Latest news with #BigscreenBeyondVR
Tom's Guide
15-07-2025
- Tom's Guide
TikTok owner reportedly building its own XR glasses — rivaling Meta
TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, may be working on a new pair of mixed reality glasses. According to a new report from The Information, this set of goggles looks set to take on the likes of Meta's Project Orion to provide a full XR computing experience. There's no details on a release date as of yet for the goggles, codenamed 'Swan,' but given this is a make or break year for Meta, this report could cause a stir for Zuckerberg & Co. Here's what we know. Details are thin on the ground, but we do know a few things. First of all, these mixed reality goggles are being built by Pico — the VR startup that is owned by ByteDance. This is the company who worked on the Pico 4 VR headset, which I reviewed for Laptop Mag, and in short, the hardware was good but it was a barren landscape of lacking software support. But it seems like after the canceled launch of Pico 5 in late 2023, the TikTok owner is taking a different approach here, by shrinking the tech down into a pair of goggles. Specifically, the claim is these will weigh around 0.28 pounds — similar to the Bigscreen Beyond VR headset. In terms of what will power it, Pico is working on 'specialized chips for the device that will process data from its sensors to minimize the lag or latency between what a user sees in AR and their physical movements.' All of this looks set to be offset from adding weight to the headset by using a puck connected to the device, a la Meta's Project Orion. For the puck itself, we've heard conflicting reports on whether it will be wireless or wired, so we can't say for sure. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. But this does steer in a similar direction to what we're seeing from Meta's new mixed-reality device, as we're seeing reports that the Meta Quest 4 has been postponed to 2027 in favor of an ultralight headset with a puck. One thing is clear. Bulky VR headsets have had their time in the sun, and companies are working overtime to get all of this tech shrunk down into something that is the size of a pair of glasses. You see that with Meta reportedly launching its next-gen smart specs with a display soon, Snap launching its next-gen AR specs in 2026, Apple being 'hell-bent' on launching its own glasses, and Xreal's Android XR specs. It's a market that is heating up fast, and ByteDance is another juggernaut throwing its hat into the ring. Now there's just the pesky issue of whether these could be sold in the U.S. — given the whole potential TikTok ban thing.
Engadget
14-07-2025
- Engadget
TikTok owner ByteDance is reportedly building its own mixed reality goggles
ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is reportedly working on mixed reality goggles, The Information reports. The in-development device is designed to layer digital objects over your view of the real world, and is supposed to compete directly with Meta's upcoming mixed reality products. The goggles are being built by ByteDance's virtual reality startup Pico, the creators of the Pico 4 VR headset. Pico's past products have attempted to match Meta's Quest headsets in terms of features, but these new goggles apparently represent a different approach (albeit one still positioned as an alternative to Meta). Rather than a bulky headset, the goggles are supposed to be small and light, about the size of the Bigscreen Beyond VR headset, which weighs 0.28 pounds. Pico is keeping the device lightweight by offloading most of the computing work to a puck that's connected to the goggles over a wire. Meta's prototype Orion AR glasses used a wireless puck for a similar weight-saving purpose when the company demoed them in November 2024. Pico is also reportedly working on building "specialized chips for the device that will process data from its sensors to minimize the lag or latency between what a user sees in AR and their physical movements," The Information writes. Plenty of the details are still up in the air, but the report notes that the ByteDance / Pico goggles should be very similar to Meta's next mixed reality device. Following the release of the Quest 3S, Meta reportedly postponed work on the Quest 4 in favor of developing lightweight mixed reality goggles, according to UploadVR . The company has been publicly pushing AI wearables like the newly introduced Oakley Meta HSTN glasses, and it seems like its next Quest device will be closer to smart glasses than a VR headset with controllers. It's not known when ByteDance's goggles will actually be released or where they'll be sold. Current Pico headsets aren't sold in the US, and given the concern over ByteDance's ownership of TikTok, it seems unlikely the company would be able to sell a mixed reality device without pushback.
