Samsung has confirmed that it will launch this year a mixed reality headset to challenge Apple’s Vision Pro handset.

A Samsung spokesperson told CNBC that the firm will launch its extended reality headset this year. There is no word on whether the device, dubbed Project Moohan, will cost as much as Apple’s $3,500 Vision Pro.

But is there enough demand? It should be noted that previous reports have suggested that Apple has already sharply scaled back production of the Vision Pro headset. Other reports have suggested Apple has enough inventory to satisfy sluggish demand for the foreseeable future and could even halt production of the current model.

Samsung device

CNBC however noted that Samsung had teased its new headset in 2024, and even put it on display at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Samsung refers to the wearable headset as “extended reality” or XR device, which aims to merge the digital and physical world, CNBC noted.

But few details about the device are currently known, other than there are said to be four cameras visible in the front lens of the physical headset, and there appears to be touch controls on the side.

Samsung reportedly worked alongside both Qualcomm and Google to develop a new kind of operating system for these kind of devices, known as the Android XR platform, CNBC reported.

And there may be an AI element as well.

In December, Samsung reportedly said Google Gemini would be installed in the headset allowing wearers to experience a “conversation user interface.”

This would presumably enable users to interact with Gemini, Google’s AI assistant, to help navigate through apps and tasks. The cameras also suggest there will be some sort of gesture control similar to Apple’s Vision Pro, CNBC reported.

“To me, the breakthrough technology is a combination of advanced vision capability with intelligence that understands user intention. I think without the intelligence part, it’s a defective product,” Patrick Chomet, executive vice president at Samsung’s mobile division, told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday.

Chomet reportedly hinted at a world envisioned by many consumer electronics firms, where smarter AI digital assistants are able to more intuitively understand user requirements on a device.

VR headsets

It should be remembered that Samsung for years has offered virtual reality headsets, but this sector never really broke out of its niche market and into the mainstream.

In 2015 Samsung invested in San Francisco-based company Fove, which intended to launched the world’s first eye-tracking VR headset.

Also in 2015 Samsung made its virtual reality headset available to buy in the UK. The Samsung Gear VR cost £80, and was compatible with the company’s Galaxy S6 edge+, S6 and S6 edge smartphones.

In 2017 Samsung teamed up with Microsoft when it announced the “ultimate Windows mixed reality (MR) experience” with its new HMD Odyssey headset.

The Samsung HMD Odyssey handset aimed to provide a premium virtual reality experience for Windows users, “with superior picture quality and the highest resolution display taking consumers to entirely new virtual limits.”

But now with more advanced of display technologies, as well as more powerful processors and GPUs, it remains to be seen whether mixed or extended reality wearables could offer headset players a better chance (than VR headsets) to hit the mainstream.