Samsung and Google have been in the kitchen together for a long time, and although they've cooked up a lot of mobile and smart devices, the one that's been teased, rumoured, and anticipated the most in recent years is their VR headset. We've known about Project Moohan for a while now, but it seems that it's finally ready to come out of the oven.
Samsung has announced that a new Galaxy Event will take place on October 21 at 10:00am ET / 03:00am BST, which will tell us more about the brand's XR ambitions. Of course, like any big tech and hardware announcement these days, the "invitation" press release really wants to focus on the Multimodal AI that's going to be baked into the device, but you know everyone will really be there to see the shiny new headset.
"Project Moohan is the groundbreaking first product built for the open and scalable Android XR platform," reads the announcement.
"It seamlessly blends everyday utility with immersive new experiences. This is where the true potential of XR comes alive, unlocking a whole new dimension of possibilities."
We still don't know a lot about Project Moohan, other than what it looks like. We don't know its price, or how it can be used, or what apps will be available on it, or whether or not it's going to lean more heavily into being an Apple Vision Pro rival, or a Meta Quest 3 alternative. Despite that, you can already register to buy the new headset, and get $100 credit for your trouble.
Certainly, if you judge by the look of Project Moohan, it certainly appears to be more like a luxury headset that's going to be Samsung's take on Apple Vision Pro. Personally, I'd be shocked if Samsung has watched Apple's first attempt at Spatial Computing from the sidelines for this long and hasn't wanted to avoid its slip-ups.
For starters, even if Project Moohan is the high-end device that it appears to be, it needs to avoid the $3,500 starting price that Apple went for. Experimental dip of the toe in XR waters, the Vision Pro may have been, but it's one that ended up as a meme-ified concept device more than something people are rushing to adopt.
More importantly, I think Samsung and Google need to appeal to arguably one of the biggest use-cases for this technology - gaming.
Apple has never been a brand that's big into gaming, and even if it showed a demo of someone using a DualSense controller during the Vision Pro's reveal, the brand failed to draw in gamers by securing support for games to play on the headset post-launch. Being able to link up a controller and play games on a virtual big screen is one thing, but it totally misses the appeal of VR as a way to play.
I do hold out more hope for Project Moohan as a platform for gaming - even if the main marketing appeal from Samsung will be to capitalize on the mainstream mixed-reality hype that Apple showed exists. Android has always had more support for gaming than Apple's platforms typically have, and I think the fact that plenty of gaming applications with Android support already exist plays into Samsung and Google's hands.
Horizon OS, the OS for Meta's Quest 3 headsets, is built on Android, and although there are likely plenty of technicalities, I'm sure the fact that all of the Quest store games and applications run on a form of Android already will mean developers find it easier to port them to Samsung's own version.
Samsung is no stranger to VR. The first headset I ever tried was a Samsung Gear, which used the brand's Galaxy phones as slot-in displays, but gave you access to what was then Oculus' applications and games. Google is also no stranger to gaming - never forget the disaster that was Stadia. Even if that wasn't a good example of success in the gaming market, it's experience, and I bet with hardware backing from Samsung, there's room to better capitalize on what Google wanted to do. Qualcomm has been drafted in to make the processor for Project Moohan, and its chips power some of the best gaming phones, as well as the Meta Quest 3S and 3, and the Pico 4 Ultra - all of which are great gaming headsets.
This is all conjecture, mind you, and we'll need to tune into the Galaxy Event to find out more. Personally, I think a big tell that this is a device for gamers (other than the price), will be whether or not it comes with controllers. Hand tracking and clever gesture controls make the Apple Vision Pro seem efficient and streamlined, but controllers are still necessary for playing games, and the inclusion of controllers for Project Moohan will be a sign that gamers are going to be catered to.
This could all very easily be wishful thinking, but it's hard to imagine that another brand that competes so closely with Apple would want to roll out the exact same flawed device as the Vision Pro and not improve on the formula. I'd like to think Samsung is smart enough to expand things, take a slightly different tactic, and appeal to a more mainstream market. That all remains to be seen on October 21st.
- Meta Quest 3: $499 at Amazon
- Meta Quest 3S: $299 at Amazon
- Shop for VR headsets at Amazon
For more on Samsung's gaming hardware, check out the best SSDs for gaming, the best gaming monitor, and the best gaming TVs.
