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Inspiring
October 11, 2023
Solved

[UNRESOLVED as of May 30, 2024] - Quest 3 Controller Tracking Issues

update May 30, 2024: There have been no updates/improvements to controller tracking since Meta Support marked this as solved! Community consensus seems to be that this issue stems from hardware/software limitations with the controllers, specifically the method of tracking (as a software developer working specifically in the machine learning and computer vision space, I agree that this technology is not particularly robust enough to handle some types of movement). If you play games that require fast hand movements and/or dynamic hand positioning, I would recommend not buying a Quest 3, unfortunately. I've heard some anecdotes regarding improved tracking with the Quest Pro controllers, but the improvements are marginal at best - not worth the additional ~$300 for minimal performance gains IMO. My personal recommendation is to stick to Quest 2. Not to detract from the various improvements that the Quest 3 has brought (e.g., color passthrough w/higher resolution, better hand tracking, higher overall hardware specs compared to Quest 2, etc.), but Quest 2 controller tracking is significantly better than the Quest 3's. Ideally, my hope is that Meta will push an update that allows for pairing Quest 2 controllers with the Quest 3, but as of right now, that's just a pipe dream as Meta has given no indication of making these headsets/controllers backwards compatible. While I'm (naively) hopeful that things will change, realistically speaking, I have 0 expectations and a lot of disappointment.

 

tl;dr: I've had a Quest 2 for almost 3 years. I received my Quest 3 today and was very excited to use it. Controller tracking performance is much worse than the Quest 2, at least in the context of games where you swing your arms as fast as you can. This was not a problem for the Quest 2 (unless controllers were physically damaged, e.g., hitting a wall, dropping them, etc.). Don't buy if you play games like Gorilla Tag, Beat Saber, Synth Riders, or any of the other games mentioned throughout this thread!!!

 

Question:
Are there ways to modify the Quest 3's controller tracking such that fast hand movements won't be affected by the prediction-like behavior where the in-game hand moves farther than you swing? When I perform a baseball throwing movement with my hand/arm, the tracking will not keep up and it ends up losing my hand's position for a fraction of a second, causing my in-game hand to be positioned farther away than my hand actually is (this is not an issue with Quest 2 controller tracking).

 

Details/Context:
I primarily use VR for exercise, and I mostly play Gorilla Tag. Gorilla Tag is a game where you play as the upper half of a gorilla, using your arms as your means of locomotion. Basically, you use your arms as if they were your legs, and you can run, climb trees, wall-run, etc. It's an infection-based tagging game where you join a lobby of up to 9 other people, and the game will randomly select a player to be the first tagger. The tagger(s) will continue tagging until everyone in the lobby has been tagged (infection-style), and then a random player will be selected as first tagger; this pattern just continuously repeats.

While the learning curve is pretty steep to play at a high level, there is a growing community of players who are very competitive (approx. 10-20k players based on the communities I participate in - Competitive Gorilla Tag on Discord and Gorilla Tag Competitive on Discord). As a prominent member of this community, people have been seeking my feedback on whether or not the Quest 3 is worth it. While I feel that a majority of the new features are amazing, I have had issues with the controller tracking.

Gorilla Tag is an active game where you're constantly swinging your arms as fast as you can to travel around the map(s) to avoid being tagged. The primary player base for the game is Quest 2 users. Aside from physical damage, most players have not had any problems with controller tracking on the Quest 2, aside from when the controller goes out of the tracking range of the headset (as expected). 

However, the Quest 3 controllers lose tracking during medium-fast to fast hand movement (medium-fast: like playing catch with a friend; fast: throwing a baseball as hard as you can). The consequence of this in the context of Gorilla Tag is that your in-game arm extends to the game's max arm length frequently, causing your hand to collide with the wall/tree/ground and launch you away from the surface. This is a big issue for games/activities involving fast-paced hand movement as it's not nearly as reliable as the Quest 2 controller tracking performance. 

TheAntiSocializer
Honored Contributor
October 24, 2023

Hey everyone, I've connected with the team and they are actively investigating tracking issues like you've mentioned. We'll be working to improve performance, especially for competitive players in games like Gorilla Tag, Supernatural, IB Cricket, and Eleven Table Tennis. We expect to roll some of these improvements in the upcoming releases.

Sometimes it's okay to be a little Bing Chilling

531 replies

Up and Coming
December 18, 2023

I've already answered your claw grip question several times on this thread... NO, I never use the claw grip, and here are the three times I've answered that query already:

This is getting quite redundant. Your entire last post was based on your supposition that the claw grip was in use, when I've already answered multiple times that I never use it.

The first 18 minutes of the video you posted is just a bracket, no actual action. And it isn't Beat Saber, it's Eleven Table Tennis, which I've never played. Take that up with the developer of the game, who posted on this thread AND confirms the issue we're describing. What are your credentials again? Mechanical engineer? Software developer? Anything? Sheesh. Enough already. 

Up and Coming
December 18, 2023

when the developer spoke to be fair there were lots of complaints with the early iteration of adapters. Now there are complaints about certain things especially as if you expose the face more for the backhand you affect forehand strokes.

The other serious issue is face visibility. When you played with quest 2, with the right kind of adapter could you not only play forehand and backhand strokes, but you could play forehand and backhand strokes on BOTH SIDES of the adapter which is critical for types of people who will eventually use rubbers that require twiddling or those who play chinese penhold.

The visibility of the quest 3 does limit certain types of play styles which is a problem when you are making a 100% realistic game.

Lots of people also complained about golf+ until there were correctly designed adapters which maximized face visiblity. Now it is not so much as big of a deal.

Keep in mind the ETT developer also asked for quest 1 controller support on the quest 2 because that the quest 2 controllers were too big for people with smaller hands.

Inspiring
December 18, 2023

I think it's time that everyone just ignores echo.sonic.x.  He's just repeatedly telling people their problems are caused by things they've already said they aren't doing.   Winding strangers up on forums must be his idea of a good time!

Despite META's obvious lack of interest in people's issues judging by the lack of response, there's no way any company would hire someone to purposefully annoy already unhappy customers.

Time to stop feeding the troll.

Participant
December 21, 2023

Hello, I found that if I disable hand and body tracking it helps with the tracking problems.

New Participant
December 21, 2023

As others have stated, if you disable hand tracking, then this issue is non-existent. I have a lot of games and none of them require, or work better, with hand tracking. So for me at least, problem solved.

I'm also encouraged by this "fix" since it shows it's a software issue and not a hardware issue.

Participant
December 21, 2023

I am glad that for some disabling of hand tracking fixed their issues.

However, I want to re-iterate and stress that in my case (as per videos provided) disabling hand tracking does not solve the issue I am having (glitches of tracking after fast motion followed by a suddent stop). All my videos were recorded with hand tracking off.

So the statement of the previous poster that "I'm also encouraged by this "fix" since it shows it's a software issue and not a hardware issue." does not apply to all cases, it applies only to theirs. 

Up and Coming
December 21, 2023

It didn't "Fix" mine, just made it break maybe 95% less frequently in Beat Saber. Unfortunately, when it loses tracking it doesn't recover before I've lost the song and have to start over. When it happens, its usually when I'm in the flow and swinging large to the beat and my hands go high and wide. Kinda sucks that when I'm having the most fun is when it breaks.

MetaStoreHelp
Community Manager
December 21, 2023

Hey Ken.Otwell , we understand you're having a hard time with your Quest 3 controllers tracking. We definitely know how frustrating it can be when you've done everything you need to without the proper outcome to show for it. We'd love to help you get back on track. 
 

With that being said, we'd like to invite you to send us a PM to look into this together! Select our name to get to our profile page, or click here. Next, click "Send a Message" to privately message us! Please remember, you must be signed into the community first to send us a private message. We look forward to hearing back from you!

If you're the author of a thread, remember to mark a reply as the Accepted Solution to help others find answers!
Participant
December 21, 2023

Hi MetaStoreHelp , I am not sure why you only replied to Ken.Otwell in this thread. I took Ken's invitation to directly contact you as an invitation for myself too and just directly contacted you via Forum messages too. In my message to you I listed the URL of this thread, description of my issue as well as links to my YouTube videos showing the issue:

 

MetaStoreHelp
Community Manager
December 21, 2023

Hey there 3d-illusions.co.uk and xeiter! We'd love to work with you as well. If you have any questions regarding this issue, feel free to reach out to us, using the following link. We'll be happy to assist you!

If you're the author of a thread, remember to mark a reply as the Accepted Solution to help others find answers!
Inspiring
December 21, 2023

Everyone's having the same issues, so wouldn't it be better to just assist here so you don't get 100's of identical support requests to work through?  Plus that way everyone can benefit.

Participant
December 21, 2023

Meta Quest support sent me these two links to see if it helps me with the issue I am having: 

It was not helpful - I let them know. Waiting for further replies.

UPDATE: I have now been asked to perform a factory reset of my Quest 3.

Inspiring
December 21, 2023

Thanks.  Just wondering, what  personal information did they need that prevented them from helping everyone at once directly on the forum?

Inspiring
December 22, 2023

MetaStoreHelp  Could I ask, why after months of reports here are you only just considering getting your specialists to investigate?  Also, why do you need to authenticate individuals and get specific device information when we're all using the same hardware?  Does this mean that the hardware has been updated beyond a certain serial number batch?

Participant
December 22, 2023

Did a factory reset and tested for the same issue in Home screen. No apps installed. 

Unfortunately, the same issue with glitchiness after fast motion and sudden stop.

Participant
December 26, 2023

Was contacted by Meta Support via direct email and was asked to provide serial numbers of headset, box and controllers as well as shipping address.

I provided all the requested info.

Participant
December 26, 2023

This is interesting on a couple of levels:

1) maybe they are actually looking at doing something to address their tracking nightmare, and

2) asking for serial number raises the possibility that different manufacturing runs may have different components that may behave differently?

Participant
December 26, 2023

Meta Support asked me to send my full set of quest 3 to them and they will send me a new one in return.

 

Once I get the mailing label via email I will be able to get the process going.

I don’t know if it’s going to help my issue (especially providing that others can replicate the same issue from what I hear) but I guess it is worth trying to rule a potential hardware issue or a bad batch out.

Up and Coming
December 29, 2023

If the quest 3 had issues with the tracking cameras it's almost as if you wouldn't notice since the headset does not use the bottom cameras for passthrough like it did on the quest 2. Also I notice it's hard to hold the headset since there are so many places covered by cameras and sensors. It's difficult to avoid touching the bottom lenses.