Meta Continues Its Open Ecosystem Efforts with XR Framework, Ocean

After releasing its Horizon Operating System (OS) for Extended Reality (XR) devices earlier this year, Meta is once again cementing its status as an open-source proponent in the XR space through the launch of the Ocean developer framework. It promises a full open-source developer toolkit for creating XR content, as well as non-XR content with computer vision elements included. It is compatible with iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux, and Meta Quest. A focus on media handling, machine vision and spatial compute, and cross-platform support positions it favorably in the XR space. The market has struggled with fragmentation and a lack of clarity on best practices, competitive landscape, and valuable applications. Meta, with HorizonOS and now Ocean, show it recognizes this and hopes to be a unifying force—this is to say nothing of the company’s efforts beyond XR that are also open-source friendly, such as in Artificial Intelligence (AI). Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg sees the next generation of compute being driven by open source—after the early Personal Computer (PC) space favored openness, while the mobile compute era was more closed. There are benefits to both open and closed, with Meta representing both sides; overall, though, a segment requiring innovation and growing a user base should favor, and will benefit the most from, open ecosystems.

Supporting developers has always been important, but it is increasingly so as the competitive landscape starts to shore up with a few big names. Ensuring both access to necessary toolsets alongside cross-compatibility is a best-case scenario for growing the ecosystem with as few false starts as possible. By having an open repository of not only tools, but demonstration applications and development workflows, developers unsure of how to start in XR have a centralized choice in Ocean. Ocean has tools and best practice documentation around media and geometry handling, which can be complex and unique to XR development, meaning experience does not necessarily translate. Having a consistent and documented toolset for handling this complex development helps to streamline efforts and quicken time to market for content creation.

Meta has a realistic timeline in mind for Ocean and broadening the market as well; Mark Zuckerberg and Meta broadly are on record stating a couple years are required for developers to get comfortable and new products to launch. Meta has planned updates to its Quest Virtual Reality (VR) headset in the works, as well as a display-enabled smart glasses product planned in this window. Aggressive timelines in any novel market are questionable, and this has been proven so in XR as the market slowly but surely matures.

These efforts on behalf of Meta are not purely for the good of the market, of course; there are tangible business benefits to unifying the market. User data are perhaps most obvious, as Meta wants as many user touchpoints as possible. Opening the OS side of things with Horizon OS, and encouraging content creation through Ocean, ensures an influx of Meta-addressable users as the market expands. Ideally, these users pass through the Meta Horizon Store as well, ensuring revenue share for content monetization, but even when they do not, Meta has greater reach overall. In a segment where business models and monetization are still being tested, this is a valuable stream of data just as it is in the broader technology space.

Treating the current XR market like the early smartphone market is becoming less a hypothetical simplification and more a grounded, reliable go-to-market suggestion. The competitive ecosystem for XR, both in hardware and software/services, is fragmented, but converging. Many XR hardware Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) have their own OS built in—almost always built from Android or AOSP, but with some differentiating software or features. Official Google XR support remains a question mark for now, but will have significant impact on Meta, Apple, and all others’ XR operations once an XR portfolio solidifies. It is expected the company launches something in the vein of “Android XR,” similar to Horizon OS, but direct from Google. That would lend a sense of cohesion to a market that is already very Android heavy, while consolidating development resources. Some companies have ensured compatibility with Google—like Lenovo with Snapdragon Spaces—but Meta’s approach to this is uncertain as of now. Apple will remain a walled garden and the “other half” of the XR space, at least in terms of tying hardware to the rest of the portfolio.

So, following on the comparison to the early smartphone market, unified platforms and developer support are necessary. The number of technologies involved in XR and spatial compute are substantial, and sometimes without precedent. Once there is a clear set of addressable technologies and feature sets, and understanding how to use them, the market turns to developers to be creative. One can argue developers have not had that combination of cohesion, capability, and understanding for XR in the past, and platforms like Ocean will help progress the market in that direction.

Following the smartphone timeline, that means XR at scale is still a couple years away and preparations today can work toward that expectation. Partnerships are key, again thanks to a complex technology landscape and the power of specialization driving innovation. Specialists in AI and machine vision, chipsets, data centers and networks, content development, and more are required—even the tech giants cannot excel in all areas at once. Specific to content development, ensuring compatibility with the largest selection of users is important today and going forward. This means using platforms like Ocean, as well as planning development around maximum potential, rather than just potential today. The iPhone equivalent has not yet hit the XR market, but considering the lead up XR has had thus far, it is easier to predict and build toward that hero product and its competition. This is splitting between AR smart glasses and VR headsets today, so there is some focusing needed beyond just “XR,” mainly around visual fidelity and spatial awareness. But ultimately, XR will be faced with a few major companies battling for users, and so those that embrace an open ecosystem and build toward cross compatibility have the greatest potential user base with the fewest barriers to adoption.