Augmented Times – Monthly Augmented Reality News – June 2025

June was a busy month for the XR and AR space, with several major events like Apple’s WWDC, Vivatechnology, and AWE. While there weren’t any spectacular, unexpected announcements, plenty of rumors are circulating. This suggests some surprises for the fall and final quarter. Here’s a roundup of the key news.

Undeniably, the hardware sector is booming. We’ve been discussing the upheaval caused by the arrival of smart glasses for over a year now, but things are still far from calming down, and the strategies of major manufacturers remain obscure. Apple didn’t make any major announcements at WWDC, but several developments in VisionOS and the arrival of the Liquid Glass design show that the XR is a topic that’s taking root within the company. There’s even talk of a new device model that would be more like glasses than a headset in the coming years. And if you like rumors, various tech analysts are spreading plenty about Meta! Between the Quest 4 delay, questions about the « pro » range, the arrival of a headset/glasses hybrid, and the release of a pair of smart glasses with a screen, you’re in for a treat! One thing is certain: the smart glasses manufactured in partnership with the Oakley brand will be available in a few days.

Other companies in the sector are a little more discreet but aren’t standing still. Snap has announced the availability of its future « Spec » model for everyone in 2026. Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon AR1+ chip will give more power to devices and, above all, enable the use of an embedded SLM (small language model). XREAL will benefit from this in its One model, which will also use Android XR. Other manufacturers will follow suit by also exploiting this OS, two versions of which are emerging: one for headsets and one for glasses. Vuzix is ​​not far behind, strengthening both these partnerships and its funding. Needless to say, the field of glasses is about to undergo a profound transformation. Perhaps we’ll even see the emergence of new « connected objects »?

On the software side, the situation is also dynamic. Perfect Corp is integrating a clothing fitting feature, and many players are integrating generative AI to make 3D content creation even simpler and faster. In the same context, the development of Gaussian Splatting facilitates the creation of both static and dynamic 3D environments. The race between NVIDIA, Meta, and several Chinese companies to offer simple software is ongoing.

If we look at the usage side, the announcements mainly concern tourism and training, as has been the case for some time, but health is making a strong comeback. Another important area is defense. This should come as no surprise to you.

See you in a month!

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