After almost a yr of silence from Asus, the primary particulars in regards to the firm’s Meta-powered VR headset have apparently leaked out. Initially introduced by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in April 2024, the thought is that Meta would provide its working system – Horizon OS – to {hardware} producers resembling Asus.
The very best VR headset designs have seen an enormous shakeup lately, with companies largely ditching VR methods which can be explicitly tied to gaming PCs, as a substitute choosing a hybrid mannequin. The Meta Quest 3 and 3S present each a built-in expertise and the power to hook up with PCs. The announcement that the working system can be made open to producers resembling Asus was supposed so as to add to that shakeup.
It’s solely now that we’re seeing indicators of it, although, because of this submit on X (previously Twitter) by tech leaker Luna. Based on Luna, the Asus VR headset is dubbed “Tarius” and is anticipated to be the primary third-party meta headset to ship. Luna doesn’t present some other details about its potential launch date.
Nevertheless, Luna did share that the Asus headset is “deliberate to incorporate Eye Monitoring and Face Monitoring.” As of proper now, HTC is among the solely corporations to offer a face-tracking system for its VR headset. Mixed with eye monitoring, it will be an enormous bonus for Meta’s VR suite.
Meta notoriously spent billions on constructing a metaverse utility, meant for use with the Quest headsets and in work settings. With extra headsets supporting facial monitoring, it will add some wanted humanity to the digital areas.
Luna additionally provides that the 2 screens contained in the headset are set to be both QD-LCD or µOLED fashions. This is able to be a step up from Meta’s personal {hardware}, the place the Quest 3 nonetheless makes use of LCD panels inside. QD-LCD is a step up from common LCD, which contains Quantum Dot expertise to spice up colour accuracy and brighter pictures. That is sometimes discovered on OLED panels (QD-OLED) however could be included into LCDs as nicely.
In the meantime, µOLED is a extra compact show module. It’s designed to be positioned in smaller units, resembling VR headsets. There’s nonetheless a while earlier than Asus confirms that its Meta headset is actual. Outdoors of Zuckerberg’s announcement, the corporate hasn’t referred to it. On Asus’ web site, in truth, the one actual point out of VR exterior of its advertising supplies is in a 2015 weblog.
In case you’re trying to purchase a brand new headset now, take a look at our Meta Quest 3S evaluation, the place we have a look at Meta’s personal sub-$300 mannequin.