TikTok’s parent firm is planning to invest heavily in virtual reality

According to Protocol, ByteDance, the firm that runs TikTok, is getting serious about entering the virtual reality (VR) industry. According to a person close to the issue, the corporation intends to invest “hundreds of millions of dollars” in developing VR-related content.

Hiring appears to be a significant percentage of ByteDance’s commitment. According to Protocol, over 40 job posts for Pico, the Chinese VR headset startup acquired by ByteDance last year, have appeared. The majority of positions are for Pico Studios’ west coast branches in California and Washington, ranging from head of VR game strategy to game operation manager. Other available roles indicate a greater emphasis on Pico’s VR hardware, such as optical engineering and systems design electrical engineer.

Pico’s head of consumer sales listing, according to Reports, is also a possible indicator that Pico is aiming to develop a foothold in the US. Candidates will be “responsible for the sales and marketing of Pico’s total product in the US consumer market,” according to the job description.

Pico still has a long way to go, but ByteDance has the resources to help it compete with the handful of popular headsets supplied by Meta, HTC, Valve, and PlayStation in the United States. The Pico Neo 3 Link, the company’s flagship all-in-one headset, was released in Europe in May and costs €449 (about $472 USD).

Its specifications are very comparable to those of the $399 256GB Meta Quest 2 (as opposed to the $299 128GB edition). Both headsets have the same amount of storage, a resolution of 1832 x 1920 per eye, and a Snapdragon XR2 CPU. The Neo 3 Link, on the other hand, has an extra headset strap (a $49 item offered separately for the Quest 2) and a DisplayPort connection rather than USB-C, allowing for better visual quality when connecting the headset to your PC. The Neo 3 Link appears to be attempting to be the in-between choice for folks who don’t want to pay $999 on the Valve Index or $799 on the HTC Vive Pro 2, but yet want something that gives a little more out-of-the-box than the Meta Quest 2.