We know one thing that will apparently not be driving the metaverse - the Meta operating system. That’s because Meta has killed it. Meta, which I’m gonna keep calling Facebook (sorry/not sorry), has reportedly canned a years-old project building an operating systems for realities augmented and virtual. So says a report from The Information, highlighted by Ars Technica.
According to The Information’s information, Facebook will stick with a modified version of Google’s Android for Oculus hardware and maybe mixed reality devices that might come down the pike. It’s unclear why the plug was pulled, but - whatever the reason - Ars Technica says it doesn’t look great. “From the outside,” says the piece:
…the decision appears to be a major setback in a brewing war over mixed reality between Meta, Apple, and potentially other tech giants. Apple's upcoming VR or AR headsets will without a doubt run a custom-made operating system that is designed to leverage tight integration with the hardware for strong performance and a stable experience.
The piece goes on to say:
It could be difficult for Facebook to compete with [Apple’s offering] without its own, ground-up software. That said, Facebook and Apple may end up targeting very different use cases for AR and VR; their ultimate strategies remain a mystery to most.
