In April of last year, Meta broke the silence with an exciting announcement: they were gearing up to launch Horizon OS, their exclusive operating system for Quest, on third-party headsets. This move was set to bring devices from names like ASUS, Lenovo, and Xbox into the mix, even though since then, Meta hasn’t offered much more detail about these headsets. Now, fresh buzz from the renowned insider ‘Luna’ suggests that ASUS might be first to make a splash.
Luna is well-known for sharing juicy tidbits about virtual reality hardware and software before anyone else. They’ve got a solid track record, having previously spilled the beans on Meta’s projects like the Quest 3S name ahead of time, and even hinted at features like an Action Button on the headset.
Through sharp-eyed datamining, Luna also uncovered a room-scanning setup video for Quest 3 before the official launch in 2023. They have consistently been ahead of the game in pinpointing upcoming Quest software features, such as when Meta was quietly testing out keeping apps pinned to the Universal Menu dock.
According to Luna, tapping into insider whispers, it seems the Asus Republic of Gamers headset is poised to be among the first third-party Horizon OS headsets to hit the market.
Allegedly going by the codename ‘Tarius,’ Luna hints the headset will boast high-end features like eye and face tracking, echoing the advanced tech found in the Quest Pro. It’s also said to pack either quantum dot LCD displays with local dimming or possibly micro-OLED screens.
If Luna’s intel holds water, it seems ASUS isn’t just rolling out a mere Quest 3S lookalike with flashy RGB lighting. Instead, they might be introducing a serious contender that stands apart from the more budget-oriented Quest offerings, which now include the $500 Quest 3 with 512GB of storage and the $300 Quest 3S with 128GB.
We should digest these reports carefully, but what’s clear is that Meta seems ready to shift gears, especially with Google entering the arena with Android XR. This new platform will make its first appearance on Samsung’s upcoming XR headset, dubbed Project Moohan, slated for a consumer launch later this year.
