VR is Officially Declared Dead, Again

Author

Lori-Lee Elliott
March 17, 2025

But First…Cool, if Real

This is mixed reality…sort of. Jon Slusser of The Famous Group described it as "VFX in real-time, during a LIVE broadcast". Until headsets get better I predict we will see more screen-based MR. Check out the full video here (LinkedIn).

Startup Updates and Wins

Dauntless XR updated the Space Weather app to include a new satellite, CCOR-1, which monitors the sun. We mentioned it last week but happened to capture a flare while we were in the app (available on Quest, for free). Here’s a video, but go check it out for yourself.

Industry News

  • How to Optimize Text in Mixed Reality (LinkedIn) Are you a light-mode or dark-mode person? I am dark mode across devices but we found that in augmented and mixed reality having both options is a must-have, not a preference. Because AR/MR is for smart glasses, the content must adapt to changing real-world light conditions or you can’t read what’s “on screen”. Adaptive modes increase user's session time and we even made a dev tool so you can skip the coding to the good stuff.

  • VR is Reducing train time by 96% at Walmart and upskilling 23,000 crew members at Emirates (LinkedIn) These VR training numbers are impressive so…why isn’t all training done in XR? Headsets are pricey, not comfortable to use for long periods of time, and training content is often custom (read: expensive) to make.

  • Astronauts are using VR to train for life on the moon. (NASA) This moon simulation uses images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to make the experience hyper-realistic. I tried this at JSC and it is very cool. There’s a teleport feature because it takes forever to walk anywhere on the moon (apparently).

Saved on Socials

The posts, memes, and videos caught our attention and made us think this week.

  • It's that time of year when VR is officially declared dead, again (LinkedIn) VR is once again "over" without a killer app to save the industry. But those building the tools can the traction happening, just not in the headline-making places.

  • AI Agents or Data Invaders? Meredith Whittaker Sounds the Alarm on Privacy Risks. (Instagram). Want to impress your manager? Get a handle on the unique cybersecurity requirements of AI agents. For AI to be truly useful we must provide it with sufficient data, including personal data. Make sure you understand what an AI agent provider is doing with all the information before asking an AI to plan and book a vacation for you. XR also has an uncommon vector of cyber attack (3D models) that other industries don’t, and it’s interesting to see how adjacent industries mitigate these risks when you have no playbook to go by.

  • Life with Holograms (LinkedIn). Andy Klein share a Hololens memory for his work in 2015. The tech has come so far and I can only imagine the awe of seeing those holograms 10 years ago.

  • These robots are getting gooood 🤩 (Instagram) Tiff in Tech recaps robotics news you missed/were afraid to see.

Recently Played >

What our founders listened to this week.

  • The Botched Sonos Software Update that Cost $600M (Spotify) The U2 Album of apps…or the epitome of poor software change management? IMO Sonos should have lived with the tech debt longer or rolled it out to a smaller percentage of their user base. We want to know who got fired over this.

  • Launch a $1M Startup Tomorrow (Spotify) Came for the business ideas to get the creative entrepreneurial juice flowing, stayed for the how to build the business banter. 10/10

  • The Stanza Podcast (Apple Podcasts) - Hosted by Nadine C. Nadine left investment banking to start a media company covering luxury fashion, hospitality, and private members clubs. It has nothing to do with our technology but I love hearing about what’s working in other industries to see if there’s anything we steal to get an unfair advantage.

Overheard on Slack

Enter the chat. What our devs are talking about…

  • “If we can survive COVID plus what I expect to be a wave of bankruptcies this year I’m going to be so impressed with us”

  • “Did I ever think I’d photoshop a flight helmet onto a gorilla for work? No. I did not.”

  • “LinkedIn search sucks, does it use Bing under the hood?”

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