Meta's Push for a custom AR OS to better take on Apple's visionOS blew up on Friday when their Head of AR Software stepped down
On November 16, Patently Apple posted a report titled " Meta is hoping to have an XR Headset that could Match Apple's Vision Pro's Spatial Computer by 2027." Our cover graphic showed a Meta concept of using a future XR headset to somewhat mimic Apple's Spatial Computer with floating webpages, documents and more. One day after our report was posted Meta's plans for an XR Headset with advanced AR OS to better challenge Apple's visionOS took a major hit.
According to a Reuter's report late on Friday, "Meta's head of augmented reality software is stepping down from his role, raising questions about the company's progress in developing a custom operating system for its planned AR projects including glasses.
VP of Engineering Don Box announced the end of his tenure at Meta internally last week, without elaborating on where he was going next.
The head of the company's metaverse-oriented Reality Labs division, CTO Andrew Bosworth, said recently that Meta was still facing "quite a few challenges" in building an AR product that it could bring to market and that "those things are still a few years away - a few, to put it lightly."
The company has also struggled to build custom silicon for its AR/VR products and laid off some employees in its Reality Labs custom silicon unit FAST last month.
Meta initially hired Box in 2021 to chart a path forward after the failure of its XROS project, which aimed to create a unified custom operating system for its virtual reality headsets, Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses and planned augmented reality glasses, the source said. For more read the full report by Reuters.
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