The XR Weekly Update (April 8, 2025): Meta’s Smartglasses Might Carry a $1400 Price Tag, Concerns Over US Tariffs, and More!

It’s not exactly the busiest time in the XR (extended reality) space right now, but hey, this week did bring us some excitement with April Fool’s Day, which certainly shook things up a bit! Plus, there are a few noteworthy updates I’m keen to share in this week’s roundup. Let’s dive in so you don’t miss out on any intriguing XR developments 🙂.

Highlight of the Week

Meta’s Upcoming Smart Glasses: The Price Tag Surprise

Bloomberg recently dropped a report shedding some light on Meta’s highly anticipated new smartglasses, and I must admit, their findings were quite the curveball. Meta plans to release a model, codenamed Hypernova, which is essentially a heftier cousin of the Ray-Ban Meta glasses. These come equipped with a single display to provide visual data to just one eye, carefully positioned at the lower part of your vision to avoid obstructing your view. Users can control these glasses through either touch-sensitive sides or the accompanying neural wristband. Expect a boosted camera upgrade—think along the lines of an “iPhone 13 from 2021". A two-display version is also in the works, set for 2027 release. This part of the leak seemed par for the course, aligning with what we’ve heard so far and what feels like a sensible step forward in Meta’s smartglasses journey.

Here’s where things get unpredictable: the glasses will carry Meta’s branding, not Ray-Ban’s. Considering the sleek charm of Ray-Bans, plastering Meta’s name on the frame might be off-putting for many, effectively chopping down two pillars that bolstered Ray-Ban Meta’s success: brand appeal and Essilor Luxottica’s distribution prowess. And there’s another surprise: these glasses might set you back a hefty $1000-$1400. That’s a staggering price for eyewear designed predominantly for checking phone notifications, snapping photos, and shooting videos—scenarios where most wouldn’t splurge $1000 extra unless there’s an Apple logo somewhere on the product.

This naturally raises the question: who outside Meta fans and tech enthusiasts would invest in these pricy early gadgets? You guessed it—developers often crave the newest hardware for experimentation and gaining a competitive edge. Yet, the kicker from Bloomberg’s report indicates developers couldn’t freely access application development—Meta takes control, akin to the existing Ray-Ban Meta system. If developers stay uninterested, I wonder who will buy these glasses. For pure photo-taking or video capture, Ray-Ban Meta suffices; those keen on smartglasses for development can find more liberal options like Brilliant Labs; folks wanting swift notification access could turn to smartwatches, all cheaper than Hypernova’s price.

For more details, check out the following articles:

• [Road To VR on Hypernova glasses]
• [Upload VR on Hypernova glasses]
• [Forbes on Hypernova glasses]

Other Noteworthy News

April Fool’s Antics in the XR World

This year, the XR space got a hearty sprinkle of April Fool’s fun, with more participants joining in than usual. To share some highlights: I cheekily claimed we were launching the Decagear; Sebastian Ang (of MRTV fame) humorously declared himself the new CEO of Pimax, Ndreams teased a non-existent Synapse 2 for Google Cardboard, and Voodoo DE unveiled a mock innovative device preview.

On the broader tech front, Razer ran with one of my favorites—a fictional Razer Skibidi headset that amusingly translated grown-up lingo into Gen Z speak (and vice versa). Imagining adults stepping into Gorilla Tag to meet noisy youngsters around them is quite the visual! If you love a good laugh, check out my curated links of top April Fool’s jokes.

Here are some links to explore the humor from various tech players:

• [Announcing Decagear & Pimax headsets]
• [Sebastian Ang’s Pimax CEO prank]
• [VooDoo DE’s exclusive preview]
• [Synapse 2 for Google Cardboard]
• [VRCDN legal parody]
• [Puppet novelty in Walkabout Mini Golf]
• [Razer Skibidi and more tech jokes of 2025]

Are US Tariffs a Threat to Headset Prices?

Today brings a somber start to the week for global stock exchanges, reacting to new U.S. tariffs. The dust hasn’t quite settled, so it’s uncertain whether these are permanent or a negotiation tactic. Should they persist, it could spell trouble for electronics, including XR headsets. Companies sourcing Asian components or leveraging manufacturing there face elevated BOM (bill of materials) costs, potentially hiking customer prices. For instance, Meta might sell the next Quest 3S at $500 post-stocks.

Given VR headsets’ optional use case, price hikes risk deflating sales, jeopardizing XR’s stagnant status quo and delaying any resurgence.

For more information on tariffs affecting XR headsets, take a look at:

• [Tariff impact on XR headsets]
• [Tariffs influencing the computer market]
• [Upcoming potential tariffs on chips]

News Worth Mentioning

Apple Reveals Apple Intelligence with Vision Pro

Apple’s VisionOS 2.4 rolls out with intriguing new treats:

• Apple Intelligence brings text proofing, rewriting, summarizing, and advanced imagery tools.
• The Spatial Gallery offers a curated immersive visual feast.
• A companion app for Vision Pro simplifies guest mode settings and mirroring.

For full details, see:

• [VisionOS 2.4 on Road To VR]
• [VisionOS 2.4 on Upload VR]

The Quest Conundrum: Success and Setbacks

Mixed signals abounds in Quest’s ecosystem. Big successes loom, like Gorilla Tag and I Am Cat. Animal Company just hit $100K on the Quest Store, yet despite this, challenges remain. Some devs note market contraction, and layoffs are not uncommon. Additionally, Meta’s GDC claim of $2B spent on the Horizon Store remains unchanged from a year ago, highlighting stagnant revenues and a shift towards free-to-play games reliant on a younger audience.

Get more insights from these articles:

• [Quest’s $2B revenue stagnation]
• [Successful Quest titles]
• [Animal Company’s financial milestone]

Nintendo Labo Falls Short with Switch 2

The Switch 2 has been the talk of the town but brings disappointment for XR fans. Its larger display spells incompatibility with the original Nintendo Labo accessory. For now, there’s no word on a new Labo accessory for the updated console.

PSVR 2 Eye Tracking Tackled for PC Use

A developer, going by “whatdahopper,” showcased a prototype reading PSVR 2’s eye-tracking on PC. iVRy joins the fray, sharing similar objectives and collaborating. Success could position PSVR 2 as a budget-friendly eye-tracking headset, benefiting VRChat lovers and research ventures focused on eye interaction and foveated rendering.

For more details on their efforts, check out:

• [Eye tracking unlocked on PSVR 2]
• [iVRy’s work paralleling this]

Quest Camera Access: Such Inspired Creations!

Every week, Quest developers continue to astound with innovative experiments. Check out these projects:

• A voxelized environment demo
• A tool converting scanned physical objects into 3D voxel models
• An inventive ball-tracking quest game
• A mixed reality drone photographing the user—all from wearing Quest!

Explore these inventive ventures here:

• [Voxel environment demo]
• [3D object scanning]
• [Quest ball tracking]
• [Photo-shooting drone]

Haptic Skin: Thin, Yet Impactful

A new study unveils a synthetic skin delivering haptic feedback. It’s delicate yet practical, tested on fingertips, where tiny inflating/deflating dots mimic touch. Although promising, don’t expect this tech to hit the consumer market anytime soon.

Ruff Talk VR Gaming Showcase

The YouTube channel Ruff Talk VR hosted a fantastic virtual gaming event, presenting diverse indie VR titles. Several news items below come from this showcase; if you want the full experience, make sure to check the link below.

For the full showcase, click here.

Content Snippets

• Civilization VII VR lands exclusively on Quest 3 & 3S on April 10 for $60
• Velociblaster, a multiplayer game where you play as armed velociraptors, is now on the Quest wishlist
• Quest sees the debut of Train Sim World for $32, delivering a virtual train-driving debut
• The developers behind “Township Tale” preview their next title, REAVE, an extraction-style dungeon crawler
• Bearly Escape arrives May 1 on both SteamVR and Quest 3 for $14.99 as a claw-machine puzzler
• Arcade racer Exer Gale hits Early Access on Quest this June
• Rival Stars Horse Racing: VR Edition launches April 17 on Steam and Quest
• A dedicated fan is working tirelessly to bring Half-Life: Alyx to Quest 3—currently, the first scene is available as a sideloadable APK

Check out more info about each of these fascinating projects:

• [Civilization VII VR]
• [Velociblaster]
• [Train Sim World]
• [Reave]
• [Bearly Escape]
• [Exer Gale]
• [Rival Stars Horse Racing]
• [Half-Life: Alyx project for Quest]

Content Reviews

• Pinball FX VR offers a delightful pinball experience with varied machines, and a mixed reality mode that turns your room into an arcade.
• Wanderer: Fragments Of Fate features impressive puzzles with growth potential, but requires tweaks on combat and bug fixes.
• Hitman World Of Assassination received a positive nod from Upload VR, confirming its quality for PSVR 2.

For more detailed reviews, go to:

• [Pinball FX VR]
• [Wanderer Fragments Of Fate]
• [Hitman World Of Assassination]

Additional Tidbits

• ACE and SIG SAUER team up to create a Quest controller mimicking the look and feel of a real gun
• Squid Game VR has racked up over $30M in ticket sales at Sandbox VR
• Don Hopper from GDC favorably reviewed the Mocopi Pro tracking set
• Virtual Desktop now boasts virtual monitor support for Mac with impressive quality
• A recent study suggests today’s kids are less prone to motion sickness than adults
• HTC celebrated Vive’s ninth birthday—congrats!

Find out more about these stories through these links:

• [Quest Gun Controller]
• [Squid Game VR ticket sales]
• [Mocopi Pro review]
• [Virtual Desktop on Mac]
• [Kids and motion sickness study]
• [HTC Vive’s birthday]

Partner Updates

Mixed Reality Tech Testing Service

I learned about a fresh startup, Mixed Reality Tech, founded by a fellow XR sphere entrepreneur. They offer on-demand QA testing services for XR applications, scanning for bugs across different headsets. If you seek thorough testing for your product, definitely reach out to them.

Learn more about their service here.

A Little XR Fun

• 96° FOV as a motion sickness preventer – [Funny Link]
• What if humans were coded using LLM prompts? – [Funny Link]
• Predict my future – [Funny Link]
• Terminator versus Human: a simple discrimination test – [Funny Link]

Support for Humanity

As last week, I urge you instead of supporting my blog, to direct your generosity towards those suffering in war-ravaged Ukraine. Please consider donating to the Red Cross to help address the humanitarian crisis. I want to convey my heartfelt gratitude to my Patreon supporters for your unwavering dedication, listed below: