Bear in mind VR? It’s that factor the place you placed on a headset and… You keep in mind VR, proper? If you happen to don’t keep in mind VR, you couldn’t be blamed, as a result of issues have taken a flip since method again in 2023, and proper now, VR appears to be on the again burner, chilly, with the warmth turned off, whereas its sister tech, XR/AR is entrance and middle, getting all of chef’s Michelin-starred consideration.
That’s not only a feeling, both; there are numbers to bear that development out. Yr over 12 months, Meta mentioned final week that Meta Actuality Labs gross sales had been down from $440 million in Q1 of 2024 to $412 million in Q1 of 2025. That drop, by Meta’s personal admission, is due largely to tanking Quest gross sales. What makes that development fascinating isn’t simply the precipitous drop in Quest gross sales; it’s the truth that on the identical time, gross sales of its more and more in style Ray-Ban sensible glasses appear to be by the roof. In accordance with Meta CFO Susan Li, Actuality Labs’ income loss was “as a consequence of decrease Meta Quest gross sales, which had been partially offset by elevated gross sales of Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses.” That enhance in income, by the way in which, is seemingly threefold year-over-year.
If I’m studying into Li’s breakdown, Quest gross sales are tanking, and sensible glasses are saving the day. Or, I suppose that’s a technique to have a look at it. One other strategy to see that development is that VR is skidding out, and sensible glasses (and the potential for XR/AR inside them) are choosing up the items. Which will sound sensational, nevertheless it additionally makes good sense in different methods.
Don’t get me mistaken, I truly like VR/XR headsets; I feel the Quest 3S is the proper headset for the second as a result of it’s gentle, inexpensive, and nonetheless provides a full-featured XR expertise that may fulfill established XR/VR followers and impress rookies. That being mentioned, they’re nonetheless a burden. Strapping a headset to your face is inherently invasive and never precisely what most would name a nice time. Even the Quest 3, which is light-weight and usually comfy in comparison with the competitors, wears in your eyes, your face, and your poor, sweaty pores and skin after some time.
As a lot as I really like the Quest for what it could possibly be, it’s laborious to reconcile that with what it’s proper now. Sensible glasses, then again, don’t share these issues. Positive, Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses don’t do even half of what we would like them to at this cut-off date—they don’t also have a show in them but—however they’re a lightweight contact. If you’d like a style of sensible options like Bluetooth audio, a voice assistant, and a few (very hit-and-miss) AI, then you possibly can snag a pair, slap them in your face, and put on them for hours with out feeling such as you’re sporting something aside from a daily pair of glasses.
The lesson right here is that it’s higher to do some of what you’ll count on (sufficient to qualify as begin) than attempt to do every part at the price of a clunky type issue, and that’s shining by in the case of sensible glasses versus VR headsets. Not solely that, however sensible glasses, although nonetheless very a lot a piece in progress, are additionally doubtlessly much more helpful in your day-to-day. Due to their gentle type issue, you possibly can truly deliver them into the actual world and use them for actual stuff like taking footage or calling your mother. Which is a reminder: it is best to name your mother, sensible glasses or not.
Regardless of the place your priorities or allegiances lie, the tides, as they typically do in rising tech, appear to be turning. On prime of that, the entire newest rhetoric round sensible glasses and XR/AR from Apple’s Tim Prepare dinner and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg ought to offer you some indication of which method these waters are flowing. If you happen to’re a fan of sensible glasses, you’ve acquired nothing to fret about, however in the event you had been excited to understand our full VR future, you will have to attend some time longer.
