- Samsung teased Project Moohan AI capabilities at Galaxy Unpacked
- It also announced exclusive software from third-party app creators
- The presentation was light on the details
Samsung took a few moments — literally seconds — out of its Samsung Galaxy S25 launch event to talk about Project Moohan (its upcoming VR headset) and Android XR, and how the platform will leverage multimodal AI to bring amazing (but currently nebulous) upgrades to XR systems. Fortunately, it had more to say in a separate interview with TM Roh, the president of Samsung’s Mobile Experience division, including one detail that makes me think Samsung’s technology won’t crash and burn like the Apple Vision Pro.
Right out of the gate, we have some bad news thanks to the interview conducted by Bloomberg (behind a paywall): we still don’t have a release date for Samsung’s headset or AR glasses. Roh confirmed again that the consumer version of the Moohan is coming this year, although he did not reveal exactly when or how much it will cost at launch.
@Pakinomist ♬ original audio – TechRadar
Roh also added that Samsung is working on AR glasses — though he again declined to elaborate on when they might launch, just that they would arrive eventually when they reach the quality and clarity Samsung wants (which Roh hopes is “so soon as possible” ).
The good news, however, is that Samsung and its partner Google seem to have understood that their core focus should not only be hardware, but also software.
An important lesson learned
Roh reportedly said that a key part of the launch of the XR devices will be having enough exclusive, original, valuable content ready for launch. To achieve this goal, Samsung and Google are apparently working with third parties to develop XR software for Android.
Thank God.
I’m not the only one saying this, but a big problem with the Apple Vision Pro’s launch wasn’t itself that it cost $3,500 / £3,499 / AU$5,999, it was that it didn’t justify costing $3,500 / £3,499 / AU$5,999. Sure, it boasted incredible specs, but fundamentally it couldn’t do anything you couldn’t just do with a Mac or iPad and a Meta Quest 3 – pairings that would cost you significantly less. And it could do less than any of those pairings in some ways because the Quest platform is loaded with exclusive software.
Apple had a few impressive exclusives, like its Disney Plus 3D content, but nowhere near enough to compete with the market at the price it was trying to charge. Therefore, a year after its release, it just hasn’t had the staying power that anyone was hoping for.
TM Roh’s comments at least show that Samsung is aware of the importance of software, although given how badly people have been burned by other brands in the past, I hesitate to take the comments at face value – not until we can see and try the software that he is. teasing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m desperate for Samsung to succeed so the Meta can face proper competition – right now the closest we have to a Quest killer is the rumored Asus Tarius headset (which uses the Quest’s OS because it a collaboration between Asus and Meta) – but until Samsung and Google show us the goods, I’ll remain cautiously optimistic.
For now, we’ll just have to let Samsung talk the talk and wait and see if it can walk the walk when it shows us what Project Moohan has in store for us later in 2025.
