Meta, formerly known as Facebook, has taken a significant step in the virtual reality (VR) industry by opening its Quest headset’s operating system to third-party device manufacturers, including Microsoft. This move, announced on Monday, marks Meta’s endeavor to expand its influence in the burgeoning virtual and mixed reality sector.
Partnering companies can now utilize Meta’s Horizon OS, a revamped operating system offering features like gesture recognition, passthrough, scene understanding, and spatial anchors. Asus and Lenovo are among the initial partners planning to leverage this operating system to create specialized devices tailored for specific activities. Meta itself intends to produce a limited edition of the Quest headset inspired by Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console.
This strategic decision reflects Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s aspiration to establish the computational platform underpinning VR and mixed reality devices, akin to how Google’s Android became pivotal in the smartphone market. Meta’s VR business, benefiting from this strategy, operates on the Android-based Meta Horizon OS.
In a video shared on Zuckerberg’s Instagram, he showcased potential specialized headsets that partners might develop, such as lightweight options for exercise, high-resolution models for immersive entertainment, and those equipped with haptics for gaming. ASUS’ Republic of Gamers is working on a gaming headset, while Lenovo is developing an MR (mixed reality) device for productivity, learning, and entertainment using the Horizon OS, though these products may take a few years to materialize.
While Meta currently leads the VR market, it faces increasing competition, with Apple recently entering the space with its Vision Pro headset, and Google reportedly developing an Android platform for VR and MR devices. Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth previously criticized Google’s approach, alleging it could fragment the ecosystem. Zuckerberg expressed openness to having Google Play apps on Meta Horizon OS devices, signaling potential collaboration.
Meta’s Horizon OS incorporates the Horizon Store (formerly Quest Store) for app and experience downloads, alongside a mobile companion app named Meta Horizon app.