Meta Horizon OS, the mixed reality operating system that powers Meta Quest headsets can now be used by third-party device makers, the company announced on Monday. The strategic move comes at a time when the VR/AR headset wars between Meta, Apple and Sony continue to heat up.
Three major players in the VR space—Asus, Lenovo and Microsoft’s Xbox—are the first companies to confirm they’ll be developing new devices that run the software. Most notably, Microsoft is teaming up with Meta to build a “limited-edition Meta Quest, inspired by Xbox,” according to the announcement. Asus and Lenovo, on the other hand, are building headsets designed for specific use cases. Asus is developing a headset dedicated to gaming whereas Lenovo wants its device to be for “productivity, learning, and entertainment.”
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in an Instagram video on Monday, “It’s probably going to take a couple of years for some of these new [metaverse] products to start launching but really excited to get started on this next chapter and to get this into your hands as soon as possible.”
