This week, MWC 2024 stole the headlines. Following a busy CES 2024 for XR, the much-touted MWC event proved that XR is gaining crucial ground at broader innovative technology events.
Firms such as AWS, Samsung, and HTC VIVE took to the event to showcase the future of work and paradigm-shifting immersive technology.
The increased presence of XR at CES 2024 and MWC 2024 could be partly due to Apple entering the market in a bid to turn XR mainstream, and the knock-on effect is being felt.
Now, it appears that a wider breadth of vendors and service providers will populate the XR marketplace, building a future shy from Meta’s 2021/22 hold on the market.
2024 will prove to be a defining year for XR; while the wearables are still far from ubiquity, if the current wave of interest pulls through and creates results this year, the ubiquity journey might start – if the 2024 wave falls short. However, the fallout could turn many away from the space.
Samsung Enters XR Device Marketplace
A massively noteworthy piece of MWC 2024 news was that Samsung officially entered the XR headset marketplace after months of rumours.
Reports suggest the firm’s new device will have a microOLED display, eight tracking cameras, a ToF sensor, voice commands, eye tracking, and hand tracking.
Moreover, based on its partnership with Qualcomm, it is fair to assume that the device will contain Qualcomm’s recently released XR2+ Gen 2 Platform, developed alongside Samsung and Google.
Moreover, with Google’s involvement, genAI integrations may also be present on the Samsung headset, partly due to the XR2+ Gen 2 Platform that supports AI-ready wearables.
The device will likely appear in another more complete reveal later in the year.
Meta, LG to Enter Strategic Business Partnership
Another firm entering the marketplace following the Vision Pro boom is LG.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently had a two-hour meeting with LG CEO William Cho and Park Hyoung-sei, the Home Entertainment Company President. The meeting occurred at LG Twin Towers in Yeouido, Seoul and focused on possible future collaborations between the two companies on XR devices.
This meeting marks the start of a strategic collaboration between LG and Meta to drive XR device and customer experience innovations. During the meeting, William Cho tried out some of Meta’s products, including the Meta Quest 3 headset, Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, and large-language models. He noted the potential of leveraging Meta’s technology for AI-ready XR devices.
LG also believes it can combine its TV division services with Meta’s XR portfolio to create a technology ecosystem. This could create a competitive XR device by integrating LG’s smart device OS with Meta’s AI systems.
LG’s smart OS is worth roughly $750.5 million from app revenue and could provide a valuable source of income and services for Meta’s XR hardware ecosystem to compete against Apple Vision Pro offerings.
HTC VIVE Speaks on Apple Vision Pro and AI
This week, at MWC 2024, Shen Ye, Global Head of Product at HTC VIVE, talked to CNBC about major XR industry drivers, as the firm also unveiled new details regarding its XR XR Elite Bussiness Edition product at the same event.
Notably, a big market shifting factor is Apple’s entry, with Shen noting that the firm’s market entry has “really validated everything that we’ve invested in, in our hardware, our platform, our infrastructure, and we’ve seen a lot more interest in this space and even this show (MDC 2024).”
The Vision Pro has the unique feature of being controllerless and relies on tracking technology to record inputs. Although HTC VIVE also provides user tracking for its XR headsets, the company still believes controllers hold value.
Shen explained that the company has been distributing tracking solutions, including hand tracking, for the past four years. On the other hand, tracking is an innovative technology, controllers offer greater accuracy for specific use cases.
HTC VIVE is committed to investing in tracking, and they still believe that controllers have a place in the market. Shen compared it to using a stylus instead of just a touchscreen, as it offers more accuracy and intuitiveness.
Shen also explained:
We are actually very happy with a lot of the demand that we’ve seen, and as we especially build out the ecosystem, we’re not just headsets but also tracking for your face, your eyes, your full body, and we’re seeing people dancing in VR as well. The space is massively growing both consumer and business, and that’s what we’re showing here [at MWC 2024].
The interview came as HTC VIVE also introduced new enterprise-facing features for its headset portfolio.
