Google, Samsung Unveil Headset To Take On Apple And Meta

In what they called a collaboration as "one team", the two companies announced a version of Google's Android software for XR - shorthand for extended reality, which refers to a range of virtual and augmented reality technologies. They also showed off a Samsung-built headset code-named Project Moohan, taken from the Korean word for "infinite".

The two tech giants look to jump-start a market that's been slow to take off. Apple's US3 499 Vision Pro headset, released this year, remains a niche product - held back by its burdensome weight and hefty price tag. And Meta has had more success with smartglasses and cheaper VR headsets than higher-end mixed-reality devices.

The new Android will allow a range of companies to design their own XR devices - both headsets and lighter-weight glasses - while also taking advantage of the latest artificial intelligence advances. The hope is to replicate the success Google had with the original version of Android, which is used by most major smartphones. Companies like Sony Group, Xreal and Lynx Mixed Reality have committed to build devices running the new operating system, Google said.

"The time for XR is now," Sameer Samat, a Google executive who oversees the Android ecosystem, said in an interview. "We're not strangers to this space," he said, referring to Google Glass, a precursor to today's devices that flopped a decade ago. "The technology wasn't quite ready at the time, but we never stopped believing in the vision of what XR could be."

"The Apple Vision Pro is an amazing device, but it's one device," Samat said. "We see a range of devices that will solve different problems in the ecosystem."