I was obsessed with the cinema as a kid. There was something truly special about the whole experience – the intoxicating aroma of popcorn, the sheer scale of the screen, the rib-shaking bass that rumbled through your chest.
It was a proper escape from reality, and I loved being transported to other worlds, if only for a few hours at a time.
These days, that magic has sadly gone. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve been to the cinema in the past eight years or so. And the last flick I saw? The Peppa Pig movie. Not my choice, I assure you.
It’s not just that I’m older and busier, although that certainly plays a part. The cinema experience has also changed – and not for the better. It’s more expensive (as most things are nowadays), and there’s no guarantee that what I watch will be worth the time, money and effort. The lack of a local cinema also doesn’t help matters.
And that’s all without mentioning Other People.
While I’m sure you’re lovely and considerate, I’ve suffered plenty of people who aren’t. I still vividly remember how Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 – the grand finale after years of build-up – was utterly ruined for me by a group of loud-mouthed teens who treated the cinema like their parents’ kitchen at a messy house party.
But despite all that, something strange has happened. My love for the silver screen has been rekindled – but not in the way you’d expect.
Virtual Insanity
A rare free evening recently aligned with a decadent craving for a Dominos and a rather nice bottle of Bumbu rum (other brands of salt-laden pizza and tipple are, of course, also available).
Paired with this nutritionist’s nightmare of a meal was a Blu-ray I’d had knocking about for a while and had put off watching for far too long – Dune: Part Two.
The only snag? I wasn’t particularly thrilled at the idea of watching it on our perfectly average, five-year-old, mid-range Samsung telly. It felt like a disservice, somehow. Dune is, after all, a visual spectacle crafted with the wonders of gigantic screens and booming surround sound systems in mind.
While I enjoyed the first one on the aforementioned TV, I knew I would have enjoyed the experience far more on the big screen.
And then a thought popped into my head. I have a Meta Quest 3 VR headset. What if I could somehow recreate a cinema experience virtually?
A quick Google confirmed that the dream was very much doable. I ripped the Blu-ray to my PC and fired up an app called Skybox VR Video Player, which easily let me remotely stream the file from my PC.
My son was asleep. The garlic and herb sauce was open. I was ready.
A private oasis
Skybox VR gives you a few viewing environment options. I could have used the passthrough mode to watch it on a giant floating screen in my living room (which actually works surprisingly well), but I of course chose the cinema setting.
At the press of a button, I had an entire theatre all to myself. Plush seats, dimmed lights, and not a crumb of stale popcorn in sight. I chose a spot towards the back so I could take everything in. No loud teens. No distracting phone screens. No one kicking my seat. Pure bliss. I pressed play.
The opening credits began to roll. Instantly, and immediately, I had a very specific feeling wash over me. I’m pretty sure there’s no word to describe it. But it’s the feeling I used to have as a kid, packed into a cinema, snacks in hand, knowing that the next few hours would be something rather special. And they were.
The immersion, combined with the feeling of being in an actual cinema, blew me away more than I could have ever expected. Even better, my cat had decided to curl up on my lap, which would be a nigh-on impossible achievement at a bona fide picture house.
As for the picture? By all rights, it should be worse than my 4K TV. The Meta Quest 3’s per-eye resolution is 2064 x 2208 pixels. That’s lower than the 3840 x 2160 of a 4K TV. But despite this on-paper disparity, I was pleasantly surprised by the sharpness on offer. At no point did it feel like I was taking a major visual hit or compromise.
Sure, I’d prefer the inky blacks, punchy colours, and contrast of an OLED, but once you’re immersed in the scale of the VR experience – the sheer size of the screen relative to your vision, the surrounding environment, the darkness – it’s far more of a spectacle than anything a humble TV could serve up.
Witnessing the monolithic might of an approaching sandworm as Paul Atreides set out to ride it for the first time is burned into my brain as a core cinematic memory that no mere TV experience could have provided.
In fact, as memories go, it's up there with my favourite big-screen moment as a kid – when Michael Jordan stretched his arm across the court to make the winning basket in Space Jam.
On the audio front, the Quest 3’s built-in speakers also impressed. They’ve had a notable upgrade over the Quest 2, with integrated stereo drivers offering 3D spatial audio. Dialogue was clear, and everything seemed balanced, though the low-end was, of course, lacking.
Would a proper pair of headphones have sounded better? Absolutely – especially if you’re hankering for some Michael Bay-level explosions. But even without any extra headphones, the soundstage was immersive enough to draw me in.
I might try some earbuds next time for even more punch and presence – but I also enjoyed the freedom of being able to hear the on-screen action while still being aware of my surroundings. I was on childcare duties, after all.
That awareness, by the way, also came in handy when I wanted to top up my drink or pop to the loo. One of the most underrated parts of this whole setup was how seamless it was to pause the film, walk into the kitchen and grab a snack – all without even taking the headset off. The Quest 3’s passthrough cameras are just that good.
With a simple double tap of the side of the headset, you can switch between a virtual cinema and your real-world surroundings in a matter of seconds, which makes the experience surprisingly comfortable.
On the subject of comfort, I should also point out that I have a special headstrap (the BoboVR S3) with a built-in fan that helped keep me cool throughout the film’s two-and-a-half-hour runtime.
All in all, it was the best film-watching experience I’ve had in years. It delivered all the immersion and escapism of a proper cinema, but without any of the frustration or financial drain.
And unlike a projector setup or dedicated home cinema room, the Quest 3 is something you can actually afford, store, and take with you wherever you go.
Sure, I’d love to have a proper projector setup one day – a big screen, blackout curtains, velvet seats, and maybe even a popcorn machine. But right now, I’ve got something far more achievable. A device that lets me carry a cinema in my bag.
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