Meta made important announcements regarding its virtual reality operating system and hardware partnerships. The company announced that the operating system developed for VR devices will be called Meta Horizon OS. It will offer this software to brands such as Microsoft Xbox, Lenovo and Asus.
New Xbox-inspired Meta Quest is coming
Meta says that Asus, Lenovo and Microsoft will introduce Horizon OS compatible VR headsets in the coming period. Asus will produce a performance-based and gaming-oriented VR headset under the Republic of Gamers (ROG) brand.
Lenovo, which previously partnered with Meta for Rift S, will focus on productivity, learning and entertainment-oriented glasses. Microsoft will partner with Meta to develop a special “Xbox-inspired” Quest headset.
With this move, Meta will expand its VR ecosystem beyond its own Quest glasses. This will allow the company to take on VR/AR headsets like the Apple Vision Pro. Google, Samsung and Sony are also likely to use Horizon OS in the future.
Meta also said it is increasing its investments to improve the mixed reality (XR) experience. He said he will highlight the App Lab division for emerging VR applications. It wants to develop AR functionality in next-generation glasses such as Quest 3.
Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said they will offer customized VR/AR variants for different uses beyond Quest. For example, Meta will be able to address this market with a fitness-oriented glasses.