The XR Week Peek (2025.02.18): Ray-Ban Meta sold 2M devices, Meta may be working on humanoid robots, and more!
I’m back in Italy, tired but happy. I hope you had a good Valentine’s Day with your special ones and that in general, you are happy, too.
Do you want to know one of the reasons for my happiness? My article about Android XR granting permissions for the camera frames has earned me mentions in important magazines like Road To VR, Upload VR, and Android Authority! It feels good to have 15 minutes of celebrity sometimes 😉
And with all this happiness, let’s dig into the best XR news of the week!
Top news of the week
Ray-Ban Meta sold 2 million devices
EssilorLuxottica’s CEO Francesco Milleri during the company’s Q4 2024 earnings call this week praised the Ray-Ban Meta glasses for having been a big success. He said the glasses have sold 2 million units so far (a number coherent with what I heard some time ago from friends of friends of the supply chain) and that they are seeing an increasing retention of the users. Good sales and good retention are two characteristics of a successful product.
He said that for these reasons, Luxottica wants to invest even more in the product, and it is planning to expand the production to more than 10 million units by the end of 2026.
The success of the Ray-Ban Meta has triggered the smartglasses hype: when I was at CES, I saw many startups launching their AI-powered smartglasses and we have heard rumors of all the major brands (including Apple and Samsung) working on their own smartglasses devices, too. But as usual, I warn you to be careful of the hype. Ray-Ban Meta is this successful mostly because of Ray-Ban and only in minor part because of Meta: the Ray-Ban brand and design, paired with the distribution network of EssilorLuxottica contributed a lot to its success. So we are not sure other tech brands can replicate the same sales.
And if you look at the numbers, Luxottica plans to increase the production to 10M every year, which is a very good number, but absolutely not comparable to smartphones. This means that the eventual adoption of these devices is still being incremental. I truly hope they can break through, but this has still to be validated by a constantly growing market for the next months.
Other relevant news
Meta is allegedly working on humanoid robots
According to a report from Bloomberg, Meta has started working on humanoid robots. It is its Reality Labs division, the same one working on XR headsets, that is developing the hardware and the software for these AI-powered robots that can handle everyday household tasks. It is not by chance that is Reality Labs working on it: the data collected from AR and VR headsets, and also from the Project Aria glasses, can be very precious to train these robots.
Anyway, Meta is not interested in building the robots itself: probably working with XR glasses showed the company how complicated and expensive is to be in the hardware business. The company aims to develop the fundamental building blocks, including AI systems, sensors, and software, that other companies can use to manufacture and sell their own robots.
Personally, I feel a bit confused by this rumor. With all the problems that Meta is having with XR, and all the billions of passive it is having every quarter, opening up another expensive product line on innovative technology with uncertain outcomes doesn’t feel like a smart idea to me.
Apple is planning to bring Apple Intelligence to the Vision Pro
According to another report by Bloomberg, Apple is planning to add Apple Intelligence to its Vision Pro headset, along with an updated mode for guest users and a spatial content app as early as April. The company plans to roll out the features as part of a software upgrade and they could be available in beta version for developers as soon as this week. In a piece of separate news, it seems that Apple is also looking for a partner to bring AI to its devices in China: Tencent and Bytedance are two possible candidates. The integration with Apple Intelligence would also fit very well with the rumored release of an upgraded Vision Pro powered by an M5 chipset.
Apple Intelligence on the Vision Pro would be a big deal, and especially it would let Apple compete better with Google, which made the integration with Gemini one of the best features of its Android XR operating system. As you can see, competition is pushing all the big brands like Meta, Apple, and Google, to improve their products as best and as fast as they can.
AugmentOS wants to streamline the development for smartglasses
Mentra has just announced the launch of AugmentOS, which is an app for smartphones that provides a platform for the development of applications for smartglasses. The idea behind AugmentOS is that you can develop a single application (built with the AugmentOS SDK) that runs on many models of smartglasses. Mentra has just partnered with Vuzix so any application running on AugmentOS will work on the Vuzix Z100, besides Even Realities G1 and Mentra Mach1. The company claims in a video on its social media channels that you can develop also applications for Ray-Ban Meta, but this sounds a bit strange to me and in fact, this device is not listed in the list of officially supported models on its website.
I think this is a great project: as I’ve said before, there is hype around smart glasses, but currently, it is not clear how it is possible to develop applications for them. Plus the ecosystem looks very fragmented, and even if there is an SDK for a certain device, it won’t work on another device, so it seems hard to develop an application that spans many glasses. AugmentOS and AugmentOS SDK try to solve exactly this problem, offering a platform for developing applications for smartglasses that are cross-compatible with many different models. I am not sure how much adoption this project will get, but for sure it is a step in the right direction, and I hope to see more of these initiatives.
More info (Mentra and Vuzix partner on AugmentOS)
More info (AugmentOS official website)
News worth a mention
PSVR 2 had great holiday sales numbers
Thanks to the huge price discount from $550 to $350, the sales of PSVR 2 had a huge boost in 2024. Looking at the chart of the sales on Amazon US, it is possible to see that the headset had five times the peak sales volume during the 2024 holiday season as it did in 2023. This is impressive. The numbers are still not comparable to those of Quest, but they are still very good. At this point, it is unclear what Sony wants to do with its headset: in my opinion, a permanent price cut would be hugely beneficial for it.
Anduril takes over the IVAS project
Anduril, the defense technology company founded by Palmer Luckey, has taken over the IVAS project, which was previously managed by Microsoft. Microsoft will still provide the Azure cloud, but all the hardware and software should be provided by Luckey’s startup. This is probably what Palmer Luckey was referring to when he claimed that he was building a new headset for the military: the modified HoloLens Microsoft was working on never met the needs of the soldiers, while the new headset by Anduril may be a better fit for the purpose. It’s interesting how Luckey announced the news with a lot of bold claims like “I am, after all, the best head-mounted-display designer in the world”: he set expectations very high, now he had better deliver something that is overly good.
More info (Anduril to manage the IVAS project — Road To VR)
More info (Anduril to manage the IVAS project — Upload VR)
Wonderland Cloud provides specialized hosting for WebXR applications
Create Worlds is the company behind the Wonderland Engine, which is a sort of game engine that aims to be the Unity of WebXR development. Now the same company is launching Wonderland Cloud, a hosting service dedicated to WebXR applications. The cloud services include not only the hosting of the WebXR application but also dedicated services for multiplayer and spatialized multiplayer voice chat. For sure it is an interesting service to streamline the development of WebXR experiences.
More info (Create Worlds launches Wonderland Cloud)
More info (Wonderland Cloud official website)
RTX 5090 vs RTX 4090
This week a couple of YouTubers tried to compare the performances of NVIDIA RTX 5090 with those of RTX 4090 when running VR experiences. The results are of course favorable to the new model.
More info (RTX 5090 vs RTX 4090 — Comparison 1)
More info (RTX 5090 vs RTX 4090 — Comparison 2)
Discover the 50+ VR communities
A great article by Bobby Carlton from a couple of months ago reminds us how important is the VR communities of adults and seniors. While now all the eyes are on the Gen-Z and the Gen-Alpha and the success of games dedicated to them like Gorilla Tag, there are actually people of all ages using this technology, and among them, there is also a vibrant community of people that are more than 50 years old. The article explores which applications they like the most (spoiler: it’s mostly fitness and social).
Watch an NBA match on your desk
The official NBA Apple Vision Pro app now has Tabletop, a diorama-scale virtual representation of the live game you’re watching. You can basically see on your table a mini-version of the play field with all the players playing with it, reconstructed in 3D, live. It’s incredibly cool and it is made possible by special cameras installed in the NBA stadiums. Honestly, I have also to say that while cool, I would never watch a whole match this way, because it is much more immersive on TV. But as a complimentary feature besides the big virtual screen, I think it’s amazing.
Discover the recent sale on the Horizon Store
The Quest Store is featuring a big sale running until February 23 and discounting titles like Among Us VR, Ultrawings 2, and LEGO Bricktales.
The first hand-tracked game on PSVR 2
Without much fanfare, Sony introduced hand-tracking support for PSVR 2 back in December. Now we have finally the first game implementing it: it is Waltz Of The Wizard, which is getting hand-tracked interactions in a free update. Hand tracking fits very well with the magic-based combat system of the game.
In a video shared by the developer, it is possible to see that the quality of the hand tracking on PSVR 2 is definitely good, and for certain movements, it works even better than hand tracking on Quest. The processing power of the PS5 definitely helps in getting good performances.
More info (Waltz of the Wizard gets hand tracking on PSVR 2 — Road To VR)
More info (Waltz of the Wizard gets hand tracking on PSVR 2 — Upload VR)
More info (Hand tracking on PSVR 2 vs Quest 3)
Some important news about content
- Skydance has released a massive update for its latest hit game Behemoth, including more than 700 bug fixes and general improvements to the game
- Alien Rogue Incursion launched on Quest, but the whole atmosphere of the game is ruined by the bad lighting: the environments that should be dark appear as blueish, with the objects still visible. Survios promised a patch is coming as soon as next week
- Popular game Into The Radius 2 is coming in Early Access on Quest in Q2 2025, with a price of $39.99
More info (Behemoth Patch)
More info (Alien Rogue Incursion launches on Quest)
More info (Alien Rogue has subpar graphics on Quest)
More info (Alien Rogue has an incoming patch)
More info (Into The Radius 2 is coming to Quest)
Ready At Dawn was working on an incredible VR game
Talking about great content that we’ll never see, this week we discovered that Ready At Dawn was working on a very cool game when the team was disbanded. RAD’s cofounder Andrea Pessino claimed during an interview that his studio was working on “one of the most revolutionary VR games ever” when the company was closed by Meta. Considering that Ready At Dawn was able to pull off titles like Lone Echo and Echo Arena, I believe this claim, and it has been a true pity that Meta closed the company before they could deliver this game. Most probably the development was becoming too expensive and Meta’s managers did not believe it could recoup all the money.
Some news about content
- Claymation adventure game The Midnight Walk is officially headed to PSVR 2 and PC VR headsets on May 8th, 2025, priced at $40. I’m pretty intrigued by this game and its original graphics
- Five Nights at Freddy’s: Secret of the Mimic is coming to PS5 and PC on June 13th. While the game was previously shown on PSVR 2, the studio has now removed any mention of PSVR 2 support
- Onward, the tactical mil-sim shooter from Meta-owned Downpour Interactive, is getting a big 2.0 update soon. It’s been a year since the last update
- Jungian VR puzzle adventure game, Selina: Mind at Large, is making its debut on February 20 on Quest
- Dreams of Another seeks to “turn destruction into creation” this year on PlayStation VR2. It features very original point-cloud-based graphics
- Dystopian VR action RPG Resist is heading to PlayStation VR2 with new enhancements
- Jeff Minter and Atari are remaking ’80s classic arcade shooter I, Robot with PlayStation VR2 support. Probably other platforms won’t be supported
- DodgeCraft tests your reflexes with a new VR sports training game, and it’s out now on Quest and PlayStation VR2 for €13
- StellarPlans, a sci-fi fantasy VR shooter created by a solo developer, lands on Quest on March, 7
- Tier One: Direct Action, a VR tactical shooter inspired by ArmA and Rainbow Six Siege, launches next week in early access on Quest for $13
- Calming Mixed Reality puzzle game WET is out now on the Quest store for Quest 3 / 3S. It is free for the next 30 days
- Upload VR has published its usual XR News Round-Up, containing minor XR news
More info (The midnight walk)
More info (Five Nights at Freddy’s)
More info (Onward)
More info (Selina: Mind At Large)
More info (Dreams Of Another)
More info (Resist)
More info (I Robot)
More info (DodgeCraft)
More info (StellarPlans)
More info (Tier One)
More info (Wet)
More info (XR New Round-Up)
Some reviews about content
- Stupid Cars is a game where you’re guiding traffic, by either telling cars to speed up or slow down. It is very simple but cute and genuinely fun
- TouchDesk is a very well-made application for Apple Vision Pro that lets you draw on your desk using your fingers. It does not require exclusive access, so it can run in parallel to your other spatial experiences.
More info (Stupid Cars)
More info (TouchDesk)
Other news
John Carmack tried to push ID Software to make official the community ports of Doom and Quake but with no luck
Dbrand launched a very original faceplate to protect the Apple Vision Pro
Crytek and Unity announced layoffs
Learn more (Layoffs at Crytek)
Learn more (Layoffs at Unity)
Horizon Worlds is now offering fantastical avatars, including a new one about Captain America
There is now also a universal VR mod for Godot, called UGVR
A guy created a cool tool to visualize 3D models from Blender in mixed reality on Quest 3
RotoVR modified for flying is one of the coolest things I’ve seen this week
(Thanks Ivan Aguilar for the tip)
News from partners (and friends)
Prima Immersive offers unprecedented video quality on Apple Vision Pro
The Spatialists, a team of immersive video creators, have released Episode 1 of Sessions, their debut series of immersive music videos designed exclusively for the Apple Vision Pro platform. This episode, featuring AJ Lee & Blue Summit, can be viewed in the U.S. on the Prima Immersive app on the Apple Vision Pro. Thanks to its Prima Encoder, “the world’s first immersive video encoder”, the app is able to provide a video quality that is even superior to Apple Immersive videos. This encoder is specifically designed to compress 8K per eye 90FPS HDR immersive footage, with “industry-leading visual fidelity” at 40–80% lower bitrate than traditional encoders like x265 or Apple’s VideoToolbox. David Heaney from Upload VR tried the video and was impressed by its quality. If you have a Vision Pro, you should check it out.
Learn more (Press Release about The Spatialists)
Learn more (Hands-on impressions about it on Upload VR)
Learn more (Official website of The Spatialists)
Aviar now offers VR training in a box
Aviar, a company providing VR training experiences for workers in the aviation sector, is now offering a service where it provides everything that is needed for the training experience in a box. You open the box, install the hardware on your desk, turn on the VR headset, and you are ready to go. Everything works out of the box (pun intended). A great user experience for its clients for sure. Learn more
The Petty Playbook is on Kickstarter
Vivian Chazen, one of our most beloved members of the VR communities, has launched on Kickstarter a project of hers that is not VR-related, but it seems fun anyway. It is a puzzle book for people who are broken-hearted or who had bad dating experiences. If you want, support her on Kickstarter! Learn more
Some XR fun
An alternative way to celebrate S.Valentine’s Day!
Funny link
Moving too much in VR
Funny link
This Horizon Worlds ad is so bad that it must be an inside job from VRChat…
Funny link
When you spend all your money on VR…
Funny link
Donate for good
Like last week, also this week in this final paragraph I won’t ask you to donate to my blog, but to the poor people who are facing the consequences of the war. Please donate to the Red Cross to handle the current humanitarian situation in Ukraine. I will leave you the link to do that below.
Let me take a moment before to thank anyway all my Patreon donors for the support they give to me:
- Alex Gonzalez VR
- DeoVR
- GenVR
- Eduardo Siman
- Jonn Fredericks
- Jean-Marc Duyckaerts
- Reynaldo T Zabala
- Richard Penny
- Terry xR. Schussler
- Ilias Kapouranis
- Paolo Leoncini
- Immersive.international
- Nikk Mitchell and the great FXG team
- Jake Rubin
- Alexis Huille
- Raghu Bathina
- Chris Koomen
- Cognitive3D
- Wisear (Yacine Achiakh)
- Masterpiece X
- Dimo Pepelyashev
- Carol Dalrymple
- Keith Bradner
- Jennifer Granger
- Jason Moore
- Steve Biggs
- Julio Cesar Bolivar
- Jan Schroeder
- Kai Curtis
- Francesco Strada
- Sikaar Keita
- Ramin Assadollahi
- Juan Sotelo
- Andrew Sheldon
- Chris Madsen
- Horacio Torrendell
- Andrew Deutsch
- Fabien Benetou
- Tatiana Kartashova
- Marco “BeyondTheCastle” Arena
- Eloi Gerard
- Adam Boyd
- Jeremy Dalton
- Joel Ward
- Alex P
- Lynn Eades
- Donald P
- Casie Lane
- Catherine Henry
- Qcreator
- Ristband (Anne McKinnon & Roman Rappak)
- Stephen Robnett
- KaihatsuJai
- Christopher Boyd
- Anonymous Supporter
- Giuseppe Pippi
- Sb
- Boule Petanque
- Pieter Siekerman
- Enrico Poli
- Vooiage Technologies
- Caroline
- Liam James O’Malley
- Hillary Charnas
- Wil Stevens
- Francesco Salizzoni
- Alan Smithson
- Steve R
- Brentwahn
- Michael Gaebler
- Tiago Silva
- Matt Cool
- Mark G
- Simplex
- Gregory F Gorsuch
- Paul Shay
- Matias Nassi
And now here you are the link to donate:
Support The Red Cross in Ukraine
(Header image by Meta)
Disclaimer: this blog contains advertisement and affiliate links to sustain itself. If you click on an affiliate link, I'll be very happy because I'll earn a small commission on your purchase. You can find my boring full disclosure here.
