In April of the previous year, Meta stirred the gaming world by announcing its plan to launch Horizon OS for third-party headsets, marking its first venture into sharing this Quest-exclusive operating system. The big players—ASUS, Lenovo, and Xbox—were lined up to release XR devices featuring Horizon OS, although Meta has been unusually silent about these headsets since the announcement. Now, in the latest scoop from well-known leaker ‘Luna,’ ASUS appears to be leading the charge in this new initiative.
Luna, a source frequently revealing insider details about upcoming virtual reality gear, has accurately leaked numerous Meta projects in the past. Notably, Luna was ahead of the curve on details such as the Quest 3S name before its official announcement and the headset’s Action Button feature.
Before Quest 3 hit the market in 2023, Luna’s data mining skills uncovered an unreleased room-scanning setup video. Moreover, various software features, such as the experimental ability for apps to remain pinned to the Universal Menu dock, were revealed by Luna before Meta made them public.
Drawing on information from an anonymous source, Luna now reports that ASUS’s Republic of Gamers headset might be the first third-party device to ship with Horizon OS.
Codenamed ‘Tarius,’ this headset is rumored to boast eye-tracking and face-tracking capabilities, aligning it with the cutting-edge features of the Quest Pro. The display technology is expected to be top-notch as well, with options like quantum dot LCDs featuring local dimming or micro-OLED displays being considered.
If these specifications hold true, ASUS isn’t just rebranding a Quest 3S with some flashy RGB lighting; they’re poised to deliver a significant evolution beyond Quest’s typical consumer range. This range currently includes the $500 Quest 3 with 512GB and the $300 Quest 3S with 128GB storage options.
Even though this report remains speculative, it’s evident that Meta is strategizing to respond swiftly to Google’s Android XR rollout. This new operating system is set to power Samsung’s forthcoming XR headset, intriguingly codenamed Project Moohan, which is expected to hit the consumer market later this year.
