Meta has not left the metaverse, and intends to revolutionize his world. In a press release published last night, the American company announced the opening of its operating system Horizon OS to third party manufacturers. The interface currently accessible on Meta Quest headsets aims to become a reference in the mixed reality market, establishing itself, like Windows on a PC or Android on a smartphone, on devices dedicated to mixed reality and VR.
The Meta Quest will have competition
Opening Horizon OS to third-party manufacturers is far from trivial for Meta: the company knows that its mixed reality headset has not yet established itself as the market leader, compared to the widespread Apple Vision Pro – but which is also slowly falling into oblivion. . The exploitation of Horizon OS by competing brands may undoubtedly be a blow to Meta Quest sales, but will allow the software to establish itself as the VR operating systems reference in the world Enough to surprise Google, who had intended to unveil Android XR later this year.
The eternal war between Google and Apple (on computer and mobile phone interfaces in particular), could thus be undermined by the appearance of a new competitor. It must be said that for the moment, the place is vacant. Google is taking its timeand VisionOS, the interface currently dedicated to Vision Pro will only logically be reserved for Apple products.
Lenovo and Asus already on board
Manufacturers probably won’t wait long before entering the mixed reality race. In its press release, Meta assures to work “with leading technology companies to create a new ecosystem of mixed reality devices, and we make it easy for developers to create mixed reality applications.“. Asus and Lenovo are the first to formalize the launch of their VR products, which will be based on the Meta interface. A limited edition of Meta Quest in collaboration with Xbox should also see the light, and compete head-to-head with PSVR.
At the same time, Meta also plans to make its tools and expertise available to third-party brands, to facilitate the creation of their own VR headsets. The company’s online store also changed its name for the occasion: that’s what we’ll have to talk about now Meta Horizon Store, and no longer from the Meta Quest Store. This will allow the general public to see more clearly, but also allow developers to measure the growing scope of Horizon OS compatible software. All that remains is to appeal to the general public, which until now has always been reluctant to face a promising VR market.