Overview Of Key Events in VR: January 2025
In January 2025, many important events took place in the VR/AR world. In this short roundup, we collected the most interesting news illustrating how the industry is developing.
GDC survey: 35% of developers are working on XR projects
According to a GDC survey, 35% of game developers focus on creating projects for XR platforms, which include VR, AR, and MR. This statistic shows rapid growth in interest in XR among the gamer community compared to past years. For example, this rate was only 25% last year. Besides, many respondents pointed out that they are waiting for investment growth in that sector for the next 2–3 years.
Sony presents MR headset SRH-S1
That is a standalone device with no need for connection to a PC or console, and it suggests high-end optical technologies specially created for corporative usages, such as virtual training or remote work. The headset will be on the market this month for a price of $4,750, which puts it in a direct competitive field with Apple Vision Pro. As expected, SRH-1S will get interest from businesses that intend to integrate MR technology into their work process.
Meta is working on new VR headsets
Meta, according to unofficial sources, is actively developing the next generations of its popular VR headsets — Meta Quest Pro 2 and Meta Quest 4. It is expected that the new devices will have improved displays with higher resolution and a wider field of view, improved motion tracking, and new controllers. Although no release dates have been announced yet, analysts predict a release in the second half of 2025. In addition, Meta plans to improve social media integration to create a more social VR experience.
Samsung announces XR headset based on Android
At the latest Samsung Unpacked event, the company’s XR headset, which runs on Android, was presented for the first time. The device doesn’t use traditional controllers, instead, it replies to hand tracking and voice commands. One of the standout features shown in the video is Gemini’s AI integration. Because the cameras see what you see, you can ask the AI questions about the environment and get a response. Although there is no official information on price and availability yet, Samsung said that the headset should go on sale “sometime this year.”
NVIDIA GeForce Now is now available on VR headsets
NVIDIA has taken a big step forward and announced that its GeForce Now cloud gaming service now supports several popular VR headsets, including the Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest 3, and Pico. This means that users can play their favorite computer games in VR in resolutions up to 4K and at 60 FPS using only the browser on their headset. The service supports more than 2,000 games, and that could be a significant boost for the spread of VR systems in the gaming community.
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