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
From AI to Z: Takeaways from AWE USA. Augmented World Expo 2025, now in its 16th year, wrapped late last week in Long Beach, California. The XR industry’s largest and longest-running event drew more than 5,000 attendees and 250 exhibitors to the cavernous Long Beach Convention Center from June 10 to 12. For the first time, both the conference and expo floor ran a full three days, with expanded programming that included hackathons, keynotes, investor meetups, and breakout areas for startups, game developers, and enterprise providers. What were the biggest takeaways, and what did the show tell us about XR’s current stage and near-term trajectory?
Feeling Spatial
I met game designer Johnny Monsarrat in 2017, where he described some of the ideas behind Landing Party, now available on Apple App Store and Google Play. Landing Party takes the best performing video games genres from PC and console, and brings them outside. Monsarrat’s game lays out a contiguous game area across a real world outdoor space, which you walk through to explore. I haven’t seen anything like this since Pokemon Go. Jenna Seiden, former Niantic VP Business Development, said “Johnny’s team is building what Niantic couldn’t.”
AR In VR: 15 Years Of Augmented World Expo With Ori Inbar. Augmented World Expo (AWE) started in 2010 with 300 attendees and has grown into a major XR event with thousands of participants and hundreds of exhibitors. Ori Inbar, co-founder and CEO, explains that AR and VR were once separate but now share the stage because they serve complementary roles. Inbar notes that while mobile AR is widely used for things like social media and shopping, the best immersive experiences still happen in VR headsets. He believes we’ll eventually see a single device that merges AR and VR capabilities. For now, each device has its strengths, and the field continues to advance with better hardware, wider fields of view, and more practical applications
The Coolest VR Gear and Games I Saw at Augmented World Expo 2025. Last week, AWE in Long Beach showcased the latest in AR, VR, and MR technology. Highlights included the unveiling of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR1+ Gen 1 chip, set to power next-generation smart glasses. The expo, running since 2010, provided a platform for attendees to experience cutting-edge devices, applications, and immersive content. From e-bikes to advanced headsets and productivity apps, the event emphasized the rapid evolution of XR technology and its growing impact on work, entertainment, and social interaction.
A look into Google’s Android XR strategy and its big gaming push. At Augmented World Expo 2025, Google executives outlined their vision for Android XR as the unifying platform for XR smart glasses. Panels covered the Android XR roadmap, emphasizing support for headsets and smart glasses, and highlighted partnerships with Samsung, Qualcomm, and Unity. Google was in full developer romance mode, promising robust tools and monetization opportunities. Google is betting on cross-device compatibility and developer buy-in to drive the next wave of immersive experiences, positioning Android XR as a cornerstone for future spatial computing innovation.
VR Bungee Jumping Simulation Tips You Over In Real Life. At AWE, the Anywhere Bungee VR simulation offered attendees a uniquely intense experience. Using a Quest 3 headset and a see-saw, users were strapped in and suspended to simulate a bungee jump off a Tokyo skyscraper. In case you’re wondering, while I was a witness, I was not a participant.
Meow Wolf and Niantic Spatial explore expansion of multimedia art with AR. Known for its immersive art entertainment venues, Meow Wolf is partnering with Niantic Spatial to collaborate on location-based AR. By leveraging Niantic’s location-based AR platform, Meow Wolf can extend its signature surreal storytelling beyond physical spaces.
Penrose Studio Calls It Quits. Eugene YK Chung, founder, CEO and director of the multi-award winning spatial 3D animation house Penrose announced the news himself in a social media post. “After an unforgettable decade, we have decided – together with our board and shareholders – to close Penrose Studios.” said the founder. “My heartfelt thanks go out to all of you.” Wired Magazine called Penrose’s VR film, Allumette, “the first VR Film masterpiece!” In 2017, I wrote a Forbes column titled “Meet the D.W. Griffith of VR”, praising Chung’s pioneering work in immersive storytelling. Penrose’s Arden’s Wake won Best VR at the Venice Film Festival in 2018. Unfortunately, being the best isn’t always enough.
For NBCUniversal’s How to Train Your Dragon remake, Zappar turned massive cinema-grade assets into a smooth, mobile WebAR experience. Launched it across 20 markets, it enables users to meet Toothless in their own backyards. The biggest challenge was making complex tech invisible so the magic, and Toothless’ grin, shine through.
Tony Vitillo Interview Second Life Founder Philip Rosedale on the Metaverse (Skarred Ghost blog)
Follow the Money
Vuzix Secures $5M Investment as Veteran Smart Glasses Maker Sets Sights on Consumers. Vuzix secured a $5 million investment from Quanta Computer, a major Taiwanese ODM and Apple assembler. This marks the second tranche following a $10 million investment from Quanta in September 2024, with Vuzix aiming for a total of $20 million. CEO Paul Travers says the new funding will be used to enhance Vuzix’s waveguide manufacturing, supporting the company’s goal to deliver affordable, lightweight, high-performance AI smart glasses for mass-market adoption. The deal also strengthens Vuzix’s partnership with Quanta and boosts its advanced waveguide production capabilities, positioning the company to better compete as the consumer smart glasses market heats up.
The AI Desk
First there was the Talking Baby Podcast and its thousands of descendants on social media, all created using AI apps like Hedra and Hey Gen. Now Google’s Veo 3 AI image generator, released at Google I/O three weeks ago, is hyperscaling meme vlogs that feature Star Wars Storm Troopers, Bigfoot, and Jesus. It’s like group development of intellectual property. Who owns Bigfoot, or Jesus?
Midjourney launches its first AI video generation model. The move into video generation is a significant expansion for the company, previously known for its popular image generator. With V1, users can upload a single image and prompt the AI to create short video clips that bring the image to life, adding motion, effects, and cinematic transitions. The service is available to Midjourney’s paid subscribers.
World’s first brain implant that enables man speak with expression — and even sing. A groundbreaking medical achievement has enabled a man who could not speak intelligibly to communicate with expressive speech and even sing, thanks to a brain implant. Electrodes were implanted in the motor cortex, the brain region responsible for speech, allowing researchers to decode his intended speech from neural activity. This technology not only restored his ability to speak with natural prosody and emotional nuance but also enabled him to sing, a world first.
Meta AI gains video editing capabilities. This update allows creators to perform tasks like trimming, color correction, adding effects, and even generating new video content through conversational commands.
Spatial Audio
For more spatial commentary & insights, check out the AI/XR Podcast, 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 Cnet reporter Scott Stein. 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.
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