Over the past 9 months, Meta rolled out an overhauled Quest boundary system with reduced friction. But the new approach has also turned out to be a dangerous safety regression.For context, let's recap how the boundary system worked at the launch of both Quest 3 and Quest 3S.You start in passthrough when you put the headset on, and that part hasn't changed. But when launching into a VR experience, if you hadn't already set up a boundary the headset would start scanning your floor for open space, then suggest a Roomscale boundary, which you'd accept or edit. Or, if there wasn't enough space, it would suggest a Stationary boundary.(Stationary is a circle around you, while Roomscale lets you draw any closed shape)So what's changed? Over the past nine months or so, Meta has slowly rolled out a new system. Instead of initiating the floor scanning process when launching into VR without a boundary, it simply puts you in a Stationary boundary automatically, with no prompt at all. If you want a Roomscale boundary, you need to open Quick Settings and switch to it.This is somewhat annoying if you want a Roomscale boundary, but it's not the problem this article is about. The safety issue is in how the Stationary boundary, now the automatic default, has fundamentally changed.Before, when approaching the edge of the boundary, you'd see the colored grid, showing you the point beyond which it's unsafe to move. But the new Stationary boundary does not have this. Leaving the area still transitions to passthrough. But before that happens, you're in uninterrupted VR.With the old Stationary boundary, you'd see a colored grid when approaching the edge.This is all well and good when you're using VR in a large, clear area. But throughout the year, I've been contacted by a number of Quest owners who've bumped into their walls or furniture, sometimes even injuring themselves.Some did so because they were unaware that the colored grid had even gone away. That's because Meta didn't even communicate the change. In the release notes for Horizon OS v72, here's exactly what the company said:"In v72, when booting into VR home, you'll get an automatic stationary boundary. When users enter a VR App, a roomscale boundary is triggered; you won't be prompted to find or create a boundary if one is already set up. Meta Quest will automatically detect and use the boundary set up near you."The removal of the colored grid wasn't even mentioned.Apple Explains Vision Pro’s VR Playspace BoundariesApple explained Vision Pro’s approach to VR playspace boundaries:UploadVRDavid HeaneyIt's obvious why Meta moved to this new boundary system. It significantly reduces the friction needed to get into a VR experience, a crucial issue for the industry to tackle. It's also very similar to how VR works on Apple Vision Pro.But on Apple Vision Pro, the always-on LiDAR depth sensing means that visionOS can dynamically fade in passthrough when you approach real-world geometry (objects and furniture). Quest, on the other hand, does not do this. Quest headsets don't have hardware-level depth sensing, so would only be able to sense obstacles in apps which already use the Depth API, which uses a computer vision approach with a compute and battery cost that would tank the performance of VR apps.Essentially, Meta is trying to replicate Apple Vision Pro's frictionless VR experience without having the technology to make it safe. This just isn't good enough, Meta. Either include a real depth sensor in hardware, like ByteDance does in Pico 4 Ultra, or show the colored grid again. When it comes to such a safety-critical system, Meta can't have its cake and eat it too.