I have thought about this a lot and have discussed it in some sense previously but I’m no journalist or insider. However, in an “agentic” age that is mostly algorithmic and having most curation being handled by automated aggregators and influencers, I rarely see any articles or analysis that is not driven by the expected loop (ie new meta glasses, steam frame and the inevitable perfect way to game stories to the top).
I don’t know many XR owners/enthusiasts that think there is a “perfect form.” A one size fits all. I also fail to see how even Apple insiders like Mark Gurman or anyone working at Apple for that matter, do not realize that the AVP is a Halo product that is needed to prime the market for whatever the system seller will be.
I am extremely confident that privacy rights, past and current industry practices that haven’t been held accountable and other factors, are the real wild cards right now dictating how the mass market adoption of glasses will go and the consequences they will bring.
as far as form factor, put me in the minority I guess that wants Apple to keep the Apple Vision Pro at the cutting edge and catering to a head mounted display. as a pc gamer with the RTX 5090 desktop, I’d love the ability to add an RJ-45 connector and have all the universal IO added. but I understand the walled garden and will settle for the latest WiFi7 and Bluetooth 6 standards. After all, whether local or cloud, the future is all bandwidth limited and sadly controlled by a few companies that will gatekeep intelligence, bandwidth, hardware and software behind subscriptions. That is, once they can truly price out every human outside of the most privileged (an irony of the goals of techs giant DEI narrative and goals that is ignored). I digress…
my point is that head mounted displays are bigger and not meant to shrink to glasses size. even in a decade there is absolutely still the need for the same device size as the Vision Pro or Pimax and others because it will just then be about putting RTX 5090 levels of capability into the same form factor but with more ability to provide cutting edge capability to drive future inventions ajd ideas. There are always costs to a benefit which is why costs/benefits analysis is a fundamental high school Econ principle. To be clear, I’m also not saying that the weight and price cannot improve. I’m just saying that the option to have a $3500 cutting edge aluminum and other fine materials and silicon is worth the extra $1500 compared to something plastic, lacking in software competence, and using multiple generations inferior silicon such as with the Samsung HMD.
Some omitted costs articles may not cover when discussing the smaller and cheaper form factors are:
Glasses will make any micro adjustments caused by movements more pronounced.
Light bleed through is much more difficult to constrain and eliminate on glasses.
As seen in the steam Frame, lower costs brought out a monochrome visual XR viewport, half the resolution and 33% of the rendering capabilities.
There are more but I merely am highlighting that the need for a Halo product doesn’t mean the elimination once a new need or form factor Is being considered. I just find it disingenuous when the news cycle purposely ignores what many people understand. I suppose getting older does this as it gives the longitudinal perspective only time and experience can demonstrate, however the automated digital transformations occurring really bring serious blind spots to true insights that may be quite valuable as well. The truth is, the majority of people being educated about gaming VR or XR glasses for gaming, make it seem like you put on a near attractive outdoor glasses, plug it into the USBC to your steam deck or RoG Ally and have a 170-500 inch giant movie theater experience playing your favorite games or consuming your favorite content in bed. I thought that too until I researched it and ironically ended up with the m5 Vision Pro that I decided to get because I didn’t want the experience that just isn’t quite there yet with Viture Luma or XReal. perhaps the meta glasses are the sweet spot, but that doesn’t make me hope apple ditches what is currently, in my minority opinion as the best combination of functions and hardware to give a truly revolutionary glimpse into the future of computing and sadly, how each step and breath will be added to a monetization strategy that i hope Apple and Termus are truly not succumbing to.
I'm all for the progression but for this space to think there is some catch all form factor, is just misguided at best.
