AR/VR Glasses Who Will Win the Race?

The Shaping of an Industry: AR/VR Through the Ages

The journey of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) began decades ago, but it's only in recent years that these technologies have started to approach mainstream adoption.?

The term "Virtual Reality" was popularized in the 1980s, with early experiments like the Sensorama. The term "Augmented Reality" was coined in the 1990s. In 2012, Oculus crowdfunded VR? headsets like the Oculus Rift, sparking a renewed interest in VR. Meanwhile, AR gained traction with mobile applications, most notably Pokémon GO in 2016, showcasing AR's potential to the masses.

Companies like Google with Google Glass attempted to bring AR into everyday life. However, it received mixed success. Microsoft introduced the HoloLens, focusing on enterprise solutions with AR, but it also stayed limited to a couple of enterprise test runs.

Current Market Dynamics

Oculus:

Today, the AR/VR landscape is bustling with competition. Facebook purchased Oculus and renamed itself Meta. Mark Zuckerberg has always been very optimistic and has already spent nearly $50 billion in R&D on its AR division, Reality Labs.

The Oculus lineup has now been transformed into Meta Quest, with products like the Meta Quest 3 and cheaper models like Quest 3S available in the market. Meta is leading in consumer VR with its standalone capabilities, affordability, and game library.

Apple:

Apple launched its Mixed-reality headset, Apple Vision Pro, in February 2024. The Vision Pro is designed to blend augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) experiences, allowing users to interact with digital content in a way that integrates with their physical environment. It features advanced eye and hand tracking, high-resolution displays, and a unique operating system called visionOS.

The Future - Orion

Meta's Orion represents a significant advancement in augmented reality (AR) technology, designed to blend digital experiences seamlessly with the real world.?

Orion aims to revolutionize how users interact with both digital content and their environment, potentially replacing smartphones in the future. The company envisions these glasses as tools for communication and interaction with artificial intelligence (AI) through digital overlays in real-world settings.

The glasses are notably lightweight, utilizing silicon carbide lenses that provide a wide field of view with optical clarity compared to traditional AR glasses.? They feature a 70-degree field of view and use Micro LED projectors to overlay holograms directly onto the user’s line of sight. However, their resolution is limited to about 12 pixels per degree, which is lower than that of Apple Vision Pro. The Vision Pro boasts a higher resolution display with approximately 25 pixels per degree, providing sharper visuals for immersive experiences.?

Each device has distinct strengths suited to different user needs—Orion’s sleek design emphasizes practicality and interaction with the physical world. At the same time, Vision Pro aims to provide high-fidelity experiences in virtual environments.

Looking Ahead

Meta, having successfully unveiled the first generation of its next-generation AR headsets, stands out as the clear winner in the highly anticipated AR market. The success of its Oculus platform has opened the way for its competitors to take note, but Meta's bold move to release its cutting-edge AR headsets has left the industry experts in awe.?

The AR/VR race is not just about who sells the most headsets but who can create the most compelling, integrated, and valuable experiences. The future might see a blend of AR and VR, known as Mixed Reality (MR). The new-age companies need to digitally transform their methods to reach out to potential customers to offer their services. Tech companies will continue to innovate designs and capabilities to push the boundaries of what's possible in the world of augmented reality.