Meta’s Quest headset already lets you watch your own videos, but diving through file directories and viewing them on a small screen just doesn’t deliver that immersive experience we all crave. Recently, though, the company revealed it’s exploring new possibilities.
Mark Rabkin, who heads up Horizon OS and Quest, shared on X that Meta is developing a home theater setting for Horizon OS. This isn’t just for the Quest; it will eventually become the operating system for many other headsets too.
Responding to a query about why such a feature wasn’t available sooner, Rabkin explained they’re “experimenting with lighting and other effects to find what’s best” and are also “trying to figure out awesome sound.”
Meta is no stranger to creating theater environments, though. Back in 2014, when Meta was known as Facebook/Oculus, it launched Oculus Cinema for Gear VR. This evolved into Oculus Video, offering a seamless way not only to watch personal content but also to rent movies directly on your device. Then came Oculus Social in late 2015, which allowed up to five people to enjoy Twitch and Vimeo streams together in various virtual theaters.
[Image: Oculus Video took its final bow some time ago, courtesy of Meta]
While diving too deeply into past endeavors isn’t our focus here, it’s worth noting Meta’s latest move was in Horizon Home on Quest. Updated in 2021, this feature let several users gather in a shared home space to watch videos and jump into VR apps together. However, it missed some key home theater app features like custom environments and advanced controls for video playback.
The selection of available content has changed over time, but there was always one consistent issue: users faced hurdles accessing mainstream content, pushing many toward other platforms like Bigscreen and Skybox, or apps dedicated to streaming services like Prime Video, YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix.
So while Meta’s upcoming dedicated theater environment might not consolidate all those fragmented apps into a single, comprehensive experience, just having a straightforward and engaging way to watch personal content in VR might be exactly what users need.
