[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. 

[4rtrage]

I have similar problems also in Blaston where the q2 works perfectly and the q3 looses the tracking of my controller (usually the left one) in the middle of the match 

[SolidSlime]

Hi there, Eleven player here too. Instead of waiting for Quest 2 controller compatibility (which might never happen) or getting Quest Pro controller (which is heavy and pricey) I'd suggest looking into getting a good adapter. 

There are a few benefits of using an adapter:

1. It enables natural grip of the racket to achieve all kinds of angles you would do in real life.
2. It helps you to get a better feeling of the reach distance in VR.
3. It can simulate the weight and weight distribution of a real life racket better.
4. It helps avoiding unrealistic movements like wrist snap which is not only ineffective in real life, but also could cause injuries in the long run.
5. It helps combating the imperfect design of the controllers to improve the tracking. This is especially true for Quest 3: Since the tracking ring is removed, the controller angles that allow good tracking is significantly reduced. Many Beat Saber, Gorilla Tag, golf players are complaining about it. However, the adapter can overwrite the angle of the controller, in order to make the LEDs more visible during various strokes that are common in a specific sport.

More info can be found at https://eleven-vr.fandom.com/wiki/Eleven_Table_Tennis_Adapters

[Mikeyd20492]

Can the Meta team provide some sort of update? Either let us know if there is something on the roadmap to fix the issue? Or if they are actively looking into making the Quest 2 controllers backwards compatible. Or at least let us know if that is even an option? If not, would they subsidise the pro controllers for people complaining with the tracking issue? I'm at the point now where I'd consider selling my Quest 3 to buy the 2. But the silence from the team is a little concerning. I appreciate it's a complex issue, but some sort of update would be greatly appreciated and it's not an unreasonable ask. 

[DeeX0]

It appears that no one cares. Disappointing support.

[user_828325786856125]

Hi, I can speak only for the eleven table tennis, after the controllers update any fast-forward serving spinning, leads to the controller disappearing 5 seconds or so.

[user_828325786856125]

I wonder if it something to do with battery get disconnected due to acceleration?

[DirtyHarry_4]

STILL not solved.  I have completely quit playing Eleven Table Tennis because it's such a disappointment on the Quest 3.  It really sucks because it is one of the most fun and most realistic sports simulation on the Quest 2 but on the quest 3 you can't even string together 5 shots without a tracking issue!!!  All just because they wanted the controller to look better, not perform better.  Some engineer(s) there has/have their priorities backwards!!!  Allow me to use my quest 2 controllers on the quest 3 would be one solution.

[4rtrage]

I fully agree! Having q2 controllers on the q3 would be perfect 

[SkulllFace]

Yeah! While it makes us so angry for this mistake, atleast they can provide an update to buy and use q2 controllers for those willing to spend $ to fix it. I guess they dont care

[SkulllFace]

Did some research and figured why Meta won't do that. They've done whole algorithm shift because of the camera placement and so even though theoretically they can do if they want to, its a lot of work to retrain Q3 with Q2 controllers.