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

[NotDream]

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. 

[brgiz.2023]

No, I said on my first comment that I broke my quest2 left controller and I could not justify buying $100 controller so I ended up buying quest 3 since its the latest VR. Which I thought is a good purchase instead of buying an overpriced controller for an old gen quest 2. But obviously regretted that decision and few weeks later just bought that quest 2 left controller which I probably should have done in the first place. 

[pankajgo]

I see. I am in the similar boat. I gave away my quest 2 and bought 3 only to run into this tracking issue with IBCricket game. Ended up buying quest 2 again 😞

[nick.filyonchik]

It is very annoying that there is no official answer about this problem and no solution.
If I had known about this problem, I would not have taken quest 3 at all. I would have bought Pico 4 instead.

[JeffG01]

I've been alternating using the Q2 & the Q3 for about 4 weeks now, and I can say for certain that the Q2 does not lose tracking during my training sessions or competitive matches.

Using the exact same strokes, the Q3's tracking is ok up to 65% speed, but anything over that it may lose tracking.  The faster the movement, the more likely tracking will break.

I ordered the Quest Pro controllers just to test them - they should arrive 1/22 - 1/24.  If they work, I will keep them even though I don't think that we should be required to spend an additional $300 just to attain the same tracking we had with older technology.

I'll repot back as soon as I have a few hours of testing.

Additionally, I will return the Q3 at the end of my return window (Jan 30) for a replacement.  Some people report no problems at all with tracking of their Q3 .  I'm wondering if it's because their arm speed doesn't go beyond what the Q3 is capable of tracking, or if different units were assembled using different components at various facilities.

[Javerian17]

You need to fix it I can't even input my pin because of the tracking loss it just keeps happening I can't even play my game without my tracking getting loss and I don't want to have to buy the pros cause those are just as expensive as the quest 2

[The1WithThe4s]

We bought the Quest3, upgrading from Quest2. My wife who plays Beat saber regularly almost immediately said something is not right with the tracking.  Initially I thought it just takes a bit of  time to adjust, but she still thinks the same after a week. Later on she showed me the left "hand" would completely stuck randomly when she plays the game.  That could happen very regularly to the point the game is pretty much unplayable.

We tried many things like play some of the suggestions on this thread, we also tried play in different rooms, changing the lighting, day/night,  but nothing works.  

Back to Quest 2 and that works flawlessly.  It's frustrating after spending so much for an "upgrade". 
Really disappointed Meta!

[3d-illusions.co.uk]

It's bad enough that tracking is broken on the quest 3, but it's even worse that Meta are not giving any response to the hundreds of people asking for help here.

I'll never buy from them again.

[caos901]

I honestly don't think they can fix it.  There are multiple problems with the tracking on these controllers and I believe it's hardware or lack of that is causing these issues and no amount of software can fix it.  Its been a issue from day 1 and they acknowledged it and that was it.  I would assume issues as important as hand tracking and position would be priority issues to resolve, and I don't think they can.  I hope they Suprise me, but I have lost all hope of them fixing this in a timely manner.  

[caos901]

Make sure you reflect this in your product review.  I feel it's important to bring to people's attention.  

[3d-illusions.co.uk]

Yeah, inability to respond means inability to fix.  Keeping quiet is the only option to not damage sales.