As AI summits steal headlines, the XR industry continues to mature, as major investment goals show how major players are pushing forward with XR technology.
The industry is shaping up and ready for the rest of the year. The shark tank is growing, and leaders will emerge.
Today’s news will determine tomorrow’s leaders, so keep your ears on the ground to learn about tomorrow’s XR champions.
Google’s AndroidXR Provides Developer Passthrough Access
Recent news from the AndroidXR camp highlights a significant development advantage that some believe positions the new operating system ahead of the veteran firm Meta. The XR developer community is celebrating the AndroidXR feature that provides passthrough access, a capability that Meta Quest developers currently lack.
While Meta has mentioned that the developer community may gain access to passthrough video in early 2025, this feature has not yet been implemented. In the meantime, AndroidXR is receiving industry praise for already offering this access.
Microsoft HoloLens Loses $22 Billion Life Line to Oculus Founder
Microsoft’s HoloLens has taken another major hit, potentially signalling the end of the mixed-reality headset in the future.
Reports of widespread device discontinuation and a lack of technical support have left Microsoft with little option, especially after losing the US Military’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) contract, which was worth an estimated $22 billion.
While the HoloLens found some enterprise usage during its lifespan, the IVAS contract was crucial in keeping the device afloat in recent years, as the market developed and more vendors began offering devices with similar functionalities.
Interestingly, with the loss of the IVAS contract, Microsoft’s HoloLens division has been replaced by Palmer Luckey’s start-up, Anduril, a company focused on defense technology. Those familiar with the industry will recall that Palmer Luckey originally founded Oculus, the virtual reality start-up acquired by Mark Zuckerberg, which eventually evolved into the Meta and Reality Labs umbrella following Luckey’s departure.
Now, Anduril is set to take over the development and production of a mixed-reality device, building on Microsoft’s previous work with the HoloLens-powered IVAS.
Samsung Eyes XR Director Hire
This week, an interesting job opportunity surfaced at Samsung, coinciding with its push into augmented reality and mixed reality headsets. The company is looking to fill an XR Director position at Samsung Research America as part of the Mobile Platform Services (MPS), SRA, and Immersive Experiences (IMEX) Team.
The LinkedIn job posting for the XR Director notes that this role will be crucial in leading Samsung’s development of frameworks, runtime environments, and software development kits (SDKs) for augmented, virtual, and mixed reality technologies. This effort aims to create next-generation head-mounted displays and “intelligent glasses.”
Additionally, the listing emphasizes that the XR Director will play a key role in shaping Samsung’s efforts to develop commercial and next-generation technologies that align with the company’s vision for the coming years.
While the role does not disclose any confidential information about Moohan that is not already known to XR audiences, one intriguing aspect is the potential development of an Avatar system. This could be similar to the Vision Pro Personas or Meta Horizon avatars, as the listing specifies that the ideal candidate should have experience with Avatar solutions that track head movement, hand gestures, eye movement, and facial expressions.
The XR Director will likely contribute to the development of the upcoming Moohan headset, as Samsung is actively pushing forward with this project. In recent months, information about upcoming XR devices has flooded industry headlines, highlighting a competitive landscape involving major players like Meta and Apple. This competitive nature is reflected in the job listing’s request for candidates with experience in XR devices like Quest, Vision Pro, Pico, Vive, HoloLens, and Magic Leap.
Qualcomm AI Research to Boost Virtual and Augmented Reality Gesture Understanding
Qualcomm AI Research has made significant advancements in the evolution of extended reality by introducing new AI datasets aimed at enhancing human-computer interaction across various business applications.
Specifically, the Qualcomm AI subgroup has published a range of research datasets focused on emerging technology use cases relevant to businesses, including virtual reality and augmented reality applications.
These publications cover a variety of related use cases, such as industrial Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, healthcare, and assistive technology. The datasets are designed to improve how XR devices and solutions recognize gestures, speech, and images. This enhancement is particularly beneficial for virtual reality applications, allowing them to track user movements and helping AR smart glasses to identify a user’s surroundings.
Qualcomm emphasizes that these datasets can be instrumental in training machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms, which will, in turn, enhance features in VR/AR products and contribute to the development of other emerging technologies, such as robotics and smart home devices.