Future XR Highlights (2025.06.16): Meta and Oakley Launch Glasses This Friday, Snap’s Specs Coming in 2026, and More!

Sure thing, here’s my take on it:

Hey from Cupertino! Yeah, the home of Apple, right here in Silicon Valley. I’m hanging out here for a week, doing the whole meeting thing before jetting off to Berlin. XRCC calls and, well, can’t ignore it. Crossing fingers that the Bay Area vibes treat me better than last week’s chaos at AWE. Seriously, I was like a Resident Evil zombie with that cold. Anyway, send me some luck, and I promise to throw some XR nuggets your way!

### Top News of the Week

#### Meta and Oakley—A Match Made in… Sunglasses Heaven?

Okay, so here’s the scoop. Meta and Oakley—yeah, the shades people—might be dropping some athlete-focused glasses this Friday. Months back, folks were whispering about this possible lovechild with a camera smack in the middle. And now, there’s a new “oakleymeta” social media account teasing… something. Trippy video, some logos, and—bam!—June 20th is the clue. I half-thought they’d do this at Meta Connect, but then again, a summer release? Sunglasses season, people gearing up for the sun—makes sense, right?

#### Snap’s New Specs? Oh Boy, 2026 Feels Like Forever

So, Evan Spiegel, the Snap wizard, says we’re getting new Spectacles in 2026. This next-gen model’s supposed to be lighter, smaller, and packed with… stuff. Like, finally a real product and not just a glorified devkit. Word is, they’ll be called “Specs” now. No detailed specs—pun intended—but compatibility with Snapchat’s 4 million lenses? Heck yeah. If they swing this right, Snap might just lead the standalone AR glasses brigade. Let’s see who beats them to the punch.

#### Qualcomm’s New Toy: The AR1+ Chip

Caught this at AWE. Qualcomm rolled out the AR1+ chip, perfect for high-end smartglasses. It munches 7% less power and shrinks the glasses’ temples by 20%. But hold up, the real magic? It runs AI models locally. Privacy gold—your data stays right there, not bouncing around the cloud. Saw this neat demo with a virtual assistant at AWE and, folks, I was kind of… awe-struck. AI utilities right on your face gear? Sweet.

#### Google’s XR Adventures: Moohan, Beam, and More

Oh, Google and their mysterious tech names. Rumor has it Samsung’s gonna talk about Project Moohan soon. HP’s jumping on the bandwagon too, with this pricey teleconferencing gizmo, the HP Dimension, using Google Beam tech. Six cameras, fancy light-field display, 25 grand—cha-ching! But wait, they don’t even throw in the Google Beam license for that! Wild. Plus, XREAL’s Aura glasses tout a hefty 70° view. Google’s dev tools are dropping later this year too. Get ready, creators.

#### A Taste of Apple’s Vision Pro Tidbits

Following the Apple fiesta at WWDC, they dropped more juicy bits. Widgets that stick to walls in cool colors, game pages specifying PSVR 2 controller needs, and a sprinkle of updated compatibility specs. More iPad games coming to Vision Pro? Assassin’s Creed and Resident Evil join the party. Apple’s expanding memory limits to fit “high-end iPad games.” The gizmo’s shaping up faster than expected, and developers need to catch up.

#### Quick Hits and Zany Tidbits

Just zipping through these… Mbucchia’s got magic fingers on a SteamVR driver for WMR headsets. Meta’s upcoming headset features leaked via data miners—think IPD adjustment and face unlock. Palmer Luckey’s making high-priced headsets for the military—$10K+, swanky specs. OpenXR’s enhancing spatial computing tools; plane and marker tracking coming soon.

AWE came and went, with tons of hands-on reviews popping up everywhere—I got my own two cents in on a few gadgets. As for game news, ‘Reach’ sounds fun with parkour madness. ‘Zombie Army VR’ and a few others made the review circuit with mixed reactions. Snap’s focusing on ‘RoboQuest VR’ and lots more. Bits from content creators keep trickling in, so stay tuned.

Last but not least—some fun stuff! Meta pushed v77 out despite a QA hiccup (Boz is cheeky). A goofy app lets you ‘live’ your best moments (nostalgia vibes, anyone?). A Youtuber binge-played VR games from Steam’s Next Fest. Also, a teardown of BigScreen Beyond 2 revealed who-knows-what.

#### Partners and Friends: Sneak Peeks and News

The indie darlings at MonstarAI jumping with a VR game ‘Umbrella Up’—looks cute. A survey on AR/VR is open for contributions (with prizes). Phygtl is on the hunt for Unity devs. Silicon Valley startups merging reality with digital flair? Yep, that’s happening.

Okay, wrapping up. If you’re into helping out, Red Cross could use some love for Ukraine efforts. Gotta mention it—some good needs doing, folks. And to my Patreon supporters, a mad shoutout. You guys rock.

Phew, that’s a wrap. Until next time, folks!