- TikTok owner ByteDance is reportedly building a mixed-reality headset. That would put it in competition with Meta and Apple. It’s unclear whether the headset will be released in the U.S. and, if so, when or what it would cost.
The market for mixed-reality headsets has been decidedly, well, mixed so far, but ByteDance seemingly thinks there’s room for growth.
The Information reports a subsidiary of the TikTok owner is working on a mixed-reality device that would layer objects over your real world view. Pico, which made the Pico 4 VR headset, is reportedly overseeing the creation of the goggles, which would compete with the Meta Quest and, to a lesser extent, Apple’s Vision Pro.
Unlike Apple (and current Quest products), the Pico goggles are said to be small and lightweight, but aren’t blended into fashion devices, like Meta’s tie-in with Ray Ban and Oakley owner EssilorLuxottica or Snap’s AI Spectacles.
ByteDance and Pico are building “specialized chips for the device that will process data from its sensors to minimize the lag or latency between what a user sees in AR and their physical movements,” according to The Information. But many other details are still unknown.
Pricing hasn’t been discussed and it’s still uncertain if ByteDance will target the U.S. market with these goggles, assuming they’re ultimately released. Pico’s other headsets are not sold in North America and ByteDance and the Trump administration have an uneasy relationship at best. TikTok has already been banned by the U.S. government, but Trump has paused the enforcement of that ban several times, hoping to secure a U.S. buyer for the social network.
Over two weeks ago, Trump said he had found a group of “very wealthy people” to buy TikTok, but has not yet revealed who they are (despite promising to do so). ByteDance has been resistant to selling TikTok and has not made any public statements about Trump’s claim.
