Samsung has recently made waves with the announcement of their new Android XR headset, ‘Project Moohan’, and while they’re keeping most of the details under wraps, they’ve shared a couple of exciting tidbits that VR enthusiasts and developers will find quite promising.
‘Project Moohan’, set to debut next year, will be the very first headset to launch with Android XR. During our exclusive hands-on session, we explored the headset using only hand-tracking and eye-tracking features. However, Samsung has revealed that they’re also working on their own motion controllers, set to be natively supported by Android XR.
This is big news because it means that a massive library of existing VR applications, currently dependent on motion controllers, can be brought over to Android XR without needing a complete overhaul. In contrast, Apple’s Vision Pro doesn’t accommodate motion controllers, creating hurdles for bringing popular VR content to their platform.
Unfortunately, Samsung is remaining tight-lipped about the specifics of these Project Moohan controllers other than confirming they’ll be available when the headset launches in 2025. It’s still undecided if these controllers will come packaged with every headset or be available as separate add-ons.
There’s more good news for the VR community: Samsung and Google have verified that Android XR will support some form of PC VR streaming on both Project Moohan and upcoming headsets. This allows users to stream PC VR content directly from their gaming computers to their headsets, tapping into SteamVR’s expansive content library. This means not only better graphics but also access to more extensive modding options.
While confirmation is in place, details remain scant about how this feature will function. We don’t yet know if Android XR will come with an integrated PC VR streaming solution like the Quest or if Google simply intends to support third-party apps for streaming. All signs point towards the latter. One of the leading third-party PC VR streaming apps, Virtual Desktop, is already being developed for Android XR.
For a deeper dive into Android XR and more insights from our hands-on experience with Samsung’s new headset, check out the announcement article and our detailed review.
