Meta Join 2024 had a enjoyable however predictable itinerary: its funds Quest 3S headset, AI tips, new VR video games, and a snazzy new AR glasses prototype. However we additionally predicted (and hoped) that third-party Meta Horizon OS headsets would seem on stage. They have been a no-show, so we requested Mark Rabkin, Meta VP of MR/VR, why.
Months of leaks made it apparent that the Meta Quest 3S would present up at Meta Join 2024, and Meta itself hinted at its Meta Orion AR glasses within the months prior. Our Meta Join 2024 preview promised they might each get long-awaited reveals.
We additionally guessed that we would see different non-Meta headsets. This spring, Meta licensed out the Meta Horizon OS interface to different firms so they may make their very own wi-fi VR headsets with Snapdragon XR2 {hardware}, Meta’s UI, and the Quest Retailer library of video games and apps.
Particularly, Meta promised that ASUS ROG would make an “all-new efficiency gaming headset” working Horizon OS. It additionally stated Lenovo would make “blended actuality units for productiveness, studying, and leisure” with the identical OS. And it promised a “limited-edition Meta Quest, impressed by Xbox.” We have but to listen to any information about these headsets within the 5 months since.
Android Central’s VR squad, Nick Sutrich and I, hoped to see Meta x Microsoft Quest 3 at Join. If Meta desires to make the Horizon OS idea take off and appeal to extra {hardware} builders, we thought it would spotlight companions’ headsets throughout its annual showcase alongside the Quest 3S.
Possibly the ASUS ROG headset would intervene with Quest 3S gross sales, however we assume it’s going to be extra of a high-end gaming gadget for VR superfans in comparison with the funds 3S for individuals who discovered the Quest 3 too costly. And Lenovo’s productiveness headset may have preempted Samsung’s AWOL productiveness gadget.
Given Meta will in all probability make its subsequent Quest 4 with a Snapdragon XR2 Gen 3 earlier than we all know it, it is smart that ASUS ROG and Lenovo would promote these headsets very quickly — or have to attend a few years for newer {hardware}. That would make the entire third-party ecosystem lose steam earlier than it will possibly take off.
So, why did not we see something from ASUS ROG, Lenovo, or another partnership bulletins? After we requested Meta VP Mark Rabkin, his reply was brief and understandably cagey however nonetheless very revealing.
“I haven’t got something I can disclose for now, however we have now a number of applications going for these headsets. We’re actually making an attempt to let our companions paved the way and have or not it’s their gadget, their improvement, their stuff, so we’d by no means push or preempt them, or something like that,” Rabkin stated.
This is what I gleaned from this response: (A) Meta confused that it is instantly supporting these companions on a number of fronts (in all probability each {hardware} and software program); (B) pushing them to point out one thing off by late September (or any Join) could be presumptuous and intrusive on no matter they wish to do; and (C) Meta in all probability will not publicize third-party headsets, the identical method Google does not run adverts for Samsung telephones.
Our authentic comparability of Meta Quest as the brand new “Pixel of VR” feels particularly apt. Meta stresses that it is opening up the ecosystem to different builders, however they’re solely companions within the sense that Meta will assist different firms get began and cost a licensing price for the software program. It does not personal or management these units, and corporations will announce and launch them on their very own timetable, not Meta’s.
We’re nonetheless hoping to see these headsets quickly. With Meta’s principal competitors being the exorbitant Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional, mostly-abandoned PSVR 2, struggling Pico model, and long-delayed Valve Index successor, it might be nice to see recent concepts within the VR area whereas nonetheless holding our Quest libraries and acquainted interface.
Subsequent-generation VR & MR gaming
The Meta Quest 3S brings mixed-reality gaming to the plenty with highly effective Snapdragon {hardware} and the identical upgraded video games because the Quest 3, together with full-color passthrough to your lounge.
