XR Today – Weekly News Round-Up: October 17th, 2025

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A weekly round up of news relating to Extended Reality technology,
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Published: October 17, 2025

Sophie Wilson

Editor’s Intro

At their developer event, Lens Fest 2025, Snap announced ambitious new developments related to its AR filters and creator economy. Overall, the social media giant has pledged to place more power in the hands of XR developers.

Samsung just moved the goalposts. With Project Moohan arriving on Oct 21, the company isn’t just dabbling in XR – it’s gunning to set the enterprise standard. The XR headset, co-developed with Google and Qualcomm, signals a platform play, not a gadget bet.

But Apple isn’t sitting quietly on the sidelines. Just days before Samsung’s big reveal, Apple dropped the Vision Pro 2 powered by its new M5 chip – a clear statement that it intends to own the high-performance end of spatial computing.

Healthcare’s also heating up. The NHS’ digital-first “online hospital” is set to launch in 2027, delivering 8.5 million virtual appointments in three years. That opens a serious lane for collaboration, diagnostics, and patient comms powered by XR.

Meanwhile, Apple and Meta are making a quiet but consequential pivot toward all-day AR glasses. Less spectacle, more utility, and more reasons to rethink frontline workflows, training, and support.

Buckle up. The future isn’t arriving neatly packaged. It’s kicking the door in.

–  Sophie Wilson, XR Today

Don’t Miss

Snap Bet Big on Developers at Lens Fest 2025

Snap announced major updates at Lens Fest 2025, sharing more details on AI-powered Lens Studio tools, new monetization programs, and standalone Spectacles hardware –  positioning itself as the most developer-friendly AR ecosystem in the world.

Samsung XR Headset Launches Oct 21 – Project Moohan Marks a New Era of Spatial Computing

Samsung’s first flagship XR headset is built on Android XR, with AI woven into its system. Expect voice, gaze, gesture, and context to work together for seamless collaboration and training. If you buy or deploy enterprise tech – mark this date.

Editor’s Picks

Apple vs Samsung: Vision Pro 2 vs Project Moohan

Two visions, two strategies. Apple’s Vision Pro 2 brings speed and polish with its M5 chip, while Samsung’s Android XR bets on openness, scale, and price.

How Samsung and Google Plan to Scale Extended Reality

Samsung and Google want XR everywhere. With Android XR at its core, their partnership aims to make immersive collaboration a standard, not an experiment.

Ohio University and Virtualware Launch Immersive Digital Enterprise Collaboratory

A new partnership is turning enterprise collaboration into a shared, persistent spatial experience. The Ohio University and Virtualware Collaboratory lets remote teams operate inside the same immersive workspace – an experiment that could redefine how organizations build, design, and solve problems together

Trending This Week

Interviews and Insights

Apple vs Samsung: Vision Pro 2 vs Project Moohan

“With the introduction of Neural Accelerators in the GPU, M5 delivers a huge boost to AI workloads.” – Johny Srouji, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Technologies.

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Featured image courtesy of Snap Inc.

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