Logitech’s first Meta Quest stylus helps artists work in 3D

Today, Logitech officially introduced the MX Ink stylus, the company’s first mixed reality accessory for the Meta Quest 2 and Quest 3 headsets. MX Ink will offer artists a more natural alternative to Quest controllers for creating content that it feels like using a pencil or a brush.

The tracking accuracy and low-latency performance of Meta Quest’s native controllers have helped position the headset as more than just a gaming or media consumption device, but controllers that can feel like you’re holding and working with a can of spray paint, don’t always provide the best interface for content creation. For many artists, a stylus is a preferred tool over a mouse or peripheral designed primarily for gaming, which is why companies like Wacom have thrived for decades, and why Logitech is bringing the stylus into the third dimension.

Looking slightly thicker than the stylus Logitech sells for tablet devices (it weighs 29 grams, compared to 20.7 grams for the second-generation Apple Pencil), the MX Ink can be used as a traditional stylus for content creation 2D in a mixed reality environment with features including interchangeable pressure-sensitive tips and multiple buttons that can be reprogrammed in the Quest’s original settings app. Confirming leaks over the weekend, the stylus also features 6DoF tracking in 3D space, similar to native Quest controllers, haptic feedback, and a pressure-sensitive main button that allows artists to naturally sketch or manipulate models or objects in 3D space.

Logitech promises up to seven hours of battery life, and the MX Ink can be charged using either a built-in USB-C port or the MX Inkwell Charging Dock, which allows the stylus to simply be dropped in to start charging. However, the dock will be an optional accessory, with pricing yet to be revealed.

Five years ago, Magic Leap announced a partnership with Wacom to co-develop tools, allowing the latter company’s stylus technology to be used with mixed reality headsets in the hopes of justifying the expensive Magic Leap One as a means of necessary for content creation.

Unfortunately, this collaboration required artists to awkwardly hold a physical drawing tablet in one hand and a stylus in the other, while also holding the Magic Leap One and wrestling with cumbersome headphone cable connections.

The fully wireless MX Ink stylus looks to offer a lot more freedom of movement and convenience for artists, and Logitech has already announced compatibility with many Meta Quest apps, including Adobe Substance 3D Modeler, Open Brush, Gravity Sketch and Realize Medical.

Although Logitech hasn’t given an exact release date for when the $129.99 MX Ink will be available, it is promising a release “later this year” when it will be sold through Logitech, Meta and Amazon.