Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently declared that the gadget of the future is AI-infused glasses. Zuckerberg and Meta have been interested in these types of peripherals for years, but the focus has clearly been shifting lately from VR on our faces to glasses on our faces.
Meta's not alone here. Apple sees a future in AR. Google does too. So does Samsung. The list of players goes on and on. As VR has shifted to mixed reality, and smart glasses promise augmented reality features to come, and AI evolves more features that see what we can see, the battle for facial gadgets is coming to a crossroads.
As a reviewer of augmented and virtual reality gadgets, it's been pretty easy over the last few years for me to pick a headset to recommend. Meta's Quest headsets are the best for the price in my tests, and Meta has added next-level extras like mixed reality, hand tracking and practical features like the ability to work both standalone and with PCs. But the certainties of the VR space are in flux. AR and smart glasses are coming fast. I've already seen it in pieces.
It's clear that, entering late 2025, the AR/VR hardware landscape is shifting. I expect Meta's Quest 3 and 3S to continue their reign as my favorite overall headsets through the end of this year, but new challengers will arrive soon and in forms that won't even feel like what came before. Samsung and Google are expected to finally release their first mixed reality VR device, called Project Moohan, ahead of a wave of glasses coming in 2026. Apple could have an updated version of its Vision Pro with a new, higher-graphics chip onboard, along with support for controllers and other accessories. And smart glasses will be pushing extra features that challenge us for time on our faces, introducing AI functions in new ways. It's already happening.
I believe Meta itself could play the biggest wild card, however. My demos last year of Orion, a prototype pair of AR glasses, could be the prelude to Meta making a new pair of high-end smart glasses this year that have a display and a gesture-control wristband, a starting step toward that Orion game plan. When it comes to its next VR headset, meanwhile, Meta could pivot to a smaller design and, possibly, higher-end hardware made by third-party manufacturers.
Finally, Valve -- long dormant in VR since releasing the Index headset back in 2019 -- has been rumored to be readying a new headset that could be both standalone and PC-connected. Will that headset emerge in 2025 or later? While Valve's hardware likely won't be AR-focused, it could easily redefine the VR gaming space for the next few years.
Here's the tech I'm keeping both eyes out for in the last months of 2025.
Samsung's mixed reality headset, Project Moohan, arrives this year. Samsung's newest phones and glasses could be working together as the headset's successors. Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET
Google and Samsung's Project Moohan adds AI to the mix
Last December, I demoed the Moohan headset and saw something I hadn't experienced anywhere else: onboard AI that could comment on and analyze the things I was seeing on-screen.
... continue reading