Google has revealed its plans to build virtual reality and mixed reality headsets, in partnership with Samsung. Say hello to Android XR.

Android XR is a new variant of the Android operating system intended for “extended reality (XR) devices, like headsets and glasses.” It’s being developed by Google and Samsung with a partnership that was announced in 2023, in an attempt at competing with the Meta Quest and Apple’s Vision Pro.

Google said in a blog post, “Android XR will first launch on headsets that transform how you watch, work and explore. The first device, code named Project Moohan and built by Samsung, will be available for purchase next year. With headsets, you can effortlessly switch between being fully immersed in a virtual environment and staying present in the real world.”

Apps are projected as virtual windows on top of a pass-through background of the real world, with some buttons and menus moved to separate floating panels. Some apps have immersive modes that take up your full view, like a panoramic YouTube video, while others are just two-dimensional panels floating above a pass-through video feed. Hand movements and gestures are the primary input method, not VR controllers.

The initial demo images and videos look a lot like the Vision Pro. There are some interface elements here that the Meta Quest and other earlier platforms did first, but the visual design is much closer to Apple’s software.

Google says most existing Android apps will run in Android XR, through the same Google Play Store available on Android phones, Chromebooks, Android TV, and other platforms. The company is releasing SDKs today so developers can start creating apps and games specifically for XR.

Samsung and Google both gave up on their original virtual reality platforms years ago—Samsung Gear VR’s remaining services shut down in 2020, with some technologies being reused for Meta’s Quest headsets, while Google Daydream was discontinued in 2019. Before that, there was Google Glass, which was a simpler heads-up display. The success of Meta’s Quest headsets and Apple introducing the Vision Pro has encouraged the two companies to try again.

There are a few big challenges for Google and Samsung. The Apple Vision Pro isn’t doing so well, because a $3,500 headset with fewer apps than iPad tablets is a hard sell, and Apple has been chasing away developers for the past several years. Will Android XR be available at more accessible price points and offer a better experience? Android XR headsets also won’t be directly competing with Meta Quest headsets until there’s a solid game library, which means working with game developers and (probably) paying for popular games to be ported, and Google’s last big attempt at building a games platform didn’t go over well.

We’ll have to wait and see how the first wave of Android XR headsets stack up. In the meantime, Meta is trying to build its own ecosystem of third-party headsets with the Quest’s operating system, which haven’t shipped yet either.

Source: Google, Samsung