Meta’s Many XR Updates, Distance Technologies Raises $11M For 3D Without Glasses

Summing up Meta’s announcements at its Connect developer conference. On Wednesday, the company showed the world how it is spending $12 billion a year on XR headsets and research. According to observers like Magic Leap’s founder, Rony Abovitz, they are getting their money’s worth: the successor to the smartphone. “We can start to see how the future of computing and the future of human connection are going to look,” said Zuck from the stage Wednesday. “It’s happening.”

Everyone is buzzing about Orion, the prototype AR headset too expensive to build. If they actually manufactured it the headset would be two or three times the price of the Apple Vision Pro. For this reason, Orion in its present form will never see the light of day. The prototype headset uses true see-through technology, not the camera pass-through AR we get from smartphones, the Quest 3, or Vision Pro. It has a 70-degree field of view (similar to the late Magic Leap 2). At 100 grams, the stand-alone headset still needs an external puck for processing, and a “wrist-based neural interface,” in the form of a bracelet that enables users to send a signal from the brain to the device. “The technical challenges to make them are insane,” said Zuckerberg.

Meta AI is bringing celebrity voices to its A.I. assistant (Awkwafina, John Cena and Dame Judi Dench) who will answer questions. The assistant is incorporated across Meta’s family of brands, including Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and Facebook. The hit Meta Ray-Ban Smartglasses adds more AI features. The glasses can now translate conversations between people in English, Spanish, Italian and French.

The $299 Quest S3 is coming October 15. With the Christmas season upon us, Meta is hoping the stocking-stuffer price will cause those slow adopters to get on board. Personally, I think the answer is blockbuster content.

Horizon Avatars Get A Long-Awaited Upgrade. The new designs are set to roll out on October 1, 2024. Users will have more customization options, such as adjusting eye size, nose shape, and body type. Next year, Meta plans to introduce generative AI, allowing users to create avatars by typing in prompts. NPCs driven by AI will also debut in Horizon Worlds.

Distance Technologies Raises 10 million euros ($11.1 million) for holographic display. The Helsinki-based startup has created display technology capable of transforming any transparent surface, such as car windshields or plane cockpits, into augmented reality displays. Their system tracks eye movements and projects 3D digital objects into the user’s field of view with “infinite” pixel depth. Distance aims to target the automotive, aerospace, and defense markets, offering life-size AR experiences for drivers and pilots. Distance Technologies co-founder and CEO is Urho Konttori, who previously was the CEO and co-founder of XR headset hardware maker Varjo. Google Ventures led the round.

Civitai Generative AI Makes Its Move. Civitai held a pivotal event at Andreessen Horowitz on Sept. 13 to showcase the winners of its Project Odyssey AI film festival. The invite-only gala featured not only standout films made using AI tools but also panels with filmmakers and industry experts. But the real highlight came at the end when Civitai CEO Justin Maier took the stage to announce “SPINE,” a consolidated workflow that integrates GenAI tools into a user-friendly system for image, video, and music generation. This system brings popular tools like Udio for music, Kling for video, ElevenLabs for voiceover, Freepik for upscaling, and others into one cohesive multimodal environment. “SPINE is designed to make the creative process faster, easier, and more powerful by eliminating the friction of jumping between apps,” said Maier. SPINE partners are non-exclusive, and set their own prices.

Holoride has restructured, partnering with investors Jing Jing Xu and Tony Chen to expand into Web3, blockchain, and mobility services. They are relocating their headquarters to Singapore to better access Asian markets. Holoride plans to license its technology to B2B sectors, including mobility, entertainment, and tourism. Its rebranding includes integrating a broader range of devices, such as smartphones and AR glasses, into the platform.

Zapbox, a $99 iPhone-powered XR headset, is now available on GameStop’s online store. Zapbox enables users with iPhone 11 or newer models to experience high-quality XR gaming and entertainment without needing a dedicated device. Featuring a lightweight design and 100-degree field of view, the headset offers immersive experiences through full-color video passthrough. The glasses come with Bluetooth controllers. Zapbox supports a variety of applications, including creative tools like Open Brush and spatial video capabilities with its Media Player.

RunwayML has launched The Hundred Film Fund, offering grants from $5K to over $1M, plus up to $2M in Runway credits, to support AI-augmented film projects. The goal is to fund and produce 100 films. Runway was in the news last week, too, with an annoucement it will be training custom models with the Lionsgate film studio. The granting program’s advisory panel includes industry leaders like will.i.am, Jane Rosenthal of the Tribeca Film Festival, and NVIDIA’s VP of Media & Entertainment, Richard Kerris. This initiative follows Runway’s recent partnership with Lionsgate and continues its collaboration with artists to advance the future of media.

Alchemy’s new multi-player game, Dimensional Double Shift is FREE in the Meta Quest store. The game is a cooperative social party game where you and up to three friends pilot a service station in the Omniverse, called the Gas N’ Grill, using only your hands (no controllers!).

In his spare time, when not directing his award-winning Penrose VR studio (Allumette, Arden’s Wake), Eugene Chung went to Epic Games School and made a game—by himself—in just 30 days. With no budget and no outside help, Chung developed **PHAZE**, a unique game blending storytelling with time-dilation gameplay. The project, created as part of the Unreal Fellowship, is set to debut at Unreal Fest in Seattle next week.

MASSIVE, a new AI agency, brings together popular AI filmmakers Reza Sixo Safai, Justin Hounkpatin, Junie Lau, Dustin Hollywood, Mike Ewing, and Alex Patrascu.They plan to provide brands with AI content opportunities and creative support through their global team, offering both consultancy and hands-on collaboration.

This column, formerly called “This Week in XR,” is also a podcast hosted by author 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 Yonatan Fridman, CEO of Supersocial. We can be found on Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube.

What We’re Reading

Why Mark Zuckerberg thinks AR glasses will replace your phone (Nilay Patel and Alex Heath/The Verge)