The next couple of weeks are going to be exciting: most probably Steam Frame is launching today, Snap Specs is launching on the 16th, and Meta Connect is on the 23rd. A lot of new AR/VR headsets and glasses are coming! Of course I will update you about all of this on my blog and social media channels, so be sure to follow me.
Regarding me, well, these are busy times. I’ve just written a super long review of the camera-free RayNeo iO glasses; I’ve enjoyed the trailer for the new Starcraft game; and I’m preparing my trip to the US to attend Meta Connect. By the way, will you be there? If so, I would love to meet!
Top news of the week
The Steam Frame is likely launching today
The time has come. Steam Frame is likely launching today. And if it is not today, it is anyway this week, because it is the last week of Summer, and Valve promised to launch the Frame during Summer.
Lots of things make me think the day is today:
- A hands-on video by LTT has been leaked by mistake, which means we are close to the embargo-lifting date. More on this later
- Valve has updated SteamVR to prepare it for the upcoming headset
- No Man’s Sky added Foveated Rendering to its latest update, clearly to prepare it for the Steam Frame
- The usual dataminers found the template of the e-mail that people will receive when preordering the headset, and the e-mail says that on September 17th the random “winners” will be selected. Usually Valve leaves 2–3 days for people to join the preorder list before extracting the first people that will receive the hardware, so the launch is clearly on 14th-15h
- Today is Monday, and Mondays are more likely for a launch by Valve
- Many leakers and data miners say that today may be the day
So, today around 10 am PST (7 pm CEST), Valve should finally publish the missing info about the Steam Frame, in particular the price, which is what we really need to know. I bet on something slightly less than $1,000, but let’s see if Valve is going to surprise us.
I still owe you some info about the leaked video: well, it seems that Linux Tech Tips published his unboxing+first impressions video too early. He removed the video shortly after, but people had already backed it up and republished it elsewhere. The video is not worth much of a watch: basically, he spends 10 minutes just to say “it is like a Valve Index but without the tether”. This is why I’m not so sure it is not a controlled leak: first of all, LTT is a very experienced YouTuber, and I find it weird that he makes such a simple mistake; then, he leaks a video, but by chance this video has no relevant information, so it doesn’t say anything new but still keeps the hype high. I mean, everything is possible, but let’s say it is legit to have some suspects.
Anyway, today may be the day: are you excited? Are you going to buy it? Let me know 🙂 For what concerns me, I’m very excited. But I’m not so sure about buying it on day 1… it depends on the price and how many opportunities it may create for my job.
More info (Video by Linux Tech Tips leaked)
More info (Link to the leaked video)
More info (Big SteamVR update)
More info (No Man’s Sky adds foveated rendering)
More info (Email templates for preorders)
More info (Speculation about the launch dates)
Other relevant news
Visuals of Meta Phoenix leak ahead of Connect
It is not Meta Connect if all the announcements don’t leak before the event. And to keep the tradition, this time Meta leaked the first visuals of the upcoming Meta Phoenix headset.
What we can see from the picture (spotted by Luna, as usual) is that Phoenix is very small and lightweight. It reminds me of the glasses coming from the Gravity XR reference design I tried in China, but more elegant. The lenses are small, so the FOV is probably going to be smaller than usual (I would bet around 90°). There are tracking cameras, including two pointing downwards, most probably for hand tracking. It seems that Meta is referring to this new type of device as “VR glasses”, which makes sense given the functionalities and form factors.
I think it is a controlled leak, because conveniently the leaked image cuts the name of the headset out.
I can’t wait for Connect, when we’ll know more about this headset! I hope to be able to try it and report to you some first impressions…
More info (Leaked Phoenix picture — Upload VR)
More info (Leaked Phoenix picture — Road To VR)
More info (Leaked Phoenix picture — Original tweet by Luna)
Has the Pico Space Pro been delayed because of an AI model?
When the Pico Space Pro was delayed to Q4 2026, I suspected it happened because Pico discovered some new features of an upcoming headset (e.g. Meta Phoenix) and postponed the launch to update its own headset to better compete with the others. There was another theory, carried on by people like the investor Xu Wu: Pico was being delayed to implement an AI model. I didn’t believe much of that hypothesis, but a piece of news from this week seems actually to confirm it.
According to Bloomberg, it seems that ByteDance is building an AI model that could let you create real-time spatial videos similar to Google Genie. We are talking about a world model that can create full environments around the user by just starting from a prompt or an image. And the worlds also have some possible interactions. The new model should be based on Seedance, the AI video generation model offered by ByteDance. The reported specifications are impressive: on-demand video at around 20 frames per second with latency of roughly 0.05 seconds, generated in the cloud rather than on the device.
ByteDance is thinking about using this impressive model to offer new features to its products like TikTok and Pico headsets. The project is so important that ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming is personally overseeing the development. And this may explain the reason why the headset has been delayed: if ByteDance thinks this AI model is so important, it should be a launch feature of the Pico Space Pro headset. Pico Space Pro could be the first headset able to generate interactive worlds on the fly for the user. This could be a stepping stone for the creation of the “holodeck”. Of course, it all depends on the execution: it may be an amazing thing if the model works as intended, but if the model is too immature, it could just lead to a “slopdeck”.
I guess we’ll see. Count me curious about this.
More info (ByteDance working on a World model — Road To VR)
More info (ByteDance working on a World model — The Next Web)
Apple is teasing new hardware
The latest Apple Event was mainly dedicated to launching the Apple Duo, Apple’s first foldable (super-expensive) phone. There was not much space for AR and VR. But then John Ternus, the CEO of Apple, shared on his social media a 10-second teaser video where we just see a light uncovering a curved object. The video went viral, and many theories started about it. Two very popular ones are about a new VR headset or the upcoming smartglasses.
I’m personally not very convinced. I’ve zoomed the image and made it brighter, and the curvature doesn’t look like that of a VR headset at all. It looks like a curved lens. So there is some chance it is about glasses. Or that it is about a new camera type for the next iPhones. No one knows; I guess we should wait for the next Apple Event to discover something.
News worth a mention
The studio behind Moss VR has shut down
The saddest news of the week is that Polyarc Games, the studio behind the amazing game Moss, has shut down. After 12 years of activity, and after having won many awards with its hit game Moss, Polyarc had to shut down. Most probably, the fact that its latest PvP strategy game, Glassbreakers: Champions of Moss, has not been a success, together with the really bad moment for VR, contributed to this happening. I hope the people from this studio will find a new job soon.
Thrash bins for Ray-Ban Meta glasses appeared in London
Many people flagged to me that in London, outside the Meta Store, there is now a trash bin where people are invited to dispose of their Ray-Ban Meta glasses. It is just another signal of the fact that some people really do not tolerate camera-equipped smartglasses.
Some news about content
- The creators of Human: Fall Flat have announced that their next game, Tiny Flock, is launching on Meta Quest and SteamVR on September 29. The puzzle game is about shepherding some cute sheep from a start point to a destination
- The Fovii app, which showcases immersive videos, is now available for Apple Vision Pro
- No Man’s Sky launched its Cosmos Update that completely overhauls the outer space experience
- In Death Unchained is starting a new season at the end of this month after more than 2 years of silence
- Vaelorys, an upcoming spell-based combat game on Quest, is free in a playtest running through September 21
- I Am Your Beast VR, the latest project from the Flat2VR Spark program based on the famous revenge thriller FPS, releases on SteamVR on September 17
- Developer Triangle Factory has put its latest project, co-op PvE extraction shooter Breachers: Outbreak, on hold (which basically means it has been canceled)
- Exoshock developers PolarityOne announced that an open beta for their sci-fi VR shooter will launch on September 17th
- FunFitLand is bringing live heart rate data from compatible wearables directly into its VR workouts on Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro.
More info (Tiny Flock)
More info (Fovii)
More info (No Man’s Sky — Road To VR)
More info (No Man’s Sky — Upload VR)
More info (In Death: Unchained — Road To VR)
More info (In Death: Unchained — Upload VR)
More info (Vaelorys)
More info (I Am Your Beast VR)
More info (Breachers: Outbreak)
More info (Exoshock)
More info (FunFitLand)
Some reviews about content
- Gunman Contracts has been defined by an UploadVR journalist as “one of the best VR shooters I’ve ever played”. I think this says it all. Be careful, though, that some people in the community are having some performance problems with it
- Secret Of The Pyramid Builders is a well-made location-based experience that teaches the visitors about the Pyramids of Giza
- The Musesas and Astronoma apps on the Apple Vision Pro teach by fostering curiosity in the user
- The Lightkeepers is a co-op survival tower defense game that mixes various genres in a game loop that actually works
More info (Gunman Contracts)
More info (Secret Of The Pyramid Builders)
More info (Museas & Astronoma)
More info (The Lightkeepers)
Other news
The Meta Virtual Display feature of Quest is now on par with what is offered in the Mac ecosystem
According to Omdia, global XR headset shipments are down 39% if compared to 2025
News from partners (and friends)
Get CONNECTOME
You can get CONNECTOME for free on your Apple Vision Pro!
Learn more
Detective VR is available on new platforms
The murder mystery puzzler Detective VR, which had good reviews on Quest, is now also available on PC VR and PlayStation 2. The price is €15.
Learn more
Some XR fun
Meta Connect 2026
Funny link
The forbidden headset
Funny link
Quest is getting expensive lately
Funny link
Porting, porting, porting
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
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And now here you are the link to donate:
Support The Red Cross in Ukraine
(Original header image by Valve)