Back in April last year, Meta dropped a big piece of news: they were gearing up to launch Horizon OS, their tailor-made operating system for Quest, onto third-party headsets for the very first time. The buzz was about upcoming XR devices from tech giants like ASUS, Lenovo, and even Xbox, set to run this new OS. However, Meta has been playing their cards close to the chest regarding these headsets. Now, according to a report from a reliable leaker known as ‘Luna,’ it looks like ASUS is set to take the lead.
Luna is well-known in the virtual reality world for spilling the beans on future hardware and software developments. They’ve successfully predicted various Meta projects in the past, like the Quest 3S before its official reveal and noted the addition of an Action Button on the headset.
Their knack for uncovering hidden details also led them to reveal a room-scanning setup video for the Quest 3 prior to its 2023 release. This same source shared insights on different Quest software features well ahead of their official announcements, highlighting Meta’s tests to allow app pinning to the Universal Menu dock.
Thanks to an anonymous insider, Luna now reports that the Asus Republic of Gamers headset is on track to be among the first third-party Horizon OS HMDs to hit the market.
Apparent internal codename ‘Tarius’, Luna suggests that this headset is shaping up to include eye-tracking and face-tracking capabilities, aligning it with the advanced features seen in the Quest Pro. The displays are purported to be high-end, either quantum dot LCDs with local dimming or micro-OLED technology.
If what Luna says holds true, this means Asus might not just drop a Quest 3S lookalike with flashy RGB accents. Instead, they could be aiming for something that sets itself apart from Quest’s mainstream lineup, currently featuring the $500 Quest 3 with 512GB and the $300 Quest 3S with 128GB.
While it’s wise to treat this report with some skepticism, it’s evident that Meta is keen to spring into action. They aim to stay competitive as Google unveils its Android XR, debuting on Samsung’s upcoming XR headset, codenamed Project Moohan, planned for public release this year.
