On one hand, itād be easy to look at the goings-on (Metaās layoffs, their almost complete lack of mentioning VR at Meta Connect 2025, and the probable lack of new Quest hardware this year) and proclaim, āVR is cooked.ā Weāve implied as much, and thereās validity to that grim statement, to be sure. But thereās a counterpoint to that forecast, too, and itās that maybe (just maybe) VR doesnāt even need Meta to begin with. Case in point: all of the great VR hardware as of late.
Take the Lynx R2 VR headset, which was officially revealed just this week. While the Lynx says the R2 wonāt be available to order until this summer, thereās a lot to entice anyone interested in VR. The headset crushes the Quest 3ās field of view (FOV), for one, offering a 126-degree FOV compared to the Quest 3ās 110-degree FOV. It also does something that Meta would never; itās making its headset open-source. Lynx says itās releasing schematics for the R2, which should help anyone who wants to mod the device do so more easily than Metaās Quest. Itās early days, and thereās no price or official release date yet, but the hardware is promisingāand Lynx isnāt the only one.
The thing is, thereās a chance that VR was never really meant to be such a massive category. As great as the experience can be, these arenāt devices that most people want to use all the time, and any company pitching one that way (looking at you, Apple Vision Pro) hasnāt really gained much traction. What ifāand hear me outāVR wasnāt meant to go mainstream? Maybe itās just a niche thing, and thatās okay?
Iāll probably get a steam frame as my first VR set. I tried out the Samsung one where you put your phone in it ages ago and thought āat some point this will be mature enough I want oneā. That point probably would have happened already, but I had 0 interest in being forced into Facebook ecosystem.
As a Linux fan, Iām very excited for the Steam Frame, Iām very curious what people will create/do with it, with regarded to the Linux desktop. Iām assuming itāll basically be used like the apple vision pro, as far as viewing and interacting with your desktop stuff goes.
Iāve used my Vive like that, also to watch movies in a virtual theater and browse photos in a gallery.
Itās been a while since I looked at any coverage of the Vision Pro, but if memory serves, it has a large focus on mixed reality? Steam Frame is very focused on VR and wonāt do mixed reality well, due to the black and white passthrough cameras. That said. I basically never used the passthrough on my Index, and Iām eager to get the Frame.