Will Asus' foray into VR headsets see them replicating their success in handheld gaming, as the ROG Ally has already done?

Google has made a significant move in the virtual reality (VR) market with the announcement of its own operating system for VR and mixed reality headsets, Android XR. One of the first devices to use this new OS is Samsung's Project Moohan.

Meanwhile, Asus has made its entry into the VR scene with the unveiling of the ROG Ally, a handheld gaming PC, over a year after the Steam Deck's launch in February 2022. Asus' VR headset, codenamed "Tarius," is reported to offer eye and face tracking, and a considerable upgrade over the Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S' LCD optics.

The potential advancements of the Tarius HMD may mainly matter if developers decide to incorporate these features into their titles. If the details about the Tarius headset prove accurate, then it would seem that we won't have long to wait before Asus ROG is ready to launch a new hardware venture. The presumed release date of the Asus ROG Tarius VR headset is expected in late 2023.

The Tarius headset's processor could feature Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon XR2 Gen 3/XR3 chip, offering an impressive boost in performance over Meta's first-party hardware. This could potentially make the Tarius headset outperform the Steam Deck, striving to offer improved frame rates, better graphical fidelity, and a higher resolution.

In a separate development, Meta's operating system, Horizon OS, is going multi-platform in April 2024. Companies like Microsoft Xbox, Lenovo, and Asus ROG are among the first interested in adopting Meta's operating system.

The handheld gaming PC market is currently bustling with options, with Lenovo, Acer, Ayaneo, MSI, GPD, and OneXPlayer also competing. Asus managed to get into the handheld gaming market early while the going was good, establishing itself alongside the Steam Deck as one of the major players. The ROG Ally offers an impressive Windows gaming experience on the go and has spawned a popular mid-cycle refresh in the ROG Ally X.

However, it's worth noting that the exact timeline for the release of these new headsets remains unknown. We're likely to see an influx of headsets released in the near future that can rely on Meta and Google's platforms in the push to bring this medium forward.

The Tarius HMD's PCVR support may be where the majority of these advancements come into full effect. If the Tarius headset proves to be a success, it could significantly impact the VR market, offering a compelling alternative to Meta's Quest series. The potential of these new devices promises an exciting future for virtual reality and handheld gaming.