Ahead of the rumored Apple headset debut, Meta has a change of plans for their own AR/VR devices. After many roadblocks, Facebook’s parent company has scrapped the idea of making its own operating system from scratch.
Its popular Oculus VR headset has been running on a version of Google’s Android operating system so far. Meta’s been trying to rely less on Google for this support. This OS has reportedly been in the works for four years.
Reported by The Information, Meta has broken up a group of 300+ employees working on operating systems for its augmented and virtual reality devices. Code-named XROS, this project was supposed to be the operating system in the VR headsets and upcoming AR glasses. Employees on this project are moving to work in other areas.
“By embedding more OS engineers directly into our AR and VR teams, we can speed up the development of solutions that are hyper-tuned for each product line,” Meta spokesperson Sheeva Slovan said in a statement. “[T]here are several technical directions we’re pursuing to build these and we remain committed to building highly specialized systems,” she said.
Meta will continue to power its AR/VR devices with the Android operating system. It may not be its original goal, however, the company may be able to bring out new products faster.
This news comes as rumors continue to arise of Apple’s own AR/VR headset, supposed to be arriving later this year. In this article, we discuss what an augmented reality/virtual reality experience from Apple may look like.
