After months of pestering Samsung for a Venture Moohan demo with out success, I lastly had the possibility to put on Samsung’s mixed-reality headset on the Google I/O press lounge. And as primary as it could sound, I actually loved utilizing it.
Samsung revealed its Venture Moohan headset again in 2024, however solely gave out demos to a few websites and YouTubers.
We knew what it seemed like and what sort of Android XR software program to anticipate, however not whether or not it might reside as much as Samsung and Google’s guarantees. We do not even know what Moohan — “Infinity” in Korean — will value or formally be known as.
However as a lot as Google’s AR glasses prototype intrigued me as proof that AR glasses can work, Samsung’s XR headset felt like a correct next-gen system, with seamless hand-tracking controls and helpful Gemini navigation.
What it is like utilizing Venture Moohan
A Google rep borrowed my glasses to verify my prescription, then printed some lens inserts and snapped them into my Moohan headset. Then they set me up outside subsequent to the AR glasses sales space and had me slide on the headset.
I could not inform you the precise weight, however the headset felt well-balanced and securely strapped onto my head, because of the again knob.
I then needed to slide an influence brick into my pocket, with its wire hooked up to the left of the headset. It is on the heavy facet, however it’s not one thing you may discover when you change into immersed, and no less than it is not tethered to a PC or console in a set spot; you possibly can stroll wherever with the headset.
I then progressed by a quick onboarding tutorial. You pinch to pick objects each close to, grabbing the sting to maneuver a window or the nook to resize it. And also you level your palm towards your self and pinch to drag up the house menu.
As a Quest 3 proprietor who’s used an Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional, I discovered the controls utterly intuitive and acquainted, and I barely had any missed inputs throughout my demo. My digital hand define felt correct and conscious of my actual hand place.
Plus, the full-color digital camera was each vibrant and clear. The headset defaulted to mixed-reality passthrough, and I might see the journalists in line behind me taking pictures of me as I examined out options.
Samsung hasn’t revealed Moohan’s decision, however the present rumor is that the headset makes use of Sony 4K micro-OLED shows with 3,552 × 3,840 decision, 1,000-nit brightness at 20% energy, 96% DCI-P3 shade gamut, and 90 FPS.
Primarily based on my visible expertise, it is precisely as pixel-dense and colourful as you’d hope for. Some apps (like Maps Avenue View) cannot reside as much as the decision potential and seem a bit blurry, however once I watched 4K nature movies on YouTube, I might sink into the landscapes.
I additionally watched an immersive 180° video and a standard 2D video enhanced with AI so as to add 3D depth to sure parts of the video. Whereas Moohan’s {hardware} is spectacular, I would not be as excited for the headset if it weren’t for distinctive Android XR methods like this.
Pure Gemini navigation
I clearly cannot present you what I noticed in-headset, however the screenshots above and under felt like a reasonably correct illustration of my expertise.
By default, opening any app will carry it entrance and middle as a 2D window. However once I hit the “develop” button in YouTube, it curved the show for a extra conventional theater look and added secondary home windows on both facet with video data, a playlist scroll, and extra.
Principally, although, Samsung and Google predict you to let Gemini do the work of opening and navigating by apps for you.
The Google rep had me open Google Maps, the place I might use pinch gestures to zoom in or out with minimal lag and clean scrolling. Moohan’s Snapdragon XR2 Plus Gen 2 chip and RAM should be sufficient for strong efficiency.
I discovered myself in Yosemite, so I requested Gemini what that close by cliff was. Turned out it was the well-known El Capitan, a 3,000-foot-tall granite formation. Gemini requested if I needed to know extra about its geology or its climbing historical past; I requested how many individuals had climbed it, and Gemini flattered me by saying it was a “nice query.”
Whereas Gemini on glasses has to move your questions off to your cellphone, Gemini on Samsung’s headset processes on-device and feels way more responsive consequently. Gemini nonetheless has to stall typically by saying, “Let me determine that out for you,” however that is most likely higher than an ungainly silence the place you do not know if Gemini heard you or not.
Solely Moohan’s value has me nervous
Samsung will formally launch Venture Moohan later in 2025, giving builders a number of extra months to make use of the new developer preview to make XR apps for the headset.
However it is a premium productiveness headset with highly effective efficiency and beautiful decision, similar to the Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional. I am positive Samsung will attempt to undercut Apple’s $3,500 value, however I might guess it will nonetheless value a lot greater than a Quest.
Most of my expertise with Moohan targeted on informal options, such as you’d use whereas slacking off from work. However I am unable to decide from a 15-minute demo whether or not I might need to use this as a laptop computer show (or alternative) for hours every single day. That is a a lot increased bar to clear, and it makes Moohan extra area of interest.
That being stated, if (A) I can afford Samsung Venture Moohan, (B) it pairs nicely with Bluetooth keyboards and mice for work, and (C) it finally ends up having a good collection of VR video games and streaming apps, then I might completely purchase and use Moohan frequently.
