Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has been actively exploring innovative ways to enhance the virtual reality experience for its Oculus Quest headset. One of the latest initiatives is the development of a home theater environment within the Horizon OS. This paper delves into the technical details of this experimental feature, exploring its potential use cases and the broader implications it may have on the evolving metaverse landscape.
Mark Rabkin, VP leading Horizon OS and Quest, recently shared in a post that Meta is currently working on developing a home theater environment for Horizon OS. This operating system powers not only the Oculus Quest headset, but also the upcoming OS that will be used by a range of third-party VR devices.
In response to a query about why such a first-party offering doesn’t already exist, Rabkin stated that the team is experimenting with lighting and other effects to determine the optimal experience. They are also working to deliver an exceptional audio experience.
This would not be the first time Meta has created its own virtual theater environment. In 2014, the company launched Oculus Cinema for the Samsung Gear VR, which later evolved into Oculus Video for the Gear VR and Rift. This provided a more cohesive way for users to watch their own content as well as rented movies on the device. Oculus Social, released in late 2015, was another early attempt, allowing up to five users to connect and watch Twitch and Vimeo streams together in various virtual theater settings.