Meta's Reality Labs loses another $4.4bn

Executive summary

Welcome to your weekly briefing on the metaverse and spatial computing. Here are your snippets to sound smarter in meetings this week:

• Top story: Meta's Reality Labs loses another $4.4bn (analysis below).

• Event: The Immersive Wire and City, University of London are working together for another networking event on 27 November. Come along! I am also looking for speakers, so please email if you’re interested (tom (at) immersivewire (dot) com).

• Other stories: Algoriddim launched the djay app on the Meta Quest, VOXReality selected AIXTRA as a research project, to assist with overcoming language barriers via XR, and Samsung confirmed a delay in its XR hardware, shifting focus from a VR headset to simpler AR glasses amid setbacks linked to Apple’s Vision Pro.

Top story

Meta's Reality Labs loses another $4.4bn.

• However, Q3 revenue has gone up 29% to 270m.

• Again, this is Meta making bets to protect its future. In my view, I am still not surprised the company is investing so deeply. If you want a deep dive into this, the Meta episode from Acquired is very good.

• CFO Susan Li gave some insights: "I'd say Reality Labs is clearly one of our strategic long-term priorities, and we expect it will be an area of significant investment [...] as we build out towards the very ambitious product roadmap that we have there."

Other stories

• Algoriddim launched the djay app on the Meta Quest.

• Android is preparing for an XR headset launch, as leaked Play Store code reveals new support for VR, AR, and MR devices, including the compatibility indicators for apps.

• Cornerstone, who works on workforce agility solutions, announced a strategic partnership with Meta to expand the capabilities of immersive learning and XR.

• ExR, a free VR medical educational platform, released a new update.

• Samsung confirmed a delay in its XR hardware but indicated plans for an AR device in 2025, shifting focus from a VR headset to simpler AR glasses amid setbacks linked to Apple’s Vision Pro.

  • Also, Samsung updated its XR device development with a USPTO patent for “Method and System for Grouping Plurality of Devices,” hinting at an AR smart glasses feature for shared content interaction.

• Student paramedics in the West Midlands are the first in the UK to use a VR simulator to enhance their emergency driving skills alongside traditional training.

• VOXReality selected AIXTRA as a research project, to assist with overcoming language barriers via XR.

• XPANCEO, a deep-tech company developing smart contact lenses, revealed the latest prototype of its smart contact lens for AR Vision.

Note: The Immersive Wire is run by Tom Ffiske, who also works within Accenture’s metaverse group. The contents of the newsletter should not be regarded as Accenture’s views.