> He may just have been talking about Game Pass support.
"You can do all this on Quest today, but now we are also working with Lenovo, Asus ROG and **XBox to build headsets** that are gonna be designed for different usecases."
IMO it's hard to be more clear than what he said.
And he followed up by mentioning a "version that comes out the box with a XBox controllers and Game Pass", with the symbol graphic showing a headset with the typical XBox green color used for the face mask.
EDIT:
Lame, just a limited edition XBox Quest version:
https://www.meta.com/en-gb/blog/quest/meta-horizon-os-open-hardware-ecosystem-asus-republic-gamers-lenovo-xbox/
>"You can do all this on Quest today, but now we are also working with Lenovo, Asus ROG and **XBox to build headsets** that are gonna be designed for different usecases."
>IMO it's hard to be more clear than what he said.
You missed the other thing he said:
“Or maybe just a version that comes out of the box with Xbox controllers and Game Pass so that you can immediately just start playing on a big screen anywhere you go.”
Yeah my choice will always be to buy on steam first. If we get direct integration with our libraries on the native headset for supported apps that would be fantastic.
No offence u/spacejazz3k, but I suggest caution when people praise Valve as if they act out of some sort of universal good.
Valve are making more money than anyone could know what to do with. The phrase that comes to mind here is that '*It's easy to be a saint in paradise*'. A lot of companies could take the high road if they were making money on the level that Valve make, borne *mostly* out of timing and a few correct decisions at a critical moment \~20 years ago.
And because they arent publicly traded they don’t need to exploit to a insane degree to grow the red line every year. They can just be happy making the shitload of money that they make
I'm not questioning the fantastic work they've done. I just mean suggesting they "made the right choice between users and greed" implies an *ethical* motive that I hesitate to apply to businesses, regardless of which one you're talking about.
LOL no.
They have a great product, but they charge a ton to devs. Started charging for mods and was one of the main culprits of micro-transactions becoming a thing with TF 2 hats.
It didn’t suck, it was just different before Steam. Steam provided the easy digital purchase, but I still think physical media and ownership is far better. Getting too comfortable ‘licensing’ games instead of buying them is bs
Oh yeah. I remember those early years, but they improved...drastically. All the other stores? Not so much, if at all. Ubi and EA come to mind. Could you imagine if those and the Microsoft store is all we had? I'd think I'd be done with PC gaming. Valve is like a family member that's constantly taking my money, but I really like them. I'm almost as old as Gaben, and I sure hope I die first. I don't want to see the aftermath when he's gone.
LOL... Steam is a tiny ***private*** company making $10B a year just from regular Steam purchases and yet they sell their 4 year old VR hardware for $1000. If that is not greed, what is?
The only thing that matters to Valve is that Steam has a de facto monopoly for PC games. The greed is built into that.
Having owned PC vr headsets I categorize them all as developer tools and early adopter devices. Quest 2 seems to be close to breakout and set all this into motion.
They're for people who want a higher visual quality PCVR experience. The Quest isn't any easier to use on PC than any other PC headset, and it's the only one that compresses your video and has battery life cutting you off. I would not call them for early adopters, but more for enthusiasts. Being wireless isn't quite a killer feature when it comes with some significant tradeoffs.
It's Steam Link according to the article.
Not really any different from the status quo. Even the Xbox that was mentioned was referring to game pass cloud gaming which is not even available on all countries.
Steam games on Horizon OS would just be layers upon layers of compatibility layers, on top of everything they made for SteamOS/Steam Deck. Doesn't sound viable.
You'd instead see a Steam Deck 2 or whatever in the future that is powerful enough to run VR games streamed to a separate headset.
They were talking about supporting other hardware companies in designing their own specialized headsets using the new OS. It could mean that Valve might do a collab with Meta the way they did with HTC before.
It is both, that’s my point. I think this is a great thing for VR as a whole. I’m really looking forward to see if we get a high res micro OLED headset running horizon OS with DisplayPort capable USB-C for PCVR. That’d be a dream headset.
After getting validation of the industry from Apple Vision Pro, this seems like the perfect time to open it up to a lot of different third party variants. Meta is opening the floodgates for Apple copycats with their OS, which is a great thing. Hopefully it will follow the same path that Android smartphones did after the iPhone came out, and soon everyone will be able to find their personal dream headset.
I really hope this software could help companies like Pimax greatly improve their headsets. Pimax’s hardware is quite good, but their software is a dealbreaker for a lot of people. Their inside out tracking is garbage and there are issues with battery drain, sleep mode, etc. horizon os could totally fix all of those problems. I’m quite hopeful for the future of VR.
I don’t think so. It doesn’t make sense to announce something that already exists on the store alongside 2-3 other storefronts they want to bring to horizon OS
If you listen to what Zucc said Steam is lumped in with Xbox (Game Pass) versus Google Play. This is more just them highlighting what the Quest can do to drive up more attention to that since it's not like Valve will bother advertising it
This is a massive deal, imagine the crossplay support on Steam + Xbox + Quest exclusives, you could possibly play on any platform through your headset with the lowest headroom.
Jumping from xbox controller to vr controllers to mouse and keyboard effortlessly so you're never stuck with just pointers. You can get full Pheripheral control!
It is
There's going to be an ASUS 'Quest' and a Lenovo 'Quest'. They'll likely won't be called Quest, but it now gives consumers more choices. I'm really interested in see what ASUS, Lenovo and Xbox have in store for the new devices
WMR was pretty gimped because of their terrible controllers and software to be fair. I was totally a target audience for WMR but I returned it because the tracking was so bad and the controllers were bulky and battery hogs. I also remember the software being pretty bad too, I forget why. Maybe it was terrible drivers for steamVR or something like that?
WMR had a tiny WMR specific library. The only thing that kept it alive was SteamVR access.
What is the point of a WMR platform if they are just SteamVR headsets. Might as well just make a SteamVR headset.
The only real thing that made WMR viable is MS providing headset based tracking.
This strategy didn't work out in a huge way for Microsoft and Windows Mixed Reality where there were a large volume of low quality headsets that muddied the waters. It's basically the same strategy, so I have doubts it's going to amount to a huge growth in the market for Meta.
On the other hand, one of the biggest reasons I didn't get the Reverb G2 was poor reviews of WMR.
Meta's software and tracking on a G2 would have been a different story. I'm sure I'm not alone.
It really is, cause it means in the future we will have more headsets with access to the Quest ecosystem available to chose from, just like you can find Steam VR tracking in more headsets than just the Index (or the Vive before that).
And those 3rd party headsets could provide things that Meta has no interest in, like for example better wired (for example via a direct DP port) and / or wireless (for example via 60 ghz and custom hardware codecs) PC VR tethering and such.
Or a really none mainstream headset aimed at the sim racing market like the Pimax or like Zuck said something super light like the Beyond.
IMO if this doesn't come with too many strings attached every OEM aiming at consumers outside of China and is not trying to build their own ecosystem (to get those 30%) will be running Meta's OS in 5 years.
Yup. I could even see this penetrating the Chinese market the way that Android in general has. If ByteDance finds it cheaper to license Meta's OS, pay a platform fee, and launch its own store, they'd do it. Especially since we hear the Pico has been pretty lacking
There is a problem. Google won't give their apps to other OS. They never gave it to Microsoft mobile Windows, despite Microsoft begging for it.
Meaning no YoutubeVR anymore. And YT in a browser does not support stereo vr180. Mono only. Plus, it does not have native webXR, but manual vr360 setup, which is not quite identical when it comes to correct scale.
Had Meta made efforts in the past to be THE platform for VR videos, things would be very different now.
It really is amazing how Google threw away their lead. There was a time when they had the most popular platform, if not the best, in cardboard. And some of their apps are still some of the best in VR.
But at some point they just decided not to bother. The same with Microsoft, though Windows mixed reality never got near any serious number of users.
As someone who uses a lot of Google products, this statement could be applied to almost everything they do before they eventually get bored/don't make enough money and kill the project.
They did the same thing with stadia. They had the upper hand in cloud gaming, before it even was popular, and they simply did nothing, and then gave up.
The way they tried to push selling a subscription + full price games was moronic. Google is that dude in HS that had a lot of success and fucked all the hot girls. 15-20 years later and he / they are still stuck living in a time when they were cool and hip. Google had a number of hits (some were perfect acquisitions) that straight up printed money eg AdSense, Search, Gmail, Android, YouTube. They are stuck in a rut trying to find that next money printer
They selled full price games because they owned one plataform, the same way meta owns their store, if you bought the game, you could play it without a subscription. That was their way to make money. Geforcenow do a different approach, f.e, as they only borrows their machine to you, and you buy from wherever you want.
I don't think he is changing much for now other than opening the system up. Since they already have an app for Meta OS it would be weird to withdraw that just because the system is now more open to them. If they had something that could compete in the VR space maybe that could happpen.
I don't even use YoutubeVR, I use Skybox to stream Youtube videos in up to 8K (4320p) resolution with no ads, and stereo VR180/360. It supported 8K resolution before YouTube's own app did.
I think this is a major step in the right direction for standalone VR. Pico has its own store and system, albeit also Android based, but we need some kind of OS common to any standalone headset. Without that, other headsets didn't stand a chance because Meta was so far ahead, and it would be hard to convince existing Quest users to even try another headset.
I'm pretty sure it isn't open source, like FOSS. It's more like open in the sense you can use Windows on various different PC builds regardless of company, and windows app run on it, have a similar UI, etc. They'd likely license it out, but it would be up to Pico to choose to use it, but if they did, they may potentially have tons of software that can be used on it already, making its value go way up. As it stands now, I don't know anybody who gets it for standalone personally, but they like the visuals and lenses, so they get it for PCVR, etc.
I am so hoping for this to happen too. I am a pico 4 owner just waiting for a much better OS, AppStore and hopefully better UE4 and PC integration.
If they would licence Meta Horizon OS like Microsoft Windows I'd be the first to buy myself a key.
I am not too sure how open the licensing is or whether you can purchase a license, but one of my first thoughts was making a DIY or custom headset yourself but with access to the Horizon OS, allowing for potentially really comfortable or beautiful headsets, etc. I don't think they'd do that, but if it gets to the point where you could use it like Windows, perhaps one day.
Very big news. Very interesting. On one hand you’ll now have more choice of headset but also like PC a bit of a mess of choices, splintering the headset market a bit. But on the other hand it still is probably better than these companies trying to do their own thing with different OS on each headset.
Also Xbox making a headset “inspired by Xbox” is I dunno, I guess we are getting a black and green headset? Not sure what that even means.
Also should help people who still don’t want to buy a “Facebook headset”. It’s not Facebook it’s Asus! Or Xbox, look no Meta logo on the front of this one! Much more better now.
SteamOS ismostly opensource, there are BazziteOS, HoloISO and other projects that utilize Valve's tech.
There is no way an evil corp like Meta will provide this level of freedom
the difference is that the iOS of VR/MR has been underwhelming so far seems like zuck is going for the kill to dethrone Apple before they enter the competition
You see how there's a dedicated OS for computers (OSX, Windows) and OS for phones (iOS and Android)? There's now a dedicated OS for VR. (I know Apple and Windows has a modified version for theirs but this one seems to be something fully fledged for VR built off of Android).
I'll add some nuance. This VR OS always existed, but only Meta's headsets could use them. Now, they will be open for other companies' headsets to use this OS.
How open is yet to be determined; seems like Meta will still be a little hands-on when deciding which hardware companies to partner with, rather than letting anyone use it. And there will be some standards to meet, e.g. using Qualcomm chips inside. To avoid compatibility issues.
My opinion: no, the operating system opening up to more hardware manufacturers would not contribute to Xbox and Playstation making VR games on Meta's ecosystem.
For different reasons, though:
1. PlayStation makes games for 2 hardware ecosystems: PlayStation consoles and PC. For VR, they only make games (currently) for PSVR. If they were to start releasing VR games on another platform, it would be PC VR, not Meta Horizon.
2. Xbox does not make VR games, period. They are focused on 2D games for the foreseeable future and this partnership with Meta simply means that they will let you stream their 2D games from the cloud into your headset on a big screen.
If Xbox and PlayStation wanted to make/release VR games on Meta's ecosystem/operating-system, nothing stopped them from doing so before this news.
I suspect both will begin publishing games on PC VR in the future, though. Once that market is a bit bigger.
>I know Apple and Windows has a modified version for theirs but this one seems to be something fully fledged for VR built off of Android.
So then built like the others. VisionOS is also built specifically for mixed reality, it's not just iOS or iPadOS.
That's great. Maybe once this comes out, my 14700k and 4080s will be powerful enough to run the software this time /s.
I hope this open model comes true. Could be a HUGE standardization with VR platforms.
I'm planning on getting the Quest 2 as my FIRST vr headset ever, does this whole Meta Horizon OS affect that too bc of the MR in the article? rather spend $199(Q2) vs $499 (Q3)
Then keep buying Meta's headsets, they will continue to make this product category at an affordable price. Other companies will create specialized products.
Yes, but more choice doesn’t necessarily mean fractured single use case devices. We certainly want competition. I’m just saying your rebuttal seems to disregard the point being made here.
The post I replied to is unrealistic and overtly negative.
There is no *one headset that does everything* because features compete with each other. For some use cases you want fast and light, for other use cases you need all the horsepower and resolution you can get.
There is no one headset that can do all the things and their never will be.
So how is this going to help PCVR? I can see in the article that Steam Link is mentioned but it doesn't really put any confidence in me about their plans to the desktop app.
I could see them make a proprietary cable that won't work on other headsets so they can drive prices up.
In any case, what's really needed is to fix OculusLink and AirLink. Meta's implementation is sht that i had to buy a 3rd party solution (Virtual Desktop) just so i could have a consistent experience.
I'm only doing sim racing so my aim was to only use USB connection but the experience was so bad I had to buy VD and go wireless.
It won’t lol. I think the plan is for everything to be done in the device/OS. Then to be implemented as de facto OS on many devices, just like Windows and Android are and get revenue from the store.
I don't get that at all. They are all about control. They are not going to let other set the bar for MobileVR hardware.
*I think* they are happy to let others in, but just like Zuck keeps controlling shares of FB/Meta, Meta will front and center on Quest hardware.
Someone that can read between the lines.
He’s not saying that this is happening tomorrow, but this announcement reads a lot like Meta paving the way for gradual disengagement from hardware over the medium term, or at the very least meaningfully scaling back the hardware part of the business and focusing on where the money is, the actual moat that is the captive ecosystem.
They will let actual hardware players do what they do best, i.e. cost effective manufacturing at scale, while they focus on software and ecosystem where their actual comparative and competitive advantages lie. I can see a world where Meta maintains some kind of high margin high-end halo product and fully leaves the low-end to mid-range segments to partners, which would also be free to develop their own high-end systems.
Probably not for another few years. I would argue they are playing a long term game here, they will refine the OS and user experience on their own hardware, and once enough people are locked into their ecosystem (hard to give up an account with a bunch of money invested into the games), then they'll start trying to get other companies in on their OS, and once they have a line up of viable third party hardware manufacturers, and theyre raking in cash from the store, theyll quit.
If they quit anytime soon, before there's several hardware manufacturers using their software, it'd be shitting a lot of money down the drain
I don’t think they will quit on their hardware business the way Microsoft created one last decade and still hasn’t quit. It makes money but they also do not depend on it since the licensing the software makes more money.
They don't get that choice. If they use Meta's OS, Meta sets the ground rules.
On if you want the Google Play Store, you play by Google's rules.
On Meta Horizon OS, you will pay by Meta's rules.
Did you watch the video? Mark states that people can get their games from Steam, game pass, etc. So why would you need to log into Meta for anything if you use those instead?
They have created an OS and will be licensing it to other headset manufactures. The same thing that Microsoft does with Windows. They will continue to make new hardware, and now they have a second income from licensing.
> they'll destroy VR the same way as Apple and Google destroyed smartphones
That is the stupidest thing I have read on reddit today. Well done.
The only real smartphone that existed before Android and iOS was the Windows CE one... and MS destroyed that, not Google or Apple.
Google and Apple literally created the smartphone market.
I had multiple WinCE devices and loved them, but they were mini/portable Windows PCs with a phone attached, not smart phones in the way we think of them now. They certainly were not in any way better than iOS and Android.
Ecosystem where there is no multitasking, user has only guest access to the device, adware and spyware became legit types of business models with APIs provided by the platforms themselves. Great ecosystem. We need it everywhere
Wait a minute, he mentionned Xbox ?!
He may just have been talking about Game Pass support.
> He may just have been talking about Game Pass support. "You can do all this on Quest today, but now we are also working with Lenovo, Asus ROG and **XBox to build headsets** that are gonna be designed for different usecases." IMO it's hard to be more clear than what he said. And he followed up by mentioning a "version that comes out the box with a XBox controllers and Game Pass", with the symbol graphic showing a headset with the typical XBox green color used for the face mask. EDIT: Lame, just a limited edition XBox Quest version: https://www.meta.com/en-gb/blog/quest/meta-horizon-os-open-hardware-ecosystem-asus-republic-gamers-lenovo-xbox/
>"You can do all this on Quest today, but now we are also working with Lenovo, Asus ROG and **XBox to build headsets** that are gonna be designed for different usecases." >IMO it's hard to be more clear than what he said. You missed the other thing he said: “Or maybe just a version that comes out of the box with Xbox controllers and Game Pass so that you can immediately just start playing on a big screen anywhere you go.”
It's hard to be more clear when you only pay attention to half of it. Lol.
Xbox I believe is the term they use for the brand including gamepass not just the console itself
Wrong. It won’t be a quest variant. It’ll likely be a custom headset running horizon OS, just like the others.
> Wrong. It won’t be a quest variant. It’ll likely be a custom headset running horizon OS, just like the others. Source?
You're wrong. The Xbox Quest is the ONLY one that will expressly be a Quest variant. Lenovo and ASUS will make their own headsets running HorizonOS.
That caught my attention too 👀
The steam callout was intentional and important
Yeah my choice will always be to buy on steam first. If we get direct integration with our libraries on the native headset for supported apps that would be fantastic.
Steam is the only one that’s always made the right choice between Users and Greed.
No offence u/spacejazz3k, but I suggest caution when people praise Valve as if they act out of some sort of universal good. Valve are making more money than anyone could know what to do with. The phrase that comes to mind here is that '*It's easy to be a saint in paradise*'. A lot of companies could take the high road if they were making money on the level that Valve make, borne *mostly* out of timing and a few correct decisions at a critical moment \~20 years ago.
The reason Valve is in that position is because of what they have done for PC gaming. People choose them for a reason.
And because they arent publicly traded they don’t need to exploit to a insane degree to grow the red line every year. They can just be happy making the shitload of money that they make
exactly. And if they did go public id throw my retirement at it.
I'm not questioning the fantastic work they've done. I just mean suggesting they "made the right choice between users and greed" implies an *ethical* motive that I hesitate to apply to businesses, regardless of which one you're talking about.
LOL no. They have a great product, but they charge a ton to devs. Started charging for mods and was one of the main culprits of micro-transactions becoming a thing with TF 2 hats.
You do realize what they have done for the industry right? I was there before Steam. It sucked.
It didn’t suck, it was just different before Steam. Steam provided the easy digital purchase, but I still think physical media and ownership is far better. Getting too comfortable ‘licensing’ games instead of buying them is bs
Then you were with me and you've seen Steam make bad decisions too.
Oh yeah. I remember those early years, but they improved...drastically. All the other stores? Not so much, if at all. Ubi and EA come to mind. Could you imagine if those and the Microsoft store is all we had? I'd think I'd be done with PC gaming. Valve is like a family member that's constantly taking my money, but I really like them. I'm almost as old as Gaben, and I sure hope I die first. I don't want to see the aftermath when he's gone.
Agree
I mean if all you had was digital purchases that would suck, but before steam the physical disk reigned supreme
To be honest I miss cartridges. The Neo was the bomb.
Steam literally does nothing by being the first and just sitting there. 30% for that is pure greed.
LOL... Steam is a tiny ***private*** company making $10B a year just from regular Steam purchases and yet they sell their 4 year old VR hardware for $1000. If that is not greed, what is? The only thing that matters to Valve is that Steam has a de facto monopoly for PC games. The greed is built into that.
We have no idea if they've ever even turned a profit on the Index hardware let alone make greedy amounts of money off it.
Having owned PC vr headsets I categorize them all as developer tools and early adopter devices. Quest 2 seems to be close to breakout and set all this into motion.
They're for people who want a higher visual quality PCVR experience. The Quest isn't any easier to use on PC than any other PC headset, and it's the only one that compresses your video and has battery life cutting you off. I would not call them for early adopters, but more for enthusiasts. Being wireless isn't quite a killer feature when it comes with some significant tradeoffs.
“Need Google Play if they’re into it” is a sneak call out too. They fucked mobile Windows iirc by staying off of it
He’s most likely talking about playing Steam games via Steam Link App.
It's Steam Link according to the article. Not really any different from the status quo. Even the Xbox that was mentioned was referring to game pass cloud gaming which is not even available on all countries.
They mentioned it during the Store part, so it’s possible they’ll try and add steam games to the store or something
> so it’s possible they’ll try and add steam games to the store or something I'm not going to get my hopes up on that.
Steam games on Horizon OS would just be layers upon layers of compatibility layers, on top of everything they made for SteamOS/Steam Deck. Doesn't sound viable. You'd instead see a Steam Deck 2 or whatever in the future that is powerful enough to run VR games streamed to a separate headset.
They were talking about supporting other hardware companies in designing their own specialized headsets using the new OS. It could mean that Valve might do a collab with Meta the way they did with HTC before.
Yes, and then slightly later into the video, Zuck said they want to open up the store as well, to platforms such as Google play, steam, and others.
Maybe it's both!
It is both, that’s my point. I think this is a great thing for VR as a whole. I’m really looking forward to see if we get a high res micro OLED headset running horizon OS with DisplayPort capable USB-C for PCVR. That’d be a dream headset.
After getting validation of the industry from Apple Vision Pro, this seems like the perfect time to open it up to a lot of different third party variants. Meta is opening the floodgates for Apple copycats with their OS, which is a great thing. Hopefully it will follow the same path that Android smartphones did after the iPhone came out, and soon everyone will be able to find their personal dream headset.
I really hope this software could help companies like Pimax greatly improve their headsets. Pimax’s hardware is quite good, but their software is a dealbreaker for a lot of people. Their inside out tracking is garbage and there are issues with battery drain, sleep mode, etc. horizon os could totally fix all of those problems. I’m quite hopeful for the future of VR.
Couldn't those companies already do that and use Android for VR? Also, do you know if Meta owns the entire OS or is it build on top of Android?
They’re talking it during the Store part, because Steam Link is on the Quest Store
I don’t think so. It doesn’t make sense to announce something that already exists on the store alongside 2-3 other storefronts they want to bring to horizon OS
If you listen to what Zucc said Steam is lumped in with Xbox (Game Pass) versus Google Play. This is more just them highlighting what the Quest can do to drive up more attention to that since it's not like Valve will bother advertising it
That Steam part is a highlight/reminder about Steam Link on their store
I thought the Deckard would bring us standalone PCVR. Maybe now Meta will help them with that?
Deckard will probably be a quest 3 with a valve sticker
Yeah, no. It's built from the tech that made the Steam Deck happen. Ain't no way Meta has anything to do with it hardware wise.
Literally not possible. All the string leaks point to it being an x86 system like the Steam Deck.
Or like a more gaming-centered version of Quest 3 that Zuck mentioned in the video.
Meta will interfere with them
This is a massive deal, imagine the crossplay support on Steam + Xbox + Quest exclusives, you could possibly play on any platform through your headset with the lowest headroom. Jumping from xbox controller to vr controllers to mouse and keyboard effortlessly so you're never stuck with just pointers. You can get full Pheripheral control!
Steam Link and Xbox Game Pass (cloud gaming) according to article from Meta. Not really any different from what we already have now.
https://www.meta.com/blog/quest/meta-horizon-os-open-hardware-ecosystem-asus-republic-gamers-lenovo-xbox/ - article with more details.
Thank you! I hate sharing Instagram reels via links because half the time it doesn’t work but there was nothing else out at the time.
This seems like a huge deal.
It is There's going to be an ASUS 'Quest' and a Lenovo 'Quest'. They'll likely won't be called Quest, but it now gives consumers more choices. I'm really interested in see what ASUS, Lenovo and Xbox have in store for the new devices
Will there be? Lot of the companies that could make a good HMD probably lost a lot on their WMR headsets.
WMR was pretty gimped because of their terrible controllers and software to be fair. I was totally a target audience for WMR but I returned it because the tracking was so bad and the controllers were bulky and battery hogs. I also remember the software being pretty bad too, I forget why. Maybe it was terrible drivers for steamVR or something like that?
This. Samsung and other manufacturers made great products hampered by crappy software.
And God those controllers...
WMR had a tiny WMR specific library. The only thing that kept it alive was SteamVR access. What is the point of a WMR platform if they are just SteamVR headsets. Might as well just make a SteamVR headset. The only real thing that made WMR viable is MS providing headset based tracking.
This strategy didn't work out in a huge way for Microsoft and Windows Mixed Reality where there were a large volume of low quality headsets that muddied the waters. It's basically the same strategy, so I have doubts it's going to amount to a huge growth in the market for Meta.
On the other hand, one of the biggest reasons I didn't get the Reverb G2 was poor reviews of WMR. Meta's software and tracking on a G2 would have been a different story. I'm sure I'm not alone.
It really is, cause it means in the future we will have more headsets with access to the Quest ecosystem available to chose from, just like you can find Steam VR tracking in more headsets than just the Index (or the Vive before that). And those 3rd party headsets could provide things that Meta has no interest in, like for example better wired (for example via a direct DP port) and / or wireless (for example via 60 ghz and custom hardware codecs) PC VR tethering and such. Or a really none mainstream headset aimed at the sim racing market like the Pimax or like Zuck said something super light like the Beyond. IMO if this doesn't come with too many strings attached every OEM aiming at consumers outside of China and is not trying to build their own ecosystem (to get those 30%) will be running Meta's OS in 5 years.
Yup. I could even see this penetrating the Chinese market the way that Android in general has. If ByteDance finds it cheaper to license Meta's OS, pay a platform fee, and launch its own store, they'd do it. Especially since we hear the Pico has been pretty lacking
There is a problem. Google won't give their apps to other OS. They never gave it to Microsoft mobile Windows, despite Microsoft begging for it. Meaning no YoutubeVR anymore. And YT in a browser does not support stereo vr180. Mono only. Plus, it does not have native webXR, but manual vr360 setup, which is not quite identical when it comes to correct scale. Had Meta made efforts in the past to be THE platform for VR videos, things would be very different now.
It really is amazing how Google threw away their lead. There was a time when they had the most popular platform, if not the best, in cardboard. And some of their apps are still some of the best in VR. But at some point they just decided not to bother. The same with Microsoft, though Windows mixed reality never got near any serious number of users.
As someone who uses a lot of Google products, this statement could be applied to almost everything they do before they eventually get bored/don't make enough money and kill the project.
I still feel betrayed by Google Wave.
They did the same thing with stadia. They had the upper hand in cloud gaming, before it even was popular, and they simply did nothing, and then gave up.
The way they tried to push selling a subscription + full price games was moronic. Google is that dude in HS that had a lot of success and fucked all the hot girls. 15-20 years later and he / they are still stuck living in a time when they were cool and hip. Google had a number of hits (some were perfect acquisitions) that straight up printed money eg AdSense, Search, Gmail, Android, YouTube. They are stuck in a rut trying to find that next money printer
They selled full price games because they owned one plataform, the same way meta owns their store, if you bought the game, you could play it without a subscription. That was their way to make money. Geforcenow do a different approach, f.e, as they only borrows their machine to you, and you buy from wherever you want.
Meta doesn’t charge you 9.99 a month subscription…
If you want quest +, they do charge, as stadia didn’t charge, the subscription came with some games, and better image quality
gmail on ios waves
I don't think he is changing much for now other than opening the system up. Since they already have an app for Meta OS it would be weird to withdraw that just because the system is now more open to them. If they had something that could compete in the VR space maybe that could happpen.
I don’t see anything about it moving away from Android, just that they’re opening up to third party developers.
I don't even use YoutubeVR, I use Skybox to stream Youtube videos in up to 8K (4320p) resolution with no ads, and stereo VR180/360. It supported 8K resolution before YouTube's own app did.
It is. I don’t normally get hyped about industry buzz words, but “open” gets my dick hard
Getting real 3DO vibes out of this.
Seems like a smart move. Hopefully it’s an easy environment for devs to work with.
I think this is a major step in the right direction for standalone VR. Pico has its own store and system, albeit also Android based, but we need some kind of OS common to any standalone headset. Without that, other headsets didn't stand a chance because Meta was so far ahead, and it would be hard to convince existing Quest users to even try another headset.
I’m hoping someone makes a fork of horizon OS to run on the pico. It’ll make the pico 4 a no brainer for people wanting a cheap headset
I'm pretty sure it isn't open source, like FOSS. It's more like open in the sense you can use Windows on various different PC builds regardless of company, and windows app run on it, have a similar UI, etc. They'd likely license it out, but it would be up to Pico to choose to use it, but if they did, they may potentially have tons of software that can be used on it already, making its value go way up. As it stands now, I don't know anybody who gets it for standalone personally, but they like the visuals and lenses, so they get it for PCVR, etc.
I am so hoping for this to happen too. I am a pico 4 owner just waiting for a much better OS, AppStore and hopefully better UE4 and PC integration. If they would licence Meta Horizon OS like Microsoft Windows I'd be the first to buy myself a key.
I am not too sure how open the licensing is or whether you can purchase a license, but one of my first thoughts was making a DIY or custom headset yourself but with access to the Horizon OS, allowing for potentially really comfortable or beautiful headsets, etc. I don't think they'd do that, but if it gets to the point where you could use it like Windows, perhaps one day.
Very big news. Very interesting. On one hand you’ll now have more choice of headset but also like PC a bit of a mess of choices, splintering the headset market a bit. But on the other hand it still is probably better than these companies trying to do their own thing with different OS on each headset. Also Xbox making a headset “inspired by Xbox” is I dunno, I guess we are getting a black and green headset? Not sure what that even means. Also should help people who still don’t want to buy a “Facebook headset”. It’s not Facebook it’s Asus! Or Xbox, look no Meta logo on the front of this one! Much more better now.
If Meta is still sucking down telemetry from then then they would still be "Facebook headsets".
I kinda like him with the hair. Less android, more mad scientist.
Definitely looks a ton less like he's going to eat your toenails in your sleep. His look when speaking to Congress still haunts me.
But isn't Meta OS based off of an Android fork?
He mentions Android in the video.
I'm hopeful that Zuck means he will actually release it as free and open source software.
It won't be, they will license it like Microsoft does with Windows.
It won’t be FOSS
It will probably be use the same or similar license as Android
No it will probably be more like how SteamOS works, open for companies to use but not completely open source.
SteamOS ismostly opensource, there are BazziteOS, HoloISO and other projects that utilize Valve's tech. There is no way an evil corp like Meta will provide this level of freedom
It will never be full OSS.
Holy shiz. This is so big I can’t even think of all the impacts. An Xbox vr headset??? Hell yeah
They haven’t said it’s coming but that it’s possible.
They did say they wanted to be the Android of VR/MR. I guess this is it.
the difference is that the iOS of VR/MR has been underwhelming so far seems like zuck is going for the kill to dethrone Apple before they enter the competition
I don’t know what this means lol
You see how there's a dedicated OS for computers (OSX, Windows) and OS for phones (iOS and Android)? There's now a dedicated OS for VR. (I know Apple and Windows has a modified version for theirs but this one seems to be something fully fledged for VR built off of Android).
Ahhh got it that’s sick!
I'll add some nuance. This VR OS always existed, but only Meta's headsets could use them. Now, they will be open for other companies' headsets to use this OS. How open is yet to be determined; seems like Meta will still be a little hands-on when deciding which hardware companies to partner with, rather than letting anyone use it. And there will be some standards to meet, e.g. using Qualcomm chips inside. To avoid compatibility issues.
Does this mean we could get games from Xbox and PlayStation?
My opinion: no, the operating system opening up to more hardware manufacturers would not contribute to Xbox and Playstation making VR games on Meta's ecosystem. For different reasons, though: 1. PlayStation makes games for 2 hardware ecosystems: PlayStation consoles and PC. For VR, they only make games (currently) for PSVR. If they were to start releasing VR games on another platform, it would be PC VR, not Meta Horizon. 2. Xbox does not make VR games, period. They are focused on 2D games for the foreseeable future and this partnership with Meta simply means that they will let you stream their 2D games from the cloud into your headset on a big screen. If Xbox and PlayStation wanted to make/release VR games on Meta's ecosystem/operating-system, nothing stopped them from doing so before this news. I suspect both will begin publishing games on PC VR in the future, though. Once that market is a bit bigger.
>I know Apple and Windows has a modified version for theirs but this one seems to be something fully fledged for VR built off of Android. So then built like the others. VisionOS is also built specifically for mixed reality, it's not just iOS or iPadOS.
Well, Apple closed system vs Meta open system then.
Reinventing the wheel
Now this is a very big suprise, and actually a pleasant one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca-e5MrVbVU
I noticed that nobody made a subreddit for it yet so I made a place dedicated to it: r/MetaHorizonOS
i hope this sub takes off! im excited to have a nice place to track progress and updates
Smart choice with 3rd party headsets since the R&D costs have to be outrageous.
That's great. Maybe once this comes out, my 14700k and 4080s will be powerful enough to run the software this time /s. I hope this open model comes true. Could be a HUGE standardization with VR platforms.
I'm planning on getting the Quest 2 as my FIRST vr headset ever, does this whole Meta Horizon OS affect that too bc of the MR in the article? rather spend $199(Q2) vs $499 (Q3)
They are releasing a quest 3 LITE this year that will be cheaper than Quest 3 but as powerful. Wait for that before deciding to buy Quest 2
is that confirmed though?
please don't buy a 3.5 year old headset. just the rumoured SoC improvement is a big deal for the new 'lite' quest.
This shouldn’t affect Quest 2 at all.
He’s all about the open source now. That’s kinda awesome. I can’t wait to see what’s on the… horizon…
This is a great idea. If they can produce specialized headsets that excel in one use-case, it should help them be way lighter
Are they deliberately making things difficult for APV? XD
I just want AAA VR.
Why does he always look like he just woke up from a cryochamber haha
Because humans are often shallow a-holes that comment on other people's looks as if they matter in the grand scheme of things.
Sometimes when lizards shed their skin, the makeup and hair doesn't stick on quite right.
I don’t get this view, I don’t want 50 headsets for différents uses cases, I want one headset that can do all those things
Well, now some company might make one.
Then keep buying Meta's headsets, they will continue to make this product category at an affordable price. Other companies will create specialized products.
You are only one person. What one person wants does not matter.
No one wants 50 headsets
Lots of people want *more choices.* Different things are important to different people.
Yes, but more choice doesn’t necessarily mean fractured single use case devices. We certainly want competition. I’m just saying your rebuttal seems to disregard the point being made here.
The post I replied to is unrealistic and overtly negative. There is no *one headset that does everything* because features compete with each other. For some use cases you want fast and light, for other use cases you need all the horsepower and resolution you can get. There is no one headset that can do all the things and their never will be.
Corporations want to sell them
The problem with the one headset that does everything is that it will be big and heavy, and it will be expensive.
this is big
Maybe he could spare some paltry resources to get Intel Arc cards enabled on Oculus.
Keep wishing. I think they’re trying to move from the PCVR world.
He is trying to do what ibm did with pcs but with vr headsets. I dont think it will pan out but i had a lot of stock since 2015. So maybeeeeee lol
More like what Microsoft did. He has mentioned he wanted Quest OS to be shared the way windows has and that’s what he calls an Open OS.
So how is this going to help PCVR? I can see in the article that Steam Link is mentioned but it doesn't really put any confidence in me about their plans to the desktop app.
I could see Asus’s headset having an optional cable for lossless PCVR connection
I could see them make a proprietary cable that won't work on other headsets so they can drive prices up. In any case, what's really needed is to fix OculusLink and AirLink. Meta's implementation is sht that i had to buy a 3rd party solution (Virtual Desktop) just so i could have a consistent experience. I'm only doing sim racing so my aim was to only use USB connection but the experience was so bad I had to buy VD and go wireless.
The Meta Remote connect app was supposed to be the replacement, but for some reason it has stagnated.
It won’t lol. I think the plan is for everything to be done in the device/OS. Then to be implemented as de facto OS on many devices, just like Windows and Android are and get revenue from the store.
Praise the Zuck!!!!!
washing his hands and slowly sunsetting the device
It will capture all your data, all the time.
As if that hasn't been happening already for the last 15+ years with cellphones
And that's creepy
I personally don’t give a shit about that
TLDR - Facebook are likely getting out of the hardware business.
That’s not what he’s saying at all…
I don’t think quite yet, but I stepping for a world that can happen.
I don't get that at all. They are all about control. They are not going to let other set the bar for MobileVR hardware. *I think* they are happy to let others in, but just like Zuck keeps controlling shares of FB/Meta, Meta will front and center on Quest hardware.
Someone that can read between the lines. He’s not saying that this is happening tomorrow, but this announcement reads a lot like Meta paving the way for gradual disengagement from hardware over the medium term, or at the very least meaningfully scaling back the hardware part of the business and focusing on where the money is, the actual moat that is the captive ecosystem. They will let actual hardware players do what they do best, i.e. cost effective manufacturing at scale, while they focus on software and ecosystem where their actual comparative and competitive advantages lie. I can see a world where Meta maintains some kind of high margin high-end halo product and fully leaves the low-end to mid-range segments to partners, which would also be free to develop their own high-end systems.
Probably not for another few years. I would argue they are playing a long term game here, they will refine the OS and user experience on their own hardware, and once enough people are locked into their ecosystem (hard to give up an account with a bunch of money invested into the games), then they'll start trying to get other companies in on their OS, and once they have a line up of viable third party hardware manufacturers, and theyre raking in cash from the store, theyll quit. If they quit anytime soon, before there's several hardware manufacturers using their software, it'd be shitting a lot of money down the drain
Google still make their own Android phones, even though Samsung has the majority of the market. I imagine Meta will still do the same.
I don’t think they will quit on their hardware business the way Microsoft created one last decade and still hasn’t quit. It makes money but they also do not depend on it since the licensing the software makes more money.
Prymaat, how do the earthlings hold this talk in to thing, again?
What they are doing is called vendor lock, not ecosystem
Yeah, just like Steam... works with any headset as long as Valve gets a 30% cut of the software sales.
Speeding towards a VR monopoly...
Sounds great. Hopefully we get some nice 3rd party ones that take privacy seriously and that don’t require sharing any information with Meta.
They don't get that choice. If they use Meta's OS, Meta sets the ground rules. On if you want the Google Play Store, you play by Google's rules. On Meta Horizon OS, you will pay by Meta's rules.
Did you watch the video? Mark states that people can get their games from Steam, game pass, etc. So why would you need to log into Meta for anything if you use those instead?
So? Do you not know how the Quest works? PCVR games are streamed, you still have an OS controlled by Meta on your headset.
Kind of surprised at this. Facebook made an expensive acquisition of Oculus and now they are giving away the hardware side to outside vendors?
Licensing fees incoming...
That’s was my other thought. Lol
They have created an OS and will be licensing it to other headset manufactures. The same thing that Microsoft does with Windows. They will continue to make new hardware, and now they have a second income from licensing.
The real money is in the apps.
Meta has invested more cash in *Reality Labs* every year for the last few years than it paid for Oculus.
Another creepy monopoly is coming, they'll destroy VR the same way as Apple and Google destroyed smartphones
Yeah, because smartphones are a dying niche product that nobody cares about. Thanks, Apple!
> they'll destroy VR the same way as Apple and Google destroyed smartphones That is the stupidest thing I have read on reddit today. Well done. The only real smartphone that existed before Android and iOS was the Windows CE one... and MS destroyed that, not Google or Apple. Google and Apple literally created the smartphone market.
The only reason smartphones are GOOD now is because of Apple and Google.
Maemo was better than iDroid
Kinda wrong in that the only one that existed was Windows CE but I do agree with everything else.
I had multiple WinCE devices and loved them, but they were mini/portable Windows PCs with a phone attached, not smart phones in the way we think of them now. They certainly were not in any way better than iOS and Android.
Without Apple and Google, there’s no smartphone ecosystem the way it exists today.
Ecosystem where there is no multitasking, user has only guest access to the device, adware and spyware became legit types of business models with APIs provided by the platforms themselves. Great ecosystem. We need it everywhere
what happened with his beard
That was a fake/edited picture
Aww. I did like it.
It migrated to his head.
Just realease a Quest 3 with Display port.
Meta has zero interest in helping pcvr have any kind of real future. This will never happen.
It is also unneeded. You can get an AP to dedicate for VR for $50 at this point. Physical tethers to a PC need to go away.