- Meta Horizon OS devices will also use the same mobile companion app that Meta Quest owners use today and rename it as Meta Horizon app.
Meta Platforms is opening up the operating system powering its Meta Quest devices to third-party hardware makers and working with leading global technology companies to give more choice to consumers and a larger ecosystem for developers to build for.
The new hardware ecosystem will run on Meta Horizon OS, the mixed reality operating system that powers Meta Quest headsets.
Meta Horizon OS devices will also use the same mobile companion app that Meta Quest owners use today and rename it as the Meta Horizon app.
The social media company said that partners such as Asus and Lenovo would use the operating system to build devices tailored for particular activities.
Accelerating adoption
Meta is also using it to make a limited edition version of the Quest headset “inspired by” Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console, according to the company’s statement.
“Lenovo is bringing together Meta Horizon OS to accelerate adoption of new user scenarios in mixed reality like virtual screens, remote presence, content consumption and immersive training,” Yuanqing Yang, Chair & CEO, Lenovo, said.
To pioneer standalone headsets, Meta developed technologies like inside-out tracking, and for more natural interaction systems and social presence, they developed eye, face, hand and body tracking.
For mixed reality, they built a full stack of technologies for blending the digital and physical worlds, including high-resolution Passthrough, Scene Understanding, and Spatial Anchors.
The long-term investment that began on the mobile-first foundations of the Android Open Source Project has produced a full mixed reality operating system used by millions of people.
Gaming headset of the next generation
Meta’s VR business is one of the beneficiaries of that Google strategy, as Meta Horizon OS is itself Android-based.
Meta said in its blog post that ASUS’ Republic of Gamers is developing a gaming headset and Lenovo is working on an MR device for productivity, learning, and entertainment using the Horizon OS. Zuckerberg said it may take a few years for these devices to launch.
Xbox and Meta are working together to create a limited-edition Meta Quest, inspired by Xbox.
“We’ve been inspired by the incredible gaming community that has formed around virtual and mixed reality, and we know that the most passionate gamers want high-performance hardware. With Meta Horizon OS, ASUS and Republic of Gamers will build the gaming headset of the next generation,” S.Y. Hsu, Co-CEO, ASUS, said.