Meta’s latest update for Quest headsets, Horizon OS v79, introduces a meaningful new feature called Adaptive Lighting. This system automatically adjusts the color temperature of 2D windows within the headset’s interface to harmonize with the user’s surrounding physical environment’s lighting.
The update also brings enhancements to the files app, including a new search functionality that allows users to locate files by their names. Additionally,the Files app now features more organized tabs,categorizing content into Media,Spatial Videos,Panoramas,and Downloads.A notable improvement is the native ability to open PDF files directly within the Files app. Previously, accessing pdfs on Quest required using the Adobe Acrobat web app, which necessitated an Adobe account and lacked offline functionality.As is standard with Meta Horizon OS updates, v79 will be deployed gradually. this means it may take several days or even weeks for all users’ headsets to receive the update. Furthermore, meta sometimes rolls out certain features independently of the main OS update, so possessing the v79 update does not guarantee immediate access to all newly listed functionalities.
Adaptive Lighting Explained
Adaptive Lighting is an always-on feature in horizon OS v79, with no user-adjustable settings to enable or disable it. Its purpose is to modify the color temperature of all 2D windows, including the recently updated Navigator UI, to mirror the ambient lighting conditions of the user’s physical space. Color temperature, measured in kelvins (K), describes the perceived warmth or coolness of white light, influencing a room’s atmosphere.
While other consumer electronics, such as Apple’s iPhones, iPads, and Macs (with their “True Tone” feature), Google’s Nest Hub smart displays (“Ambient EQ”) and Pixel Tablets (“Adaptive Tone”), and Apple Vision Pro, offer similar ambient light matching capabilities, Quest’s implementation is noteworthy. These other devices typically rely on dedicated ambient light sensors. However, Quest headsets do not possess such sensors. This suggests that Meta is employing a computer vision algorithm that analyzes the passthrough camera feed to ascertain the ambient color temperature. This approach is also utilized in ARKit on iOS/iPadOS and ARCore on Android.
Files App Enhancements
Horizon OS 79 also introduces a revamped files app.The updated app now includes a search bar, enabling users to find files by their names. The association of files has also been improved with the addition of new tabs: Media, Spatial Videos, Panoramas, and Downloads. A key new capability is the native support for opening PDF documents. While it was previously possible to open PDFs on Quest via the Adobe Acrobat web app available on the store, this required an Adobe account login and did not support offline use.
