IS HEADSET VR DYING?
It's been a tumultuous week for fans of augmented and virtual reality. Meta (formerly Facebook) announced and subsequently retracted its plan to shut down its metaverse platform, Horizon Worlds.
To refresh your memories, Facebook allocated huge investments toward producing a virtual ecosystem called the "metaverse" during the COVID era. They bet big on their new VR platform and related headset technology, so much so that they even changed their name to Meta. 6 years, $80 billion dollars, and a few press releases later, it turns out they aren't killing the metaverse. They're just taking a mobile-first approach.
While headset sales are down year over year, their Horizon Worlds mobile app downloads have increased. It's a trend we're seeing more and more across the augmented and virtual reality worlds. And what's driving this surge of mobile AR/VR usage?
It's simple. Access and affordability.
Since the 2010s we've seen countless headset models hit the market. From the early Oculus and Hololens to today's Apple Vision Pro, these devices simply cost too much for the everyday consumer. Over this same period, improvements in mobile device hardware and software have democratized the virtual landscape, allowing users of most modern phones and tablets to enter virtual worlds or render 3D experiences in their physical space.
Having worked on a few "metaverse" style projects ourselves since 2020, we can't say we're shocked by these trends or Meta's realignment. Headset-style projects remain fairly niche in their appeal, with much of their success and utilization relegated to gaming, training, and in-person fan activations. Meanwhile, social media platforms, retail organizations, and studios like ours have effectively leveraged app and web-based AR & VR to great effect for our clients and customers.
We certainly haven't seen the end of the headset era as we know it, but it's safe to say that mobile-first augmented and virtual reality experiences are at the top of the food chain. This continuous evolution keeps our team creative, hungry, and eager to help new clients engage with this technology.
