Meet Samsung’s Project Moohan, its inaugural Android XR headset

Google is finally getting serious about the future of wearable computing as it embraces head-mounted hardware with the launch of Android XR. This latest branch of the Android platform is all about tapping into the power of Gemini for a voice-first, modern take on all things AR, VR, and MR, all bundled up together under the XR banner. While Google’s plans sound appropriately grand, Apple’s already got a big head start with the Vision Pro, leaving us anxious to see what the first Android XR hardware will look like. Thankfully, we’re already getting a taste of that, as Google and Samsung share the latter’s work on what it’s calling Project Moohan.

Keep in mind that this is still very much a prototype, and there’s no guarantee that the final headset will match every bit here. The front, with its “ski goggles” aesthetic, definitely has a Vision Pro vibe to it, but we can also see echoes of Google’s own old Daydream View VR accessory. Unlike the Vision Pro, we haven’t heard anything yet about any plans to recreate Apple’s EyeSight display on the exterior here, and the glass facade could be just for looks.

Right now, Samsung’s keeping a tight lip about Moohan hardware, and important details about the screen tech, field of view, refresh rate, and resolution will need to wait for another day. Even the subject of controllers is open-ended, and while Samsung has confirmed that it plans to sell Moohan with VR controllers, we don’t yet have any details about what form those may take.

In spite of all that ambiguity, there is one important hardware detail Samsung is willing to commit to, and that’s the presence of a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Plus Gen 2 processor powering this headset. Currently the company’s top-shelf VR chip, Qualcomm introduced this silicon back at the start of the year. We haven’t heard a ton yet about how Samsung intends to take advantage of it, but we do know that Moohan is planning to feature cameras for pass-through viewing (and presumably, augmented reality experiences) and that XR2 Plus Gen 2 promises latency as low as 12ms for natural-feeling interactions. You can just barely make some forward-facing lenses out if you look very closely at the front of this prototype.

Of course, Moohan will run Android XR as its OS, and even though this is a platform that’s just spinning up, there’s reason to be hopeful about software availability. Google has talked about porting titles from other XR operating system libraries and the steps it’s taking to make that process as seamless as possible for developers. And while we haven’t yet seen any firm commitments about bringing existing Android apps into the XR fold, just the fact that they share the same backbone is enough to have us feeling optimistic.

We’ve still got a lot to learn about both Android XR and Samsung’s plans for Project Moohan. The good news with Moohan, at least, is that we may not have too much longer to wait before we get a better look. With the Galaxy S25 and Samsung’s next Unpacked expected in the early days of 2025, the company might just find itself with the ideal opportunity to finish lifting the curtain on its XR plans.