Hello, Dot Exits Early Access On Quest 3 With Impressive Mixed Reality Features

Hello, Dot from Niantic Spatial on Quest 3 is one of the most impressive mixed reality experiences I've tried.

The release follows a basic demo a year ago with a much more fully featured experience. Available now, the full experience presses Quest 3's mixed reality capabilities to the max by leveraging the scene mesh and supporting dynamic occlusion. Here's a quick video I shot playing with a laser in each reality.

It's a lot of fun having a visit with another dot in the game, seeing them making eye contact with one another, and watching them bump off the walls as you playfully bat them around the environment. Development studio Niantic Spatial, which split from the group behind Pokemon Go in March, hinted that the updates include "a nod to the future and the possibilities of Peridot agentic guides."

Dual wielding a vacuum while using a laser to entertain a pair of dots was pretty fun as well. There's a toolbox, described as an "interactive contraption reminiscent of an arcade machine" you can roll from room to room as needed to access additional activities and games. Grab it by the handle and take it into another room in mixed reality and its wheels seem to scrabble along the floor in a believable way. Quest 3 also seemed to insert the object into my environment around physical obstructions.

Mini games include a dodgeball game and an eating contest with unlockable outfits and environmental accessories. The toolbox includes a microphone you can use to say what you want your creature to look like before you dunk it in a paint bucket. I saw some interesting patterns from the process but nothing seemed related to my prompts.

Hello, Dot is also available on Apple Vision Pro, but a Niantic representative said "at this time" that version of the experience will be the introductory 'showcase' project they launched last year.

You can find the full Hello, Dot experience with hand tracking on Quest 3 and 3S.