In April of last year, Meta stirred up excitement by announcing their plans to extend Horizon OS, designed exclusively for Quest headsets, to third-party devices. Big names like ASUS, Lenovo, and even Xbox were in line to roll out their own XR headsets featuring Horizon OS. But since then, Meta has kept things pretty hush-hush about these developments. Now, thanks to a fresh scoop from renowned leaker ‘Luna,’ it seems ASUS might be leading the charge.
Luna’s reputation in the virtual reality community comes from a series of accurate leaks about both hardware and software. Notably, Luna was spot on with the Quest 3S name before it officially hit the market and even clued us in on the headset having an Action Button.
Digging into Meta’s plans ahead of time, Luna also found a room-scanning setup video for the Quest 3, which premiered in 2023, alongside several intriguing Quest software features. For instance, Luna revealed Meta’s tests on pinning apps to the Universal Menu dock, long before the rest of us knew.
In this latest update, Luna, tapping into information supposedly from a well-placed source, claims that the ASUS Republic of Gamers headset is poised to be among the first third-party headsets to come with Horizon OS installed. This headset, reportedly codenamed ‘Tarius,’ is rumored to pack impressive features like eye and face-tracking, aligning it with the advanced tech of Quest Pro. Plus, the displays are expected to either be quantum dot LCDs with local dimming or made from micro-OLED, both options setting Tarius apart.
Assuming these details hold true, ASUS seems to be aiming higher than just presenting a glitzy Quest 3S variant with RGB flair. Instead, they could be venturing into a more premium offering, distinct from the existing Quest models, which are priced around $500 for the 512GB Quest 3 and $300 for the 128GB Quest 3S.
Of course, while this report should be digested cautiously, it’s becoming apparent that Meta is likely gearing up for a strategic move. This comes as Google is introducing Android XR, scheduled to launch with Samsung’s forthcoming XR headset, known internally as Project Moohan, which is slated to hit the consumer market this year.
