Meta improves Quest's hand tracking technology with new update

Facebook parent company Meta has announced the 2.1 upgrade to Meta Quest that will strengthen the hand tracking technology and made it the default for Quest applications. 

Hand Tracking 2.1 features key improvements in stability, precision, and system pinch quality, allowing you to create more flexible and consistent VR applications using hand inputs.  

In a blog post on Friday, the company explained that how the new Hand Tracking 2.1 will allow apps to reduce tracking loss and improve movement prediction. When hands go out of FOV, the recovery time has also been drastically reduced. Strengthening immersion and delivering more seamless user interactions is possible by reducing recovery time. 

Also, the system pinch quality has been enhanced in Hand Tracking 2.1 thanks to the implementation of new machine learning logic. 

"These improvements are useful across many VR experiences, but they're particularly valuable for apps that encourage quick movements, like fitness apps," the company said in the blog post.  

In September 2022, Meta announced that the 1.0 version will be discontinued by April 2023. If users want to prefer continuing the Hand Tracking 1.0 for any reason they can until its ultimate deprecation in April 2023. 

In December 2019, Meta introduced hand tracking on the Quest, and with the next 2.1 update, users will be able to fast-track their motions and more correctly anticipate where their hands will go in the future. 

The Hand Tracking technology is becoming more competitive With Apple believed to be releasing an AR/VR device soon. According to a report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman the Apple device will also come with some hand tracking features like pinching motion to activate things like a button or an app icon, and the company is also working on a way to let users type in midair with their hands.