Jio In Talks To Use Meta’s VR Software For A Potential VR Device

Social media major Meta is reportedly in talks to licence its virtual reality (VR) software, Horizon, to Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL’s) digital arm Jio.

The VR software will be utilised to power a VR device that Jio plans to develop, The Information reported citing sources. As per the report, the talks are part of Meta’s larger efforts to rope in more companies to use Horizon OS and establish it as a dominant platform for VR, AR and mixed reality devices.

However, the talks are still in preliminary stages and may not materialise. 

The development comes at a time when Jio has been rapidly experimenting with augmented reality (AR) and VR products. In October last year, the company launched two devices – a VR headset called JioDive and smart glasses named JioGlass.

This came on the back of the conglomerate’s digital arm acquiring a majority stake in AR and VR hardware and software startup Tesseract in 2019.

For the uninitiated, extended reality, the wide encompassing term for AR and VR, has use cases such as allowing teachers to demonstrate a concept using 3D projections and simulating 3D designs for engineering models. Additionally, it can also be used in healthcare and entertainment. 

Meanwhile, the talks are emblematic of the growing partnership between Jio Platforms and Meta. It is pertinent to note that Meta acquired a 10% stake in Jio Platforms in 2020 for $5.7 Bn. Additionally, the two parties have also been embedding their respective offerings with each other’s products. 

For instance, JioMart users can place orders through Meta’s WhatsApp platform. 

The development comes just a day after Reliance, in its annual report said that Jio accounted for 60% of India’s overall data traffic in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). Jio’s subscriber base stood at 48.18 Cr at the end of the fiscal year, while the total data traffic for FY24 stood at 148.5 Bn GB.

Jio Platforms posted a 12% year-on-year (YoY) increase in its consolidated net profit to INR 5,698 Cr in the first quarter (Q1) of FY25. Meanwhile, revenue from operations grew 13% YoY to INR 29,449 Cr in Q1 FY25. 

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