Meta’s Vice President of Engineering, Don Box, announced his resignation internally, which has raised concerns about the future of Meta’s augmented reality glasses’ custom operating system, according to a report from Reuters.
The now-former VP of Meta did not provide details about his next steps following his departure, the report said.
While a Meta representative revealed Box would leave the company at the end of the week for personal reasons, they assured the departure would not affect the product strategy.
The company representative, however, declined to comment on the timeline for the operating system developed Box’s team or whether it will be included in the first-generation AR glasses.
An article from BNN further reported that the planned first generation of internal use AR glasses will be available from next year, with Meta aiming to release a consumer version 2027.
CTO Andrew Bosworth, head of Meta’s Reality Labs division, recently stated that the company still faces significant challenges in developing an AR device that can be brought to market in the coming years.
In relation to this, Meta has also encountered obstacles in producing custom silicon for its AR/VR devices, leading to layoffs in its custom silicon business FAST.
These recent challenges could impact CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of developing augmented and virtual reality products for immersive virtual worlds known as the “metaverse,” particularly the AR glasses, according to a report from Reuters.
Moreover, Box’s recruitment Meta in 2021 aimed to chart a new course following the loss of the company’s XROS project, which aimed to develop a single proprietary operating system for its various devices.
Box, who joined Meta from Microsoft, had previously overseen mixed reality engineering for HoloLens2 headgear and related AR/VR services at the tech giant.
With all this in mind, the future of Meta’s AR glasses seems uncertain as the company navigates through the challenges and changes brought about Don Box’s resignation.