Top story: Snap named Robert Downey Jr. as honorary chief customer experience officer (more below).

Other stories: Meta reported Reality Labs revenue of $443mn for the third quarter, down 6%, and expects a loss of about $15bn next year, against $18bn to $19bn in 2026 (more below).

Why? This is likely to create that flair of the technologically innovative, as Robert Downey Jr. is linked to Iron Man, which comes with Snap's new Specs AR glasses, which start at $2,195.

Will it work? In my professional and personal opinion, I'm unsure. It lends a reputational mystique towards the Specs, which might make it more cutting edge from the technology standpoint. I'm not sure if it's strong enough to make me want to spend over $2,000 on new AR glasses. Perhaps it's the case that I am not the right customer audience.

City St George's, University of London found that a seven minute VR wellbeing programme from Phase Space led to greater immediate drops in stress and anxiety than the same content on a smartphone in a trial of 131 healthcare students, with lower perceived stress still reported at two week follow up.

EssilorLuxottica reported third quarter revenue of €7.49bn, up 7.2% at constant exchange rates, with its wearables business up 20% to €486mn as smart glasses sales growth slowed from nearly 100%.

Fast Travel Games has dated PAYDAY: Aces High for 5 November on Quest, PC VR and Steam Frame at $24.99, with a final playtest running until 26 October.

Khronos Group has announced OpenXR Spatial Containers, extensions that let XR apps run as windows beside other apps across platforms, backed by Android XR, Meta, Pico, Collabora, Godot, Unity and Varjo.

Owlchemy Labs has revealed Hyper Visor, a $1.99 arcade blaster that will launch with XREAL AURA, the Android XR glasses priced from $1,279, though the glasses have no ship date.

Ramen VR will switch off the servers for VR MMORPG Zenith on 18 December, after ending sales of the game and its in game currency on 21 October.

South Korea's science minister Bae Kyung-hoon has pledged swift cross ministry measures against illegal filming with AI smart glasses, saying guidelines are being prepared, at a parliamentary audit on 23 October.

Steam Next Fest is hosting 42 VR game demos until 26 October, according to a Road to VR count.

Supernatural Health has relaunched the VR fitness app Supernatural into early access on Quest at $20 a month or $200 a year in the US and Canada, with Meta's version shutting down on 3 December.

University of East Anglia researchers used eye tracking in a VR headset to tell low from high mental workload with up to 88% accuracy among volunteers without chronic pain, suggesting pain therapies that could adapt in real time.

Victoria has extended its school phone ban to smart glasses from the start of the 2027 school year, and will also bar teachers, parents and volunteers from wearing them on government school grounds at any time.

VR Manchester will hold its first VR Demo evening at SODA, Manchester Metropolitan University, on 29 October, with demos including The Last Tree, ExR Education and Ziggy's Cosmic Adventures.

XRlabs, the London headquartered surgical AI company, has raised $8.4mn in seed funding led by Playground Global with Eka Ventures to take its operating room software through regulatory pathways in the UK, Europe and the US, alongside a new chair.