Spatial Beats: A Cheaper Vision Pro and Meta's XR Road Map

Welcome back to Spatial Beats, where we round up all the top news and happenings from around the spatial computing spectrum, including its escalating infusions with AI and other emerging tech. Let’s dive in…

The Lede

Apple might release a $2,000 Vision headset next year. Apple knew its Vision Pro was a developer model for cognoscenti, released into the wild as if it were a real consumer product. It hasn’t gone well, with some pundits suggesting they might leave the field completely. Instead, reports analyst Mark Gurman, Apple has revised its strategy and will introduce a more accessible headset in 2025, which is soon. The new model is expected to feature less expensive materials, a lower-powered processor, and the removal of some high-end features.

Feeling Spatial

The Kinds of Devices Meta Wants to Make Next. Alex Heath of The Verge interviews Andrew Bozworth, CTO of Reality Labs.

Infinite Reality Acquires Zappar For $45 Million. The acquisition highlights consolidation in the XR industry. Zappar, known for tools like its WebXR platform, Zapbox headset, and Zapvision for the visually impaired, struggled to scale despite collaborations with Disney and Unilever. The deal provides Zappar access to Infinite Reality’s infrastructure, and money, accelerating development and expanding its reach. Preparing for a public listing, Infinite Reality is building a portfolio of companies across immersive tech and entertainment. The acquisition reflects the challenges in XR—slow adoption, fragmented markets, and the need for strategic alliances.

New York City welcomes Horizon of Khufu, an expansive 11,000-square-foot VR experience that transports visitors to the era of Ancient Egypt. Opening October 25th in Manhattan, this cutting-edge, free-roaming virtual reality experience takes attendees on a journey inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, exploring Pharaoh Khufu’s tomb and witnessing ancient rituals like mummification and funeral rites. The experience combines advanced VR technology with cultural storytelling, offering an immersive dive into Egypt’s 4,500-year-old history. Horizon of Khufu is also available in Calgary, Montreal, London, Atlanta, and Sydney.

Researchers Say They’ve Solved Turning Any Surface Into A Keyboard. (David Heany/Upload VR)

Follow the Money

Rony Abovitz’ new AI startup, SynthBee, raises $20 million in seed funding. Crosspoint Capital Partners led the round. The funds will be used to expand the team and further develop its computing intelligence platform. Abovitz, is known for his previous ventures MAKO Surgical and Magic Leap. SynthBee says it is designed to “accelerate human creativity and problem-solving across industries, addressing the ethical and architectural challenges of large-scale AI systems.”

Simplismart, co-founded by ex-Oracle and Google engineers, secured $7 million in Series A funding led by Accel. The AI infrastructure startup aims to help companies overcome the complexities of deploying large AI models in production with what it calls “a lightning-fast inference engine.” which enables enterprises to balance performance and costs.

The AI Desk

Nvidia enters the AI software business. They are now competing directly with their biggest customers. More stunningly, the performance of its AI model, Llama-3.1-Nemotron-70B-Instruct, exceeds that of OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 in key benchmarks, positioning Nvidia as a serious player in the AI space. Open AI,. Microsoft and others are talking about competing with Nvidia. Apparently they were listening. This could reshape the ongoing AI arms race.

Adobe releases Firefly Video Model, adds AI tool to Premiere. Adobe has launched its Firefly Video Model, a generative AI tool designed to streamline video editing. Integrated into Premiere Pro and other Adobe apps, it offers features like Text-to-Video and Image-to-Video, enabling creators to generate video clips from simple text prompts or still images. The tool helps with common editing tasks such as extending clips and filling gaps in footage. A notable feature is its ability to remove unwanted objects and generate high-quality B-roll in just minutes. Currently in public beta, Firefly is aimed at reducing production time while keeping content generation commercially safe.

Video-making AI tools are headed into general use (Ina Fried/Axios)

Listen In

For more spatial commentary & insights, check out This Week in XR, hosted by the author of this column, Charlie Fink, Ted Schilowitz, former studio executive and co-founder of Red Camera, and Rony Abovitz, founder of Magic Leap. This week our guest is Joaquin Cuenca Abela, co-founder and CEO of Freepik. You can find it on podcasting platforms Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube.

Charlie Fink is an author and futurist focused on spatial computing. See his books here. Spatial Beats contains insights and inputs from Fink’s collaborators including Paramount Pictures futurist Ted Shilowitz.