Many of us in the industry have closely followed the progress of XR (Extended Reality) over the years, and while there are times when it has hovered on the edge of a breakthrough, it’s never quite hit the mainstream.
There’s a sense right now that this is about to change. One industry analyst predicts that global XR revenue is expected to increase from $21.41 billion in 2023 to reach $41.78 billion by 2028, an impressive CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 14.4%. The key drivers needed to turn XR into a mainstream media force seem to be aligning.
Apple’s Vision Pro is proving the potential of spatial computing with a premium price, while devices like XREAL One AR glasses and Quest 3 are making XR more accessible to the masses. Additionally, Google and Samsung’s entry into the fray is accelerating innovation and will also help to narrow the affordability gap. Yet challenges remain, the industry needs that killer feature that pushes consumers to buy their first XR device, along with compelling content to match that goes beyond gaming.
Apple has Catalyzed the Market
Now in its second year, the Apple Vision Pro has become something of a benchmark for the XR industry. The device has shown what spatial computing can do, and that it can be intuitive and seamless.
Although it carries a hefty price tag and the headset remains bulky, this has not put off the estimated half a million users who have purchased the device. It’s almost certainly not been as popular as Apple had hoped, yet, as Tim Cook himself said, the device was never intended for mass adoption, instead it’s an early adopter product for people who “want to have tomorrow’s technology today”.
The device’s capabilities are unquestionably astonishing with eye tracking, gesture navigation and seamless syncing with other Apple devices to make it a natural extension of the Apple ecosystem. But for many, at $3,500, the cost of the unit is just too high to justify.
Increased competition in the market is helping to drive innovation and improve device affordability."
Despite this, what it has done, is show consumers and indeed sports, media and technology companies what spatial computing is capable of. At the same time, rumors would suggest that Apple is preparing a second version that could be way lighter and cheaper, while still keeping the premium features that make this device an object of desire. We are also seeing other large technology companies investing in XR technology.
Improved Accessibility
Increased competition in the market is helping to drive innovation and improve device affordability. With more and more affordable XR devices on the market such as Meta’s Quest series and XREAL’s AR glasses, XR has become much more accessible to the masses.
AR glasses in particular are attracting a lot of interest because rather than being burdened with having to wear a bulky headset, users can instead wear a pair of reasonable lightweight and stylish glasses that support a range of spatial use cases such as watching sport, gaming, viewing media or entertainment content, or accessing a virtual workspace.
Unsurprisingly, Meta is also developing its first AR glasses, the Orion AR glasses, which are expected to launch in late 2027. Years in the making and building on the success of its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, the Orion AR glasses are intended to deliver AR experiences in a compact form factor, using a fraction of the power and weight of a standard mixed reality headset.
Another huge development is the launch last year of Google’s Android XR platform, developed in collaboration with Qualcomm and Samsung. Android XR is an extension to the Android ecosystem so all of the content that Android users are familiar with can be consumed on XR devices.
And off the back of this, Samsung is also preparing to launch its XR headset, Project Moohan, later this year, which is set to rival the Apple Vision Pro. XREAL has also announced that its AR glasses will be ported to Android XR. Increased competition in the sector is helping to drive innovation and at the same time is also narrowing the affordability gap.
Sports May be the Breakthrough Use Case
While XR technology has a huge range of diverse use cases, it is undoubtedly the perfect partner for sports. XR enables fans to engage and interact with live sports in an entirely new way, whether at home or in a sports venue. Fans benefit from overlayed real-time data such as player bios and game and player statistics, as well as multi-angle viewing and instant replays. This makes the viewing experience much more engaging, interactive and personalized and may be just the thing that makes people go out and buy an XR device for the first time.
The newly formed XR Sports Alliance is aiming to accelerate this shift by connecting market-leading stakeholders to bridge the sports and technology industries. The Alliance drives working groups and end-to-end XR Sports experimentations to establish standards in key areas and lay the foundation for the ecosystem to help stakeholders in sports deploy state-of-the art XR services efficiently and at scale.
The framework encompasses immersive video production and distribution, system architecture definition, data and monetization frameworks, user testing and technology and business model advisory elements. At its core, the initiative aims to connect leading companies from the sports, video, telco, and hardware industries to accelerate the commercialization of XR sports experiences.
The Time is Now
We’re entering a pivotal moment for XR. High-quality devices are now powerful and affordable enough to enable truly compelling experiences. The cost of enabling technologies is falling. Investment in immersive content is rising. And industry leaders across tech and media are aligning around the opportunity.
The momentum is real. For those ready to build, the conditions have never been better to create impactful user experiences and scale commercially.
