The cost of Meta Quest’s mind-bending fractal virtual reality (VR) adventure has been reduced, and additional content has been introduced.
Recombination, the VR experience known for its impressive visuals, has recently added two new free experiences and is now available at a reduced price.
Julius Horsthuis, a Dutch fractal artist, created Recombination, an audiovisual VR album. The VR app, released one year ago, provided eight captivating encounters where users explore stunning mathematical realms.
unavailable for rewording.
- Algebra of Awe feat. Mirage of Deep
- Geometric Properties feat. David Levy
The additional tracks included as a bonus add another 15 minutes to the collection of fractal landscapes, resulting in a total of 10 tracks and a playing time of 60 minutes in Recombination. These bonus tracks are available at no cost to both new and current customers.
Recombination is available for purchase on the App Lab for Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest Pro. The VR experiences can be downloaded either separately or as a complete package, amounting to a total size of over 25GB. Streaming is not enabled to maintain optimal image quality.
Improved on Quest 3, but not flawless.
The individual experiences consist of pre-rendered 180-degree movies in 8K and 3D. As a result, these experiences are passive and do not allow any form of interaction.
I watched the two new tracks on my Quest 3. Geometric Properties captivates with its alien-looking plant worlds, while Algebra of Awe takes you through beguilingly colorful cosmic halls and panoramas to percussive music and vocals. Since the latter experience involves both camera movement and rotation, I recommend watching Algebra of Awe lying down. Otherwise you might get dizzy.
When I evaluated Recombination twelve months ago, I noticed occasional minor glitches in the VR experience on Quest 2, which diminished the visual quality. Recombination performs better on Quest 3, but regrettably, the issue persists to some extent. Whether you perceive this depends on your sensibility towards frame rate problems.
Horsthuis may look into Vision Pro
Horsthuis frequently showcases his artwork in exhibitions, such as those held in New York. His future aspirations involve emphasizing immersive installations, while also intending to persist with his contributions to virtual reality.
“I face the difficulty of identifying the right audience for my work in VR. This is because the majority of Quest owners anticipate gaming and interactive entertainment rather than passive, high-resolution immersive content,” explained Horsthuis
I could consider exploring the Vision Pro as it seems to be more appealing to the demographic that appreciates my creations. However, achieving that level of resolution would entail a substantial amount of rendering. Nonetheless, I am genuinely interested in investigating it further.
“But I will continue to produce content for Quest as well.”
