren’t wrong.)

As the Facebook poster and I both discovered, they are completely serious about the “If you have an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max, you can now upload spatial video” part on Meta. You specifically need one of those two phone models, and presumably one of the iPhone 16 models coming out in September.

Next I tried my wife’s iPhone 15 Pro Max. It worked better.

Uploading spatial videos from your iPhone

I took a few minutes to connect my wife’s iPhone 15 Pro Max to the Quest 3. After that, the missing upload icon was no longer missing:

Tapping displayed a list of previously recorded room videos:

After tapping Upload, the images were processed and presumably converted for use on the Quest. Although I didn’t receive confirmation, I suspect the reason we couldn’t upload the videos from another iPhone model is because the Meta app uses a spatial video API that’s only available on the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.

Anyway, it worked. Within a few minutes the videos were on my Meta Quest 3.

Playing spatial videos on the Meta Quest 3

Playing the videos is easy. Just touch the file icon on your Quest dashboard, then look for the Spatial Videos tab on the left.

Meta offers four videos, but I wanted to see the demonstration of my Pixel, the wonder puppy. Now you just tap on the video you want to watch and it will play.

The following is a GIF animation derived from a flattened image of a 3D viewing experience. In other words, don’t use it to judge the quality of the actual spatial video on the Quest 3.

It was fun, but I was a bit disappointed with what I actually saw in my headset.

My first complaint is with the video interface itself. By default, the video player is presented higher and further back than where you’re currently watching. You know when you’re standing in line at McDonald’s and the menu board is behind the server and above head height? That’s where Meta places the spatial video.

Also: I bought custom lenses for my Meta Quest 3, but not everyone who wears glasses needs them. Do you?

There are no grab edges for the video window. This is different from most other window UI elements on the Quest, and I expect Meta will add these in the future. But you currently cannot move the spatial video from its original position.

I got a little closer by recalculating the boundaries and changing my body position a few times. Through these contortions I managed to make the video appear at what felt like a meter away from my face.

And here comes my second complaint. The video quality is disappointing. In the pixel video, the only time he really looked three-dimensional was when he took the treat from my wife’s hand. Otherwise, he didn’t look three-dimensional like he does in a normal video. Yes, I could move my head a little and there was a tiny change in depth perception, but it was certainly not worth mentioning.

To be fair, you could say we didn’t get the best 3D effect because we didn’t shoot the best 3D video. And that’s probably true. But I looked at the four demo videos provided by Meta and they weren’t any better. I think if you could get the video closer and maybe walk around it, you could feel the depth. But because it’s so far away, it’s not exactly overwhelming.

Also: Who’s afraid of VR? I was afraid – until I tried Meta Quest 3

Let’s put it this way: If you just bought your Meta Quest 3 and want to show it off to impress your friends or to justify the price to your spouse, don’t show spatial videos first.

I expect these to improve. Apple will likely improve the quality of its recordings over time, and Meta can make some simple fixes to improve the usability.

Now that you know what all the fuss is about, will you be shooting spatial video? Will you be trying to play it back on the Quest platform? On the Vision Pro? Let me know in the comments below.

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