The celebrations for the New Lunar Year are coming to an end, and so are my days eating a lot of Chinese dumplings. I still wish you a lot of happiness and money, especially in this year that looks a bit troubled for VR! And now let’s have a look at the most relevant pieces of news of this week in XR, which has finally been pretty positive…
Top news of the week
Apple is accelerating its timeline for smartglasses
According to a report from the usual Mark Gurman, Apple is accelerating the development of its upcoming smartglasses. The device, which is codenamed N50, may enter production at the end of 2026 and be launched in 2027. It would be part of a broader push by Apple into creating products centered around AI.
If the report is true, there are two main differentiators from the competition:
- They have two cameras, one to shoot photos/videos and the other for computer vision tasks. This way, it is possible to have a great camera for photos and a less detailed camera to track the environment and perform image analysis. The “cheaper” camera would drain less battery and consume fewer computational resources, which are very precious on a small device like a pair of smartglasses
- They would be made with high-quality materials, including acrylic elements intended to give the glasses a premium feel.
The use cases would be the usual ones of all smartglasses: listening to music, making phone calls, having real-time translations, taking photos and videos, and so on.
Unlike Meta or Google, though, Apple would not partner with any eyewear brand. You know how much I think that the partnership with Luxottica has been super important for Meta to secure the success of its glasses. But Apple is in a much more favorable position than Meta: it has its own stores (so its distribution network), which are already very successful; it already has a great expertise in aesthetics and offering devices that look beautiful; and, most importantly, it has a brand that is already cool by itself. An Apple brand on your face would be a status symbol; many people would be proud to wear it. I think it’s probably the only tech brand that could deliver cool and successful smartglasses without a partnership. Let’s see if it is going to happen.
More info (Apple accelerates the development of smartglasses — Road To VR)
More info (Apple accelerates the development of smartglasses — Upload VR)
Other relevant news
Pico to detail its next headset at GDC
It is well known that Pico is working on a high-end headset that can compete with Apple Vision Pro and Samsung Galaxy XR. What is less known about this headset is what it is about. Well, a talk at the upcoming GDC may help with that.
Pico is going to take the stage and give “an overview of Project Swan’s graphics performance, multimodal interaction system, and developer toolchain, as well as practical guidance on bringing existing apps or games into spatial computing workflows”. Project Swan is the codename of the upcoming Pico headset, which is also set to run a new version of Pico Operating System, Pico OS 6. Being the GDC, I can guess the talk will be mostly about how to develop content for this new device and how to port existing content to it. But to do that, Pico has to reveal a lot about its upcoming headset.
I honestly think that it is a bit weird that a company introduces the features of its upcoming flagship headset at a random developer talk at a conference. So, I speculate one of these two scenarios is going to happen:
1. The talk will mention only things we already take for granted: being a competitor of the Vision Pro, it should work with eye and hand tracking, for instance;
2. Pico is going to officially present its headset, at least in China, before the GDC. So at GDC they are freer to talk about it.
I can’t wait to know more about this device. The little information we have about it, like that it features a self-developed chip with a custom 4,000 PPI microOLED display, makes me think this can be something quite interesting…
More info (Pico to showcase its headset at GDC — Road To VR)
More info (Pico to showcase its headset at GDC — Upload VR)
Meta may launch new display smartglasses this year
According to The Information’s Jyoti Mann, Meta Hypernova 2 will launch this year, and not in 2027. “Hypernova” is the codename of the Ray-Ban Meta Display glasses, so if the report is true, Meta is going to launch the Meta Ray-Ban Display 2 already this year.
I admit being a bit confused: Meta is still currently struggling with launching the Meta Ray-Ban Display 1 worldwide, because its demand is too high. So, how can it think about launching a new device in 6 months when it can’t even distribute the current one? This makes little sense to me, but Meta wouldn’t be new to something like that: it is still the company that killed the Rift S by launching the Quest Link a few months after it. Probably the upcoming competition from Apple and Google is scaring someone in Menlo Park and is forcing them to move faster…
One question many people are wondering is whether this hypothetical new device has a binocular display. In my opinion, it should have, because being monocular is the biggest issue with the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses. Anyway, adding a display would dramatically increase the cost (and maybe also the size) of the device, which would also reduce a lot the sales numbers. I guess only time can tell us…
Meta reiterates its change of direction
In a post on the company blog, Samantha Ryan (VP of Content at Meta Reality Labs) has reiterated for the n-th time what everyone at Meta has been saying for the last two months:
- Meta is separating VR and Horizon Worlds, with Horizon Worlds focusing mostly on mobile
- Meta will stop giving so much spotlight on Horizon Worlds inside the Quest, giving back some visibility to VR games
- Meta is “focused on supporting the third-party developer community” through “strategic partnerships and targeted investments”. In 2025 alone, Meta invested nearly $150 million in VR developer programs.
This is nothing new: it is what I’ve been reporting various times in my newsletter. What will be interesting to follow are the facts. In particular, I want to see how many indie VR developers are going to be funded by Meta to support its store and its ecosystem.
News worth a mention
SlimeVR’s Butterfly Trackers had a blast on Kickstarter
SlimeVR’s crowdfunding campaign for the new Butterfly Trackers crossed the $400,000 mark. And for a good reason: these trackers look genuinely good, being very small, versatile, able to work without base stations, and have a battery life of more than 48h! The ‘Core Set Bundle’, which includes six Butterfly Trackers and is enough for full body tracking in VRChat, is available for just $279, and shipping is expected before the end of the year.
Samsung Unpacked is coming, glasses maybe not
On February, 25, Samsung is going to hold its Samsung Unpacked event. But we XR fans may be a bit disappointed by it: I’ve read a few articles speculating what is going to be launched, and no one talks about glasses. The new Galaxy S26 series should be the star of the show, instead.
VisionOS update brings foveated streaming
According to the usual Brad Lynch, foveated streaming has arrived on Vision Pro via the latest visionOS 26.4 beta update. Foveated streaming optimizes remote rendering by transmitting in high details only the region the user is looking at, compressing much more the other parts of the frame. This is a feature Valve announced for the Steam Frame, and now Apple is implementing it, too. Apple is also supporting NVIDIA Cloud XR, a well-known solution for cloud streaming, which will probably also integrate with the Vision Pro foveated streaming. To me, this looks mostly like a feature useful for enterprise users of the headset.
More info (Foveated streaming on Apple Vision Pro — Road To VR)
More info (Foveated streaming on Apple Vision Pro — Upload VR)
Pimax has started shipping the Dream Air
After various delays, Pimax has finally started shipping its first small headset: the Pimax Dream Air. The headset has been improved following the feedback of the community, and now it is getting into the hands of the first customers. The version shipped is the one with Lighthouse tracking, while the one with onboard SLAM is shipping “soon”. Some first reviews of the headset are encouraging.
(Thanks to Rob Cole for the last link posted below)
More info (Pimax is shipping the Pimax Dream Air)
More info (Unboxing of the Pimax Dream Air)
More info (MRTV’s impressions of the Pimax Dream Air)
More info (Shiftall MeganeX vs Pimax Dream Air comparison)
Two positive pieces of news in VR
In this negative period, we are in desperate need of positive news, and I want to report to you two from this week:
- VRChat broke its previous attendance record and just had 156,716 concurrent users over the weekend during a Japanese concert
- Horizon+, the games subscription service for Quest, crossed over 1 million “active subscribers” in 2025, according to Meta.
So not everything about VR is lost, it seems.
More info (VRChat record)
More info (Horizon+ subscribers)
Nintendo Virtual Boy review
It was interesting for me to read the review of the new Nintendo Virtual Boy for Switch published on Upload VR. It’s fascinating that Nintendo created an almost perfect replica of the original headset. This is for sure a gadget that VR enthusiasts may appreciate.
Resonite may get a Unity SDK with live preview
With a video on his social media, Frooxius has shown some cool work he’s doing for his social media platform, Resonite. It seems that the upcoming Unity SDK may allow people to have a live preview in VR of the work they are doing, and also support multiplayer collaboration. This would be incredibly cool.
Some news about content
- Successful mobile comic shooter Vortex 9 is coming to Meta Quest on February 26
- The Exorcist: Legion VR has been forced to rename to Exorcism of the Legion (Last Rites) after the non-renewal of the IP licensing of the name (because it was not worth it)
- Neon-themed co-op roguelite ZIX is getting a free version called Gogo Dojo, most probably to please the young audience of the Quest platform
- The musical rhythm climbing game Peak Rhythm is coming to Meta Quest Early Access on March 5th.
More info (Vortex 9)
More info (The Exorcist: Legion VR)
More info (ZIX)
More info (Peak Rhythm)
Some reviews about content
- The Pirate: Republic of Nassau lets you explore many aspects of the life of a pirate. No feature is a standout, but all together make it a rich game
- Wizherd is a magic-based, dungeon-crawling adventure title that lets players conjure spells and team up with other would-be wizards. It has potential, but it still needs many improvements
- Birdseed lets you walk around and photograph funny birds. Its gameplay and graphical style make it relaxing and cozy, with a humorous touch
More info (The Pirate: Republic of Nassau)
More info (Wizherd)
More info (Birdseed)
Other news
Human horrors behind my comprehension: some scientists created some biological mini-brains and then trained them to solve engineering problems
A collection of useful tools and libraries to build for the Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses
News from partners (and friends)
Catmosonic lets you feel the purring of a cat in VR
Catmosonic is a VR experience meant to let you relax while enjoying the most popular animal on the internet: cats. It has one interesting feature: a patented technology to let you feel a realistic cat purring via the vibrations of the VR controllers. Is this the killer feature of VR?
Learn more
Speak with a Pangolin in XR
HabitatXR has just launched “Wild Voices: Pangolin”, a free, augmented reality, AI-powered experience that lets you meet and speak with a Temminck’s ground pangolin using your own phone. This gives the pangolin, which is the most trafficked animal in the world, the opportunity to speak back, and to you, the opportunity to learn about this big problem.
Learn more
Sponsored Area
Discover FM DUO camera!
Meet the FM DUO, a VR camera that is capable of filming up to 12K @30fps, and 8K @60fps. With built-in RTMP live streaming and 5G connectivity, the FM·DUO will immerse your viewers in real time! The FM·DUO features 2 full-frame CMOS sensors, with 6000 x 6000 pixels each. This allows for high-resolution zooming capabilities. Not only can you narrow in on one subject, but you can also focus on singular details of the subject’s facial expressions, clothing textures, and a multitude of other small details, enabling a much more immersive experience of VR video.
Visit Product Website
Some XR fun
We are all waiting for the Valve Time (TM)…
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
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And now here you are the link to donate:
Support The Red Cross in Ukraine
(Header image by Apple)