We are six months away from 2024, and in the first half of the year we have enjoyed a whirlwind of virtual and augmented reality technological goodness.
The star of the show was the launch of the Apple Vision Pro, but we've also seen Meta open up its Horizon OS to its long-time VR rivals, and Xreal launch new headsets and a spatial computing accessory that finally feel like the future of AR we'd been promised.
The year is far from over though, with hardware announcements expected from Meta and (if we're lucky) Samsung in the coming months, so let's dive into the year so far in AR/VR and take a look at what we might see in the second half of 2024.
AR/VR in 2024: What have been the biggest announcements so far this year?
We can't talk about augmented reality and virtual reality technology in 2024 without talking about the Apple Vision Pro, the most anticipated XR product launch in history. Unfortunately for Apple, while its headphones caused quite a stir when they launched in February (our review of the Apple Vision Pro gave it four and a half stars), the hype has since faded and the upcoming global launch on July 12 for Australia , Canada, France, Germany and the UK do not appear to have revived interest in the $3,499 / £3,499 / AU$5,999 device.
But the virtual reality space took a big shakeup this year, even if it's not from Apple. That's because Meta announced that its Horizon OS would be coming to third-party headsets, starting with devices from ASUS, Lenovo, and Xbox. This is very exciting as Horizon OS is the best standalone VR platform thanks to its intuitive user interface, huge software library, and regular updates.
The release of third-party Horizon OS should result in the release of a wider range of headset designs, focused on specific niches like gaming, productivity, fitness, and more, that aren't limited by lackluster operating systems, as was the case with headsets like the HTC Vive XR Elite.
It's not all good news from Meta, though, which has stopped supporting the original Oculus Quest headset. April 30 was the last day that developers could push app updates to the half-decade-old VR headset, and August will be the last month that Meta will push “critical bug fixes and security patches” to the device, so if you want to keep using your Quest library, it may finally be time to upgrade to Meta Quest 3 (which we'd recommend anyway so you can enjoy upcoming exclusives like Batman: Arkham Shadow).
Lastly, specifically in the AR space, Xreal announced the Xreal Air 2 Ultra and a handy Xreal Beam Pro accessory, which is basically a spatial computing-ready smartphone. We haven’t had a chance to try out the Ultra yet, but it’s been touted as a more affordable alternative to the Vision Pro, with built-in cameras so you can interact with virtual items with your hands (something you couldn’t do with previous models like the regular Xreal Air 2).
AR/VR in 2024: What are we expecting to see in the rest of the year?
One headset we're sure to see later this year is the Meta Quest 3S. This so-called affordable Quest 3 is believed to pack the brains of the Quest 3 (a Snapdragon
Meta hasn’t said much officially, but it has leaked the device twice. One leak involved its CTO accidentally showing it in the background of a Threads video, while the other saw the Quest 3S accidentally appear on some Meta Quest Store pages as a compatible headset for some software. So this all but guarantees that it will appear at Meta Connect 2024, which we know is scheduled for September 25th and 26th.
Meta also dropped a surprise by announcing its first pair of AR glasses at the end of a blog post earlier this year, but we don't expect them to launch in 2024; A leaked internal roadmap shared by The Verge in 2023 suggests they'll arrive in 2027, although a pair of precursor smart glasses in 2025 are expected to update their Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses product line with AI technology.
Going back to the 2024 releases, we may also see the long-awaited Samsung XR/VR headset. Samsung and Google announced their existence more than a year ago, but haven't had much to say since then; Rumors suggest they delayed its release following reactions to the Apple Vision Pro. Hopefully that means it's not delayed from 2024 to 2025 or beyond, but we'll have to wait and see.
