The past week has witnessed continued activity and development in the extended reality sector. The XR landscape is maturing from advancements in research applications to the ongoing evolution of both consumer and enterprise-focused hardware and software.
These latest developments provide further insights into the potential and trajectory of immersive technologies as they integrate into various aspects of our lives and industries. Let’s take a closer look at some of the key emerging trends and announcements.
We’ve seen advancements in understanding user behaviour within immersive environments, strategic moves from key players, and practical applications in enterprise settings. The XR landscape continues to evolve.
Recent developments highlight this technology’s diverse potential and growing maturity as it spreads across various sectors. Let’s explore some of the notable trends and progress observed in the world of XR.
Imersifi, Swansea University Explore VR Customer Research
A notable story from the past week comes via Imersifi, the immersive technology solutions provider that collaborated with Swansea University and Kaleidoscope to deploy a fully immersive VR supermarket for customer research.
Imersifi worked with its partners to deploy a “tool for understanding what influences purchasing decisions when in a supermarket” that tracks how a user browses an aisle to create insights into product placement, packaging design, and purchasing decisions.
Can Vision Pro Retain its XR Stakes?
Apple has announced the official dates for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which has traditionally been a platform for the company’s major XR announcements, including the Vision Pro mixed reality headset. The event will be held at Apple Park from June 9 to June 13, 2025, providing insights into Apple’s innovations across its product portfolio, including the Vision Pro.
This news comes as the Vision Pro completes its first year on the market, while competitors like Samsung and Vivo are seeking to gain mainstream interest in AR and MR devices. Although Apple has not confirmed whether the Vision Pro will be present at WWDC, based on last year’s announcements and the incremental updates to visionOS since late 2024, an announcement regarding the device may likely occur during the event.
Alibaba Virtual Humans for Your Workspace
Alibaba Group has introduced TaoAvatar, a cutting-edge technology that brings photorealistic, full-body talking 3D virtual humans to augmented reality. TaoAvatar creates lifelike 3D avatars that resemble real people and can engage in real-time conversations within AR environments.
Reports indicate that the system dynamically generates facial expressions and gestures based on spoken content, ensuring natural synchronization between lip movements, expressions, and actions.
TaoAvatar represents Alibaba’s latest advancement in creating virtual humans capable of effective communication and emotional expression in AR environments. This technology provides businesses with new opportunities to connect with employees and customers in digital spaces that feel increasingly natural, whether for collaboration, education, customer engagement, or entertainment.
PICO XR Marks 10 Years
This week, just before its 10th anniversary, PICO XR announced Enterprise OS 5.13, which optimizes Location-Based Entertainment (LBE) features and large-scale business XR deployments.
Enterprise OS 5.13 introduces many updates to VR and MR users, including:
- Enhanced support for manually switching to the V2 tracking algorithm improves LBE mapping and positioning.
- New tools are available to draw and export obstacles and establish play boundaries.
- A quick reset feature has been added for application testing and quality assurance.
- A tracking node now enables simultaneous tracking of controllers and gestures in third-party applications.
- The VST (Video See-Through) algorithm has been optimized, resulting in improved video quality in low-light conditions and a more natural distribution of lighting brightness.
- Hand-tracking features have been improved, including reduced latency, fewer false touches, better gesture accuracy, support for prolonged sitting or lying down, and smoother full-body animation.
Moreover, the update comes just after PICO XR released improvements to Business Device Manager 1.6.0, which now supports OBB and ROM file type deployment while optimizing tools for controlling a fleet of VR/MR devices.
Leland Hedges, the Head of Enterprise Business at PICO XR US & EMEA of PICO XR, added:
As of last year we also released the PICO Business Device Manager as an optional value added service. Partners have aways been able to operate a fleet of PICO Enterprise devices without requiring specific unique/verified identification which ensures the maximum user privacy.
Hitachi, Hololight Develop Durable XR Smart Glasses
Recently, Hitachi Construction Machinery worked with Holo-Light to develop a durable pair of XR smart glasses. These glasses are watertight and dustproof, suitable for high-impact work sites. The XR devices will enable in-field guidance and aids, creating a hands-free mobile computing solution.
Hitachi notes that smartphones are commonly used for remote guidance for workers in the field, but having to operate a phone while doing a task proved to be a hurdle for Hitachi to overcome. Hence, adopting XR smart glasses lets users leverage the same instructional data as a phone but instead as a hand-free heads-up AR display.
Hitachi Construction Machinery Executive Officer and President of Spare Parts & Service Business Unit Hiroshi Hosokawa added:
We are delighted to be working closely with two of the leading companies in the smart glasses and streaming technology sectors. Our construction and mining machinery is in operation all over the world, and we are constantly developing innovations to support the reliability and efficiency of our excavators, wheel loaders and rigid dump trucks. Hitachi Construction Machinery will continue to collaborate with our various partners to deliver added value to our customers, based on the spirit of the new ‘LANDCROS’ concept.
“The XR smart glasses mark a major step in digitalising service operations, enhancing efficiency and empowering technicians. We’re excited to be part of bringing this technology to the field and shaping the future of industrial XR,” Hololight CEO Florian Haspinger remarked.
