Meta has been letting users watch their own content on Quest for a while now, but let’s face it, scrolling through a file system and watching on a simple window doesn’t exactly scream home theater experience. In a fresh twist, the company is now toying with the concept of making this more immersive.
Recently, Mark Rabkin, the Vice President over at Horizon OS and Quest, shared in an X post that Meta is tinkering with creating a home theater setting specifically for Horizon OS. Now, Horizon OS isn’t just the backbone for Quest; soon enough, it’ll power an array of third-party headsets too.
In response to a query about why Meta hasn’t already brought this to life, Rabkin explained, “We’re delving into things like lighting and other effects to see what works best,” and added, “We’re also focusing on nailing down amazing sound.”
This isn’t Meta’s first rodeo with theater environments. Back in 2014, when it was still named Facebook/Oculus, the company rolled out Oculus Cinema for the Samsung Gear VR. This platform eventually evolved into Oculus Video for Gear VR and Rift, offering a more unified option to view your content and even rent movies for on-device play. Then came Oculus Social in late 2015, where up to five people could gather to enjoy Twitch and Vimeo streams in assorted virtual theaters.
In fact, Oculus Video was among the many apps that once played a critical role but are now defunct. A more recent iteration from Meta was its update to Horizon Home on Quest in 2021. This upgrade allowed multiple users to join your virtual space, hang out, and watch videos or jump into VR apps together. However, it missed out on many features you’d expect from a true home theater app, such as customized environments or advanced playback options.
Although the selection of content varied over time, the main hurdle of these apps was their tendency to force users through hoops to access standard content. This hassle largely drove people to more open options like Bigscreen and Skybox, as well as dedicated apps for services like Prime Video, YouTube, Hulu, and Netflix.
That being said, Meta’s upcoming shot at crafting a standalone theater environment might not unify all those fragmented apps into one giant platform. Still, having a built-in, easy-to-use setup for enjoying your own content in an immersive fashion might just do the trick.
