The past week has been pretty interesting for me, because I’ve been able to try Vivo Vision, the new mixed reality headset announced by Vivo, one of the leading smartphone manufacturers. The result of my hands-on is a very detailed article about the device, which you can find here. I’m very happy to have been one of the first Westerners to be able to try it, so that I could tell you how it is.
I strongly suggest you to read that article, but now let’s get to the most important XR news of the week
Top news of the week
(Image by Luna)
Meta Hypernova may be a devkit for smartglasses
Meta Connect is happening in two weeks, and the rumors about the smartglasses that Meta may launch there are intensifying and are starting to create an interesting picture.
As I’ve told in the past week, Meta is rumored to launch high-end smartglasses with a monocular display and a neural wristband for interactions. The glasses are codenamed Hypernova, but the market name may be Meta Celeste. According to Upload VR, the display may have a field of view of just 20°, and may be manufactured by Lumus.
Hypernova should be pretty expensive, around $1000, and the latest rumor by Mark Gurman mentioned a potential price of $800. This is why Ming-Chi Kuo, the famous “Apple Analyst”, says that Hypernova, in its two-year product cycle, may sell just around 150,000 to 200,000 units in total.
Meta may use Hypernova to understand how users interact with smartglasses, but I think their main use will be the one of starting an ecosystem before all the others do. New rumors talk about Meta already working with some third-party partner studios to build applications for the Hypernova glasses. These applications should leverage generative AI and exploit the small display of the glasses.
But looking at the agenda of the upcoming Meta Connect, there are various hints about Meta releasing a new SDK, and it is highly probable that it is the one for glasses (with the only other option being the SDK for the Augments on Quest). If Meta releases a smartglasses SDK, Meta Celeste may be the ideal headset for developers to start developing for the new glasses ecosystem Meta is heavily investing in. From being an expensive toy, the headset may become a useful devkit that developers use to enter a new market, becoming much more interesting for me and my fellow nerds.
In the meantime, Meta is keeping improving the glasses ecosystem, and the latest news is that now Ray-Ban Meta glasses can access the information on your calendar. You can so use your smartglasses to schedule new appointments and to ask for information about the current ones. Meta is already adding a lot of useful features to glasses; if developers have the freedom to add even more, I think smartglasses can really become useful for many people.
More info (Hypernova glasses price and projected sales numbers)
More info (Meta working with external studios to release apps for glasses)
More info (Meta may announce an SDK for glasses)
More info (Meta AI can now access your calendar)
Other relevant news
(Image by Samsung)
Samsung Project Moohan may launch this October
We still have no information about when Samsung will launch its Project Moohan headset, the first device running Google’s Android XR. But there is a new rumor that is speculating about this.
According to South Korean outlet Newsworks, Project Moohan will be featured at Samsung’s upcoming Unpacked event, which takes place on September 29th. During the event, Samsung should officially launch the headset, which should start shipping on October 13th, but only in South Korea. A worldwide launch should come later, but it is not clear how it should roll out.
Regarding the price, the magazine speculates something between $1,800 and $2,900 USD. It is a wide range, but whatever the exact price will be, this means a couple of things: the headset will be cheaper than Apple Vision Pro, but the price will be too high to go beyond the prosumer market segment. This is why, according to Newsworks, Samsung is only expecting to ship around 100,000 units of the device this year.
Rec Room laid off half of its staff
It was a huge (negative) surprise to discover this week that Rec Room, one of the most successful social VR apps, is actually laying off half of its team.
The reason for this internal restructuring is that the startup tried to pursue a too-big vision. It delivered creation tools for all the platforms it runs on, with the idea that everyone could create content. However, the company did not consider that mobile users face difficulties in creating high-quality content due to the intrinsic limitations of mobile phones (small screen, limited interactions, low performance). So the result of this big effort of cross-platformness has been a platform flooded with low-quality content. This big volume of content had to be managed, and that created pressure on the team and costs for the backend. But being low quality, all this content only brought frustration to the users.
The result is that now Rec Room has to backtrack from that big vision, and focus only on the creation tools for PC people, which are the ones creating the best words. Returning to a smaller vision means also returning to a smaller team, so half of the staff had to be laid off. I hope many of them can find a new job soon.
I think this story can be a good lesson for many startups out there. Trying to pursue a too-big vision for your company, especially blindly following the wrong metrics (in this case, the number of created words and the number of compatible platforms), may seriously impact your business.
More info (Rec Room layoffs — Road To VR)
More info (Rec Room layoffs — Upload VR)
News worth a mention
(Image by Rokid)
Rokid had a successful Kickstarter campaign for its AR glasses
Rokid launched a few days ago a Kickstarter campaign for the Western launch of its smartglasses, that had already successfully launched in China. These glasses feature a monochrome display and, apart from taking photos and videos, also feature additional applications like real-time translation. I’ve tried them both at CES and a couple of months ago in Hangzhou, and I can confirm they are great devices.
Rokid glasses mount Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR1 and NXP’s RT600 processors, and they have dual micro-LED displays delivering 1500 nits of brightness. The front camera has 12MP.
The base tier for the campaign was $479, and Rokid managed to attract the interest of so many people that has now collected more than $1M just in the first week. Thanks to the fulfillment of a stretch goal, whoever backs the glasses will also receive a charging case.
The success of these glasses proves that there is a lot of interest in smart glasses that are thin, lightweight, and have a display. Good job, Rokid, in delivering them.
More info (Rokid’s Kickstarter campaign)
More info (Rokid collecting more than $1M in just one week)
Halo wants to launch smartglasses that record everything you say
Two former Harvard students are launching a pair of “always-on” AI-powered smart glasses that listen to, record, and transcribe every conversation and then display relevant information to the wearer in real time. The use case is potentially interesting, but I see huge privacy concerns with that. The irony is that the founders complain about Meta’s privacy issues, but then are proposing a device that records everything people say, with or without the consent of other people, and even without showing a blinking LED to warn others about the recording in progress. The startup is called Halo, and personally, I’m not a big fan of its approach.
Someone built a VR treadmill… with a mouse!
An XR enthusiast investigated how he could create a VR treadmill starting from a standard running treadmill. After a lot of experiments, he found a very cheap hack that lets him do that by just using a computer mouse! The idea is genius because the mouse is able to detect motion, so it acts as a good sensor for the moving mill.
This video is one of those crazy VR ideas that I personally love… I suggest you have a look at it!
(Thanks to Alex Goncharov for the tip)
IDC forecasts growth for XR in 2026
In its latest report about AR/VR, IDC predicts a slowdown for XR in 2025, followed by growth in 2026. According to the analysts, 2025 will see a decline in sales of XR devices, but the situation should rebound in 2026, where XR should return to the high levels reached during the pandemic. This is great news, because in 2021 XR was doing pretty well.
It is not clear what kind of XR they are talking about, though, since the report is a mix of VR headsets, MR devices, and AI smartglasses. My bet is that the majority of these predicted sales will be smartglasses.
Meta adds new AI features to Horizon Worlds
Meta is keeping adding lots of AI-powered features to the desktop editor of Horizon Worlds. The latest two ones announced this week are:
- An automatic creator of islands given some specific settings and a prompt
- AI-powered talking NPCs that can behave according to a prompt and some backstory. NPCs will in the future also be able to trigger actions in the world.
It is impressive the pace at which Meta is adding generative AI features to Horizon Worlds. Technically, this is pretty cool, but it has to be seen if this will lead to more valuable content or just a lot of AI slop. What happens to Rec Room teaches us that a higher amount of content doesn’t necessarily mean a better platform.
More info (AI NPCs in Horizon Worlds)
More info (AI ilands in Horizon Worlds)
Quest v81 runtime overhauls the home and removes the Navigator UI
The new v81 runtime of Meta Quest adds some interesting updates to the device. First of all, it completely removes all the previous home environments and replaces them with only one Immersive Home, which is fully navigable by the user.
The operating system also seems to now record the preferred locomotion settings of the user, but it is not clear if 3rd party studios can leverage this information.
The other relevant update is that the Navigator UI, which was praised as a good new way to provide a system menu to the user, will be rolled back, and it will only be available as an experimental feature for users who want to activate it. I’m really confused about what happened here: it seems that when things concern the UI of the Quest, Meta can’t really make a good decision.
More info (Meta Quest v81 update)
More info (Immersive Home in v81 update)
Some info about content
- Ballee, the only mixed reality game using a real physical ball, has been launched on the Meta Horizon Store! I’m a big fan of this idea, so I hope it will succeed
- Total Chaos, a remake of the total conversion Doom II mod, will launch in Q4 2025 and will add PC VR support to the survival horror game post-launch
- BattleGroupVR2, a follow-up to the popular 2023 real-time strategy space sim, is getting a free demo on September 12 for PC VR and Quest
- Lumines Arise is the latest puzzle game by Enhance, the studio founded by Tetsuya Mizuguchi and best known for Rez Infinite and Tetris Effect. It will launch on November 11th for PS5, PlayStation VR2, and PC via Steam
- No Man’s Sky announced the Voyager update, featuring huge customizable starships called Corvettes
- Cave Crave is releasing an update on Quest and PSVR 2 that brings to the game a recreation of the infamous Nutty Putty Cave, where someone died in the past
- Birdseed VR aims to let you become an amateur birdwatcher with a new photography sim. It is coming “soon” to Quest
- Titan Isles, a high-flying adventure co-op platformer, is slated to arrive on Quest and SteamVR headsets on September 25th
More info (Ballee)
More info (Total Chaos)
More info (BattlegroupVR 2)
More info (Lumines Arise)
More info (No Man’s Sky)
More info (Cave Crave)
More info (Birdseed VR)
More info (Titan Isles)
Some reviews about content
- From a preview hands-on, Street Gods seems very promising, featuring satisfying combat in a mix between Norse Mythology and street culture
- Into Black is a great FPS, and it feels even better on PSVR2, where it can deliver very good graphics
- Squid Game at Sandbox VR feels great because of the social interactions it creates between the various players
- CosmicXR lets you explore the solar system and the whole universe in your living room. It shows how XR is great for education
- Banners & Bastions is a strategy game in mixed reality with clean visuals, intuitive controls, and satisfying gameplay
- World War Z is not a very remarkable game, on all sides
- Star Trek Infection is a game with a lot of potential, thanks to its clever exploration and interactions, and an atmosphere able to deliver a constant sensation of horror and fear.
More info (Street Gods)
More info (Into Black)
More info (Squid Game)
More info (CosmicXR)
More info (Banners And Bastions)
More info (World War Z)
More info (Star Trek Infection)
Other news
Rendever released a dementia simulator to provide empathy training to relatives and caregivers of people affected by this problem
Social VR Resonite just released an update that massively improves its performance
Quest 3 applications can now implement pose tracking of QR Codes
No Man’s Sky is the first PSVR2 game to implement PSSR AI Upscaling
Valve Steam Link is coming to Pico headsets
An interesting editorial by Janko Roettgers suggests how Netflix should acquire Sandbox VR to successfully roll out its out-of-home-entertainment strategy
Enroll for the Godot XR Game Jam!
Meta shared some interesting nerdy information about the chips running inside the Orion glasses
(Thanks Ivan Aguilar for the tip)
Apple Personas are incredibly accurate after their latest update
News from partners (and friends)
Attend the 2025 Augmented and Virtual Reality Policy Conference!
The Ghost Howls is a media partner for the AR/VR Policy Conference, which will be held on September, 9 in Washington, DC (USA).
This is the description that the organizers have given me:
This fifth annual premier policy forum brings together federal lawmakers, technologists, and industry leaders to explore how immersive technologies — including augmented and virtual reality, AI, blockchain, and wearable tech — are transforming the future of innovation, governance, and national competitiveness.
The conference will feature five expert panel discussions, lightning talks from leading innovators, live demos from Qualcomm, Mediview, ReframeXR, CareerViewXR, Meta, VirtualWear, and Google, and a fireside chat with Representative Ted Lieu, a leading congressional voice on emerging technology policy, moderated by ITIF Vice President Daniel Castro.
If this got your interest and you are close to Washington, DC, consider getting a ticket; it is free! Official website Get a ticket
Discover Drone Simulator!
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Experience realistic flight physics with multiple control and flight modes to master every technique.
Explore diverse maps, unlock hidden collectibles, and take on exciting challenges.
Test your skills in time trials and prove you’ve got what it takes to win gold.
Take your drone training to the next level — get Drone Simulator VR today and start flying!
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.
Some XR fun
Meta has blocked the Facebook account of the “metaverse inventor” Neal Stephenson because he was impersonating Neal Stephenson. It happened for real!
Funny link
Some people just advise to get a Quest 3 no matter what
Funny link
Overreacting while in VR
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
- Jonn Fredericks
- Jean-Marc Duyckaerts
- Reynaldo T Zabala
- Richard Penny
- Terry xR. Schussler
- Ilias Kapouranis
- Paolo Leoncini
- Immersive.international
- Nikk Mitchell and the great FXG team
- Jake Rubin
- Alexis Huille
- Raghu Bathina
- Chris Koomen
- Cognitive3D
- Wisear (Yacine Achiakh)
- Masterpiece X
- Dimo Pepelyashev
- Carol Dalrymple
- Keith Bradner
- Jennifer Granger
- Jason Moore
- Steve Biggs
- Julio Cesar Bolivar
- Jan Schroeder
- Kai Curtis
- Francesco Strada
- Sikaar Keita
- Ramin Assadollahi
- Juan Sotelo
- Andrew Sheldon
- Chris Madsen
- Horacio Torrendell
- Andrew Deutsch
- Fabien Benetou
- Tatiana Kartashova
- Marco “BeyondTheCastle” Arena
- Eloi Gerard
- Adam Boyd
- Jeremy Dalton
- Joel Ward
- Alex P
- Lynn Eades
- Donald P
- Casie Lane
- Catherine Henry
- Qcreator
- Ristband (Anne McKinnon & Roman Rappak)
- Stephen Robnett
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- Christopher Boyd
- Don Williams
- Giuseppe Pippi
- Mark Frederiksen
- Ken Lin
- Sb
- Boule Petanque
- Pieter Siekerman
- Enrico Poli
- Vooiage Technologies
- Caroline
- Liam James O’Malley
- Hillary Charnas
- Wil Stevens
- Francesco Salizzoni
- Alan Smithson
- Steve R
- Brentwahn
- Michael Gaebler
- Tiago Silva
- Matt Cool
- Mark G
- Simplex
- Gregory F Gorsuch
- Paul Shay
- Matias Nassi
And now here you are the link to donate:
Support The Red Cross in Ukraine
The post The XR Week Peek (2025.09.02): Meta may release an SDK for glasses, Samsung may launch Moohan in October, and more! appeared first on The Ghost Howls.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://skarredghost.com/2025/09/02/meta-glasses-sdk-moohan-launch/