As the dust settles after Meta Connect 2024, AWE EU captured headlines by bringing together leading XR companies to showcase the latest innovations in the immersive technology market.
Simultaneously, major Q3 earnings calls were held, highlighting the current state of XR in 2024. Overall, the industry was optimistic.
Recently, Meta has reported success with its AI-integrated AR smart glasses, positioning this emerging technology as a priority for the company. EssilorLuxottica, the parent company of Ray-Ban, has also seen significant sales in smart glasses. However, despite these claims of success, Reality Labs continues to be a costly endeavour for Meta, with losses amounting to billions. Nevertheless, Zuckerberg is willing to invest heavily in this area.
Looking ahead, 2025 is being positioned as a potential tipping point for XR technology as it becomes increasingly accessible to businesses worldwide—whether through headsets, smart glasses, or even smartphones.
Meta to Invest More Capital into XR
Meta recently shared its Q3 performance during a public earnings call, highlighting its operational success. The company’s total revenue for the quarter reached $40.6 billion, reflecting a roughly 19% increase.
According to Susan Li, Meta’s Chief Financial Officer, the firm is actively pursuing growth. Officials emphasized that Meta is achieving this through hiring in key areas, such as monetization, infrastructure, Reality Labs, generative AI, and regulatory compliance.
Interestingly, despite being a vital growth pillar for Meta, the Reality Labs division posted an operating loss of $4.4 billion this quarter, continuing a trend of operating losses from previous periods. It’s important to note that Reality Labs historically operates at a loss due to Meta’s significant investments in XR technologies, including headsets and smart glasses. Reality Labs’ expenses totalled a staggering $4.7 billion, up 19% year-over-year, driven by investments in workforce and infrastructure.
Li mentioned that Reality Labs’ operating losses are expected to “increase meaningfully year-over-year due to our ongoing product development efforts and investments aimed at scaling our ecosystem.” Despite these losses being a common aspect of Reality Labs, CEO Mark Zuckerberg appears unfazed by the outcome. He highlighted that the quarter featured several milestones related to Reality Labs and the integration of AI into wearables.
Ray-Ban’s success currently stands out as the leading achievement for Meta and Reality Labs. Even though investments tied to Reality Labs incur significant losses, the technology giant considers these investments worthwhile.
Samsung’s AR Smart Glasses, New Development Details Uncovered
Recently, MySmartPrice discovered that Samsung has publicly updated the development of its XR device through a patent listing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). While a USPTO listing does not guarantee a device’s release, it can provide insights into a company’s direction regarding emerging products. For instance, past patent listings have revealed specific features about the Vision Pro before its release, such as its user interface design.
MySmartPrice found a USPTO filing from Samsung titled “Method and System for Grouping Plurality of Devices.” This patent highlights a feature for AR smart glasses, allowing multiple users to interact with shared AR content. Interestingly, the filing explains that the hypothetical Samsung smart glasses users can engage with AR content. In contrast, an additional mobile device user can experience the same augmented experiences through a smartphone or tablet.
This development is significant, as it suggests that Samsung prioritises interoperable XR hardware and software. The company appears to be striving to deliver an XR device that effectively integrates with its existing mobile product ecosystem, which is a strong advantage.
By utilizing a strategy encompassing smart glasses and mobile devices, Samsung could enhance AR adoption among users without advanced wearable technology. This approach could lead to consumer and workplace adoption of smart glasses as more users experience accessible XR use cases, potentially prompting them to invest in dedicated hardware.
Recent reports indicate that Samsung’s highly anticipated XR headset is being developed based on an earlier listing from GeekBench. Until now, details about the device have been scarce. However, it seems that Samsung is creating this XR wearable as part of its broader mobile hardware ecosystem, with a planned launch in 2024 or 2025.
Leaked specifications suggest the device will feature 16GB of RAM and operate at a clock speed of 2.36GHz, using the Android 14 framework. Additionally, the leaks indicate that Samsung’s headset will employ a 6-core Android 14 chipset, likely similar to the well-known Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2. Earlier this year, Qualcomm laid the groundwork for the Samsung XR headset by announcing its XR2+ Gen 2 Platform, with Samsung and Google as partners, making this integration a logical step.
HTC VIVE to Support VRFX Format by VRdirect
This week at AWE EU 2024, VRdirect introduced VRFX, an enterprise-focused XR file format designed to simplify collaboration in cross-device VR project pipelines.
The VRFX file format streamlines the creation and management of XR business projects by eliminating the need for a specific content player to interact with and manage immersive real-time 3D content. This allows companies to share the VR file format via email, file sharing, and cloud services without requiring additional software.
Furthermore, VRdirect prioritises security and compliance in this interoperable VR file format, aiming to enhance XR-based pipelines as the technology gains adoption in business environments.
VRdirect is already collaborating with enterprise clients to provide a no-code software solution for creating and sharing VR business content across VR headsets, mobile devices, and web browsers. The recent launch of VRFX is expected to strengthen the company’s dedicated portfolio.
PICO Announces Business Device Manager at AWE EU 2024
This week at AWE EU 2024, PICO announced the launch of Business Device Manager, a first-party SaaS XR Mobile Device Management (MDM) platform designed to centralize and simplify workplace device adoption.
PICO’s new MDM service features a centralized dashboard, allowing streamlined control over device, account, and content management. The company plans to roll out Business Device Manager globally soon, offering a 12-month free trial exclusively to device owners who enrol in the product before June 1st, 2025.
This initiative reinforces PICO’s commitment to deploying its headset portfolio in workplace environments rather than solely targeting consumer use cases. The introduction of Business Device Manager aims to assist large-scale businesses with adopting and onboarding XR technology by simplifying device deployment and ongoing maintenance.
Key features of the SaaS platform include batch enrollment, which reduces the time needed to roll out multiple devices across a workforce, and enhanced support for device management in post-reset scenarios. Additionally, Business Device Manager supports various login methods, such as single sign-on capabilities and PICO account integration.
The platform also includes real-time command features like remote device control, live screen monitoring, remote reboots, and the ability to perform multi-software updates. The centralized Business Device Manager dashboard provides managers and IT teams with a comprehensive overview of device status and administrative information, including security protocols.
However, hardware and wearables are not the only aspects of XR deployment. The deployment of business-suitable XR content is essential, regardless of the use case, and PICO is also focused on supporting this aspect of the technology.
The management dashboard includes “centralized content management” features that enable managers to deploy appropriate applications, videos, files, and virtual maps across devices to assist workers in completing their tasks. With this centralized suite, PICO offers a shared content library encompassing various XR Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and partners, creating an additional hub of resources for businesses looking to initiate or advance their journey into XR technology.
