[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. 

[MandorlaTalebana]

This is what infuriates me most. That Boz idiot has various posts on his X account where he boasts the AI prediction  yapping about the extreme accuracy and realibly wording it "it's so goooood".

This is what we have now.
Q2 controller not available because different tech? Ok! Change Q3 controllers including cameras or whatever is needed, since Quest pro controller seems to solve the issue but cost like a new headset and give them to who is having this problem.

Costy? Who cares, you sold a defective product in the first place.
Not complying? Ok, this will lead only to me spreading this post all around the quest communities like I'm already doing and doing all the worst word of mouth possible about meta and his products.
I'm not getting for sure those 400$ controllers or a fix for this, but they are losing for sure much more headset sales.

I might get a blunt experience for my product and they're loosing hundreds in sales for being unprofessional and careless.

Word of mouth gets far and I've already convinced 12 friends to go on a Pico and ditch Quest, plus I advertised this post everywhere and for sure someone didn't buy a quest for this.

[MandorlaTalebana]

Then these clowns should change the actual controller (include a ring, or new cameras like quest pro controllers or whatever is needed) and replace to use who are having a problem.
From since world exist it's your fault if you produced **bleep**ty products.

[MandorlaTalebana]

The audacity to answer "Glad to know that your issue have been sorted" ignoring entire walls of text spread on 50 pages of people complaining. You should work in a circus.

[MandorlaTalebana]

And? Who cares?
I'll keep answering until I get a solution or a replacement.

[MandorlaTalebana]

They should give us for free. I'm ok with sending back my q3 controllers and getting pro controllers for free or for a very SMALL price ( <100$) if it's a fix.
Their problem, their fix.

[FireHawkX]

I get you are frustrated, totally understandable, but I would probably try contacting their support over and over instead... because i doubt many Meta employee actually check these forums (or at least not regularly)... so you are mostly just spamming the users who tried to have a conversation and help each other out in this case and who have notifications for this thread 🙂

While I personally bought the Pro controllers and it mostly solved the issue (i'd say 95% solved)... at ULTRA high speed there is still a tiny bit of flickering around -- and i totally understand not everyone can or want to get those... i was personally comparing the price of Q3+Pro controller to the Vive or Index and it still came up cheaper and the headset has a bit better features... so i went this way...

What is the most sad is they dont take any accountability for badly designed hardware... because if they were to acknowledge ANY of it, they would be liable for class action lawsuit...

[DeeX0]

Meta has proven they genuinely don't care. 

I would return or sell the Q3 it's simply not worth the frustration. 

[DeeX0]

This will never happen. They don't care at all. The amount of people living with this and still buying and using the device is enough for them. 

[PsilentKnight]

This is definitely not resolved. “the Quest 3 controllers lose tracking during medium?!?-fast hand movement”. What do you think Expert+ Beat Saber is?  If that had been in the product description, I would have saved myself time, money, and headaches.  I have done everything described and then some to attempt to resolve this issue, but my controllers lose tracking all of the time!  I’ve even had a floating red saber handle pop up in front of my face on one occasion.  Everything is clean.  Everything has perfect batteries and charge.  My Valve Index may be outdated, have less advanced lenses, and be a bit on the heavier than the Meta Quest 3, but at least its tracking is razor perfect.  I’m strongly considering getting a refund for my Meta Quest 3 if Amazon will allow.  Don’t get me started on the controllers design. I swear, Wii controllers were easier to hold on to.

[ironster]

I'm also having this issue with fast movements in Les Mills bodycombat. It's annoying. I know the rift had sensors you could plug in around the room, can you still do that? I'm thinking two of them would maybe help?