Meta's influence continues to make waves in the VR industry, and one recent announcement in particular marks a bold step forward. On April 22, Meta revealed plans to open its Quest operating system, now dubbed Meta Horizon OS, to third-party hardware manufacturers, a move aimed at offering consumers more choices and fostering a broader ecosystem for developers.
Meta Horizon OS will move from the Quest line of headsets to a much wider hardware range in the near future. [Image: Meta]
The new hardware ecosystem signifies Meta's vision of creating a platform centered around "people and connection," leveraging core technologies to enable mixed reality features with a focus on social interaction. Partnerships with industry giants like Microsoft, Lenovo, and Asus signal Meta's ambition to extend the reach of Horizon OS beyond its own Quest lineup. Meta's innovations in inside-out tracking, as well as eye, hand, face, and body tracking, serve as foundational technologies for various mixed reality applications. By allowing external hardware developers to harness these features, Meta anticipates the emergence of innovative AR/MR devices.
Meta Team-Up Vol. 1
Meta is also teaming up with one of the largest tech giants, Microsoft, to develop a limited-edition Quest headset inspired by Xbox. This collaboration builds upon Meta and Microsoft's previous partnership in bringing Xbox's Cloud Gaming app to Meta headsets in 2023.
Is this what Meta’s forthcoming collaborative device with Xbox will look like? [Image: Meta]
Meta Horizon OS promises seamless social integration across a multitude of devices. Users of the forthcoming "Xbox-inspired" Quest will not only have access to games from their existing Xbox and Quest libraries but also be able to connect to the same multiplayer servers and social applications. Most devices leveraging Meta Horizon OS are expected to access content from various app stores, offering consumers a robust operating system and an expansive ecosystem tailored to specific needs rather than generalized mixed reality usage.
The collaboration between Microsoft and Meta aims to bring Horizon OS and an extensive game library to a new limited-edition Xbox-inspired Quest headset, demonstrating the ongoing evolution of immersive experiences in the VR space.
