Pico has exciting news to share at the upcoming Game Developers Conference (GDC) next month. The company will be showcasing the core OS and platform capabilities of its highly anticipated XR headset, ‘Project Swan’.
The Buzz
Project Swan is positioned to be Pico’s next flagship XR headset, running on PICO OS 6, the latest version of the company’s Android-based operating system. Although hardware details for Project Swan have not been explicitly disclosed for the GDC event, Pico promises to provide insights into the headset’s graphics performance, multimodal interaction system, developer tools, and practical guidance on integrating existing apps into spatial computing workflows. Live demos and concrete examples are also on the agenda.
“This session will introduce the core OS and platform capabilities that empower developers—from XR specialists to non-XR creators—to adapt or create content for this emerging medium,” Pico explains. “It presents a new way for spatial experiences where games and apps can coexist, allowing the primary experience to run alongside companion applications in a shared environment.”
The Information initially reported that Project Swan is expected to be a lightweight headset of approximately 100 grams, featuring a unique design that offloads processing to a tethered compute puck. The headset is rumored to include hand and eye-tracking functionalities.
In November 2025, Zhenyuan Yang, Vice President of Technology at Pico’s parent company ByteDance, revealed that the headset will incorporate a self-developed chip with a custom microOLED display boasting around 4,000 PPI, slightly higher than Apple Vision Pro’s 3,386 PPI.
Yang also highlighted that Pico’s microOLED displays deliver an average of 40 PPD (over 45 at the center) and address brightness limitations through microlens (MLA) technology and optical compensation for uniform color and luminance.
We eagerly await more revelations at GDC scheduled for March 9th – 13th at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California.
Insights
Project Swan signifies a significant leap forward for Pico. While ByteDance, the parent company, may not be investing as heavily in its XR division as before, the company is poised for a new chapter.
The competitive landscape has evolved since the launch of Pico 4 series headsets in 2022. Initially rivalling Meta in East Asia and Europe, Pico has since expanded its reach and product offerings. The release of Pico 4 Ultra in 2024 positioned the company as a direct competitor to Quest 3.
In the wake of Apple’s Vision Pro and Google’s Android XR launches, the market dynamics have shifted. Companies are now targeting the high-end market segment, hinting at a shift in consumer XR adoption trends. Meta’s recent strategic adjustments further underscore this industry shift.
Project Swan is expected to cater to the prosumer-enterprise market, maintaining Pico’s consumer-friendly platform for XR content while offering advanced features. This positions Pico in competition with visionOS and Android XR, rather than directly against Horizon OS. With Meta’s upcoming headset on the horizon, the competitive landscape is set to intensify.
