For the first time, it seems that mixed reality is the future. It’s been more than a decade since the failed Google Glass experiment, which was ridiculed in the early 2010s. Now Meta and others have helped make public opinion around wearable technology is more positive.
Meta Quest 2 sold more than 20 million units, and the brand’s latest Quest 3 the headset will sell even better. And that doesn’t include Meta Ray-Ban, which isn’t an XR product right now, but could certainly be one in the future. In fact, Meta’s own Orion prototype demonstrates exactly how Quest and Meta Ray-Ban Product lines may be combined in the future to create a wearable experience.
Starting from Meta Orion: presentation and press tour In the fall of 2024, we saw a flurry of mixed or extended reality prototypes, plans, and the like. There was an announcement of Android XR, a mysterious hint at Samsung project “Mukhan” headsets, as well as the news that Vivo will have a prototype of a competitor to Apple Vision Pro end 2025. This doesn’t take into account all the startups and smaller brands that have announced XR or MR products or experiences.
However, these recent announcements serve as a good reminder not to fall for the teasers and hype. Until a product actually hits the shelves and has a fixed price, it is not real. As flawed as they may be, it’s better to focus on the mixed reality products that actually exist today—like the Meta Quest line and Apple’s Vision Pro—than to get caught up in what could be.
Vivo’s recent announcement was perhaps the most blatant. At an event on December 31, 2024, the company shared a mysterious image and stated that it working on a mixed reality headset that will be introduced in 2025. Specifically, the company said it will offer “high-quality prototypes” of its headset in select Chinese cities by the end of 2025. It sounds like Vivo is in the early stages of development – so early that it’s not even close. to agree on release date or price.
Even though we’re not revealing any details about the mixed reality headset (we don’t even know what Vivo’s wearable will look like, other than a boring and generic silhouette), Vivo is making bold claims about its capabilities. The company wants to create a headset that will surpass Apple Vision Prowhich is not an easy task. While the Vision Pro may have been a commercial failure, it was a hardware success and Apple managed to get it into mass production.
This is worth highlighting because no company has been able to mass produce mixed reality wearables matching the capabilities of the Vision Pro. You could argue that the Meta Orion glasses would be on the same level as the Vision Pro, but it’s well known that this is just a prototype because it would be too expensive to mass produce. Who knows, perhaps Samsung’s Project Moohan or Vivo’s unnamed headset will be the first to challenge the Vision Pro on price and production levels.
Here’s the problem: we don’t know. And the companies advertising all these prototypes and plans? They don’t know it either.
At a time when almost every major company is exploring a mixed reality strategy, it’s a good idea to pause before getting caught up in the hype. It’s easy to get excited about a headset from Apple, Vivo, Meta, Samsung or any other brand. If you remember, Apple Vision Pro went through the same process.
Rumors and leaks swirled for years, and then Apple finally revealed the headset and its whopping $3,499 price tag. To say it wasn’t what consumers expected would be an understatement. The Apple Vision Pro is expensive, heavy, and has a tethered battery. Even after the reveal, the release date remained a mystery for many months.
The lesson to be learned here is that a product is only real if you can walk into a store and buy it. Until the price, release date and technical specifications are known, there is little point in paying attention to a prototype product that may never see the light of day. Even then, it probably won’t be what was originally expected. If you’ve been a tech fan long enough, you probably remember your share of highly hyped products that were canceled or didn’t live up to expectations.
Virtual, mixed and extended reality experiences are here to stay. Android XR is an operating system created by Google and Samsung designed to breathe life into the next generation of XR products. We will see more prototypes, plans and teasers only in 2025, not less.
Before you get excited about any of these possible products, pause and remember everything that didn’t come to fruition. Don’t avoid buying products that are here and now for those that might be. If you need a Meta Quest headset, buy one. If you want Apple Vision Pro—and can live with the growing pains of early adopters—buy it.
There is no point in waiting because there will always be something new and better on the horizon. After all, we are shown time and time again that getting a prototype to the point where it gets a release date and price is much more difficult than companies think.