Using your Meta Quest on the go -- at least while you're on an airplane -- just got easier. Meta announced today that an "experimental" Travel Mode is now available on itsQuest 2 and theQuest 3 headsets.
Apple's Vision Pro debuted with a Travel Mode, but the Quest 2, available since October 2020, and the Quest 3, available since October 2023, have been difficult to use in a moving vehicle because of how the devices' positional tracking work. Since it's based on physical location, the Quest's interface would fly away in the opposite direction, until now.
The new Travel Mode lets you use your Quest headset as usual while flying, including support for passthrough and positional tracking.
Also: Meta Quest 3 review: The VR headset most people should buy in 2024
To enable Travel Mode on your Quest, press the Meta button on your right controller to bring up the menu. Hover over the clock and select "Quick settings" when the new menu appears. Select "Settings" from the top right side and choose "Experimental." From there, you can toggle Travel Mode on.
After you enable the feature, you can easily turn it on or off from the quick settings menu.
With Travel Mode, Meta says the Quest becomes "the ultimate in-flight entertainment device, so you can watch movies on a massive virtual screen, kick back with a game or meditation app, and even get some work done in private." The feature even keeps working when you look out a window, something Apple support warns could cause problems with the Vision Pro's Travel Mode.
Depending on which airline you're flying, Meta says, your Quest may automatically detect that you're on an airplane and recommend turning on Travel Mode as soon as you turn your headset on.
Meta noted that since it specifically tuned algorithms to the motion of an airplane, Travel Mode doesn't support other methods of transportation like a car or a subway. Support for other methods of travel is coming later.