Pico Developing Lightweight Mixed Reality Goggles to Compete with Next-Gen Meta Headset

Okay, so get this. Pico, the company that does those cool XR headsets and is somehow connected to TikTok’s parent ByteDance, is apparently cooking up something new. They’re whipping up a mixed reality something-or-other to give Meta a run for its money. No, seriously.

So, there’s this report — coming from The Information, if you’re curious — that spills the beans on a project called ‘Swan’. Not a bird, but these super light mixed reality “goggles” that weigh almost nothing. Imagine carrying around 100 grams? That’s like… a chocolate bar or something. But don’t eat them, obviously.

Now, here’s the funky bit. Somebody said, and I won’t point fingers (mainly because I forgot who), that these eye things have a hybrid design. What does that mean? Well, they toss the heavy-duty stuff to a puck… Tethered computing, I think they called it. The upshot? The headgear is slimmer than your usual XR helmets like the Quest 3 or that Pico 4 Ultra thing. Weird flex, but okay.

There was some picture too—looked vaguely like an avant-garde pair of sunglasses, but I digress.

So, this Swan thing doesn’t use those clunky controllers. Nope. It’s all eye glances and hand wiggles now. Plus, apparently, they’re making these special chips to kill any lag between your eyes and what your brain thinks you’re doing. Which, if you ask me, sounds like something out of a sci-fi flick.

Oh, and then there’s this Meta thing called ‘Phoenix’. Or was it ‘Loma’? Maybe ‘Puffin’? Depends on who you ask, I guess. They’re throwing in a compute puck too, and their glasses are part of the deal. Rumor has it, it won’t break the bank… like under a grand. But who really knows with these estimated dates—2026, 2027? Seems like more speculation than reality.

One mystery remains though—what’s actually inside Swan’s price tag? Or its shipping path? Because history shows Pico likes to keep things to Eastern areas and Europe. North America’s like the kid left out of the birthday party. But that’s another story.

And there you have it. Chaos, randomness, and some techy innovation. Go figure.