What They Say
The Information reported that Meta has stopped working on operating systems for AR and VR, quoting three people with knowledge of the situation. It is said to have dispersed the team of 300+ people working on it. UploadVR reports that a ‘key member’ of the team., Mark Lucovsky, left to join Google where he is said to be leading efforts to create an OS for AR. Most work at Meta is reported to have stopped three months ago.
Meta’s OS for its Quest stand-alone headset is based on an Android core.
Separately, Protocol Entertainment expressed suprise that Sony is sticking with a wired solution for the PlayStation VR2, given the success of the stand-alone Quest 2.
What We Think
I think that Microsoft’s failure to stretch Windows from the desktop to smartphones and Apple’s continued split between iOS and MacOS suggests that to really optimise the experience, you need to have an OS that is designed for the purpose.
On the question of Sony’s decision to use a wire, if the performance is as good as the choice of displays suggests it could be, wireless is likely to be not so cheap and to consume power, neither of which is an advantage. Further, the VR2 is only intended to be used with the VR2. As Protocol says, given constraints on the supply of PS5s, it may limit the potential market. However, I think it’s not a crazy decision, if it can provide a compelling experience. (BR)
