Tech Tonic | Meta’s mixed reality strategy is inspired by Microsoft and Google

Many may have missed this, but as we embarked on the summer of 2024, Meta talked about something called the Meta Horizon OS, which is the mixed reality operating system (OS) that the company’s Quest headsets build on. Software, apps and functionality existed earlier too, except it is being put together in a smarter, more refined package that’ll be easier to use across and update as time passes. That’s important, with Meta’s plans for Horizon OS.

In a broad licensing deal, Meta’s given Horizon OS to Asus and Lenovo in their attempts to build mixed reality headsets. In due course, I’d expect more companies to join the party. For now, it’ll be two companies which can simply take advantage of readymade software that Meta keeps refining and focus on getting the hardware just right. Google’s template over the years with Android, has reaped rewards. As has Microsoft’s Windows approach. Meta’s focus is now on widening the mixed reality apps available for Horizon OS. To that effect, the tech giant is hoping Google gets on board with a Play Store for the use case.

But why now? The answer to decoding the timing lies partly in Apple’s progression of the Vision Pro and the visionOS. That pricey proposition is off to a good start, at least with the refinement of apps and experiences available for it. Meta’s hope is Horizon OS, with its licensing approach, can be what Android was to the world of smartphones competing against iOS.

At least as far as positioning Horizon OS and the expectation from mixed reality headset partners is, Meta’s making all the right noises. Asus is expected to leverage its gaming knowledge gained via its popular Republic of Gamers computing device portfolio, while Lenovo (they helped co-develop the Oculus Rift S headset) and its presence in the workplace thanks to the ThinkPad computers, will tailor the headsets they make for a mix of productivity, learning, and entertainment. Quite how well, and efficiently that pans out, we’ll probably only know later in the year.

Meta knows a thing or two about mixed-reality headsets. Their present portfolio begins with the virtual reality Meta Quest 2 (prices start around $199), the mixed reality Meta Quest 3 (that’s $500 onwards) and the Meta Quest Pro (this flagship is $999 onwards). Other specs and capabilities aside, there’s one commonality – Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 chips, albeit different generations. It continues to be a criteria defining the licensing agreement – Qualcomm’s chips will be needed.

Not many of us may remember, but Mark Zuckerberg had given the first glimpses of his thought process a couple of years ago in an interview, where he referenced Microsoft’s example – they didn’t make the PCs over the years (their own Surface computers make for very limited numbers), they didn’t manufacture the chips but provided one critical piece of software around which the entire ecosystem was developed. It’s a similar example with Google’s Android journey (their Pixel phones too, make up very limited numbers), where the likes of Samsung, Xiaomi and others have built around the licensed software.

An open ecosystem is just the start. Meta’s right. The market will evolve, consumers will have more choices (and more will have their first taste of mixed reality) and developers will have a much bigger demographic to build for. That’s always the first chapter of any journey.

Vishal Mathur is the technology editor for the Hindustan Times. Tech Tonic is a weekly column that looks at the impact of personal technology on the way we live, and vice-versa. The views expressed are personal.