Quest v78 Improved The Passthrough Camera API’s Image Quality

Horizon OS v78 significantly improved the quality of the passthrough camera API, making Quest 3 a passable entry-level 3D camera.

The passthrough camera API was first released back in March, and has been available for use in shipping Horizon Store apps since April. It lets developers access Quest 3’s front-facing color cameras, if the user grants permission, to run custom computer vision models or for image capture.

The v78 improvement was spotted by the developer of immerGallery, and confirmed by Meta software engineer Roberto Coviello.

immerGallery is a $30 VR image and video viewing app that also recently added the ability to capture 3D photos and videos in the Quest build. But before v78, the developer noticed that the image quality was poor, with a pixelated “ripple” look up close.

“With the recent MetaOS v78 update, the passthrough image quality has noticeably improved. Previously, there were some visible artifacts in the captured frames, which I initially assumed were limitations of the system. Thankfully, Meta addressed this in the latest update and the improvement in clarity is very apparent.”

The developer still recommends picking up a dedicated 3D camera for professional capture, such as Xreal Beam Pro ($200) or Canon’s “spatial lens” attachment for its EOS R7 camera ($2000 – $6000 total). But now, Quest 3 is at least a viable entry-level option for those not looking to buy an extra device.

Given the image quality improvement, it seems possible Meta will add 3D capture as a system-level feature at some point in the future. Apple Vision Pro and Pico 4 Ultra both offer the ability to capture 3D photos and videos natively.