The Meta Quest 3 headset is great for entering virtual worlds — it's my favorite way to experience Microsoft Flight Simulator, for instance — but a lot of people don't know that this headset is also compelling when it comes to augmented reality.
I had a chance to try out the Real Racer remote control car, which recently released an app so that you could control it using the Meta Quest 3. It elevated both the best VR headset and the car to a new level, creating a pretty great AR experience. Here's how it works, and what I found.
The Real Racer car works well on its own, and is a pretty fun toy for $150. The car has a 720p camera right above the windshield, which transmits via Wi-Fi to a smartphone app. The car also comes with a headset, so you can mount your phone inside and get a first-person view as it zooms around your floor.
Also included with the car is a remote control, with a simple trigger to move it forward and back, and a wheel on the side to turn the car. Sadly, the kit does not come with the four AAA batteries you need to power the remote, and I found that the steering wheel popped off very easily.
However, when I paired the car with the Meta Quest 3, it took things to a whole new level.
In the driver's seat
Once everything was set up, I was (figuratively) in the driver's seat. The Meta Quest 3 changed so that it now appeared as if I were inside a racecar: Looking forward through the windshield, I saw a live feed from the car's camera. Directly in front of me was a steering wheel and dashboard, and the rest of the cockpit looked like a stock car — if I looked down, I could even see the seat.
Instead of using the controller that came with the racecar, I used the Meta Quest 3's controllers. Pressing the two Pinch buttons (the ones furthest down on the controllers) caused the virtual hands to grip the steering wheel. Then, I could turn my hands to the left or right to steer the car, just like in real life.
The right-hand trigger button caused the car to move forward, while pressing the left-hand trigger moved it in reverse.
Driving the car using the headset was pretty fun — in no time at all, I was chasing my cat around the house. I do wish the haptic feedback in the controllers would have rumbled as the car roared around my home, though.
The video quality was only so-so. Things degraded pretty quickly in darker environments, but you can't expect 4K from something that's only $150, and it's plenty fine for a toy.
Bumps in the road
To use the car with the Meta Quest 3, you have to install an app on the headset, and then pair the car with the headset via Wi-Fi. The setup process was a little funky — the app crashed on me a couple of times, and there were a couple of instances where I had to back out of the app to select certain menu items.
Apart from the glitches with the app, the only thing that I found truly annoying was the battery for the car itself. The battery is good for about 20 minutes of runtime, but to recharge it, you need to unscrew a panel on the bottom of the car, remove the battery, and plug it into a proprietary USB-A plug. The car comes with a tiny screwdriver like the one you'd find in a glasses repair kit, and one that you're almost certain to lose. So be sure to put it in a safe place.
Ride or die?
The Real Racer is a fun and pretty inexpensive way to get a bit more out of your Meta Quest 3 headset. I could see kids having a lot of fun with it, especially as you can drive the car out of visual sight, but still see where it's going. Its battery life is reasonably long, too — some cheap drones last less than half as long — so it's nice to get some real playtime out of the car before you have to head back to the garage.
More from Tom's Guide
