Virtuix has finally brought native Quest support to Omni One, making it Quest’s first officially supported VR treadmill.
As Virtuix’s consumer-focused VR treadmill, Omni One launched in 2024 with support for Pico 4 Ultra Enterprise, as well as PC VR headsets, which notably included Quest if connected to a capable PC via Link.
In February, the company announed it was taking part in the ‘Made for Meta’ program though, which promised to bring Omni One support to a number of Quest games in addition to giving the omni-directional VR treadmill a spot in Meta’s official Quest accessory store, putting it alongside devices like bHaptics TactSuit Pro, Logitech MX Link stylus, and Roto VR Explorer Chair.
Starting today, that’s where you’ll find it, as well as direct from Virtuix, priced at $2,595, now boasting native support for both Quest 2 and Quest 3.
“Omni One for Quest is a major milestone for VR gaming,” said Jan Goetgeluk, CEO of Virtuix. “Working with Meta to bring full-body movement to the Quest ecosystem creates an incredibly immersive and physically active gaming experience that takes VR to the next level. We’re excited to bring Omni One to millions of Quest users around the world.”
Granted, not all Quest games are supported on Omni One right now. Virtuix highlights a few that have been optimized, including VAIL, Forefront, The Boys: Trigger Warning, Star Trek: Infection, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City, Men in Black: Most Wanted, Exoshock, and Zero Caliber 2.
Notably, Virtuix is bundling those last four games for free for a limited time with Omni One for Quest. The company says additional compatible games will be releasing over time; you can check out the evolving list here.
Valve today announced that Steam Machine is now available for pre-orders, starting at $1,050, and will officially launch on June 29th. While the announcement doesn’t include any direct details about Steam Frame availability, it offers clear hints about what to expect, including a randomized pre-order process.
The News
Courtesy Valve
Valve today announced availability of Steam Machine; the console-like gaming PC will begin shipping next week, on June 29th. Steam Machine is available for pre-order starting today:
At launch, Steam Machine is available in the US, Canada, UK, EU, and Australia. In Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, Steam Machine will be available via KOMODO, a regional distributor.
In an effort to “improve the purchase experience and limit resellers,” Valve is using a randomized pre-order process. Basically, anyone that pre-orders between now and June 25th will be placed into a bucket, then Valve will generate a randomly ordered reservation queue from the bucket. Valve has an FAQ with more details here.
Valve also added some commentary about the pricing and availability of Steam Machine:
Since this has proven to be a weird time to launch hardware, we thought this would be a good opportunity to share more about how we got here.
Steam Machine, like our other hardware products, is made up of many components that we source from manufacturers around the world. The price at which we sell our hardware is a direct result of the cost of these components. We felt like we had a good understanding of how those costs might change over time when we first started sourcing them for Steam Machine back in 2023. That understanding was born from the many years of data we all have about the evolution of PC hardware prices – primarily, that it tends to get cheaper over time as new technology arrives.
Over the past year or so, that has changed quickly and significantly, most visibly for RAM and storage components. There are a variety of reasons, all of which are affecting hardware products everywhere. The overall effect is that our original goal for the price of Steam Machine is no longer viable. So the prices we’re sharing today reflect the state of the world for manufacturing; or, more accurately, it reflects the price of the components as we’ve secured them over the past 6 months.
Price wasn’t the only thing impacted by all of this: availability was as well. There were periods where we found we couldn’t source some of our components at all, at any price. More than anything else, this has impacted the number of units we’ve been able to produce for launch.
My Take
Courtesy Valve
We finally have firm launch details on Steam Machine. While Valve hasn’t said anything further about Steam Frame, it’s almost certain that its launch will follow the same blueprint, including a higher-than-anticipated price and randomized pre-order.
In Valve’s explanation above, the company said of the increasing cost of computer components: “the overall effect is that our original goal for the price of Steam Machine is no longer viable.” While Steam Machine and Steam Frame are two very different products, they both rely on PC components like a processor, RAM, and storage. Steam Frame is thus not insulated from increases in component costs, and is almost certainly going to be more expensive than Valve originally hoped for.
The randomized pre-order process is an interesting development which feels more fair to me. Lots of people are excited to get their hands on new hardware, but favoring those who can be glued to their screen and put in a pre-order within minutes of availability—or worse, bots and resellers who have a profit motive to be first in line—doesn’t seem ideal. But I’m curious to hear what everyone else thinks; is this a good system? Drop a line in the comments below.
We still don’t know the actual release date of Steam Frame, but Valve will probably follow the same formula as above: meaning a very short period between pre-order and availability. And I don’t expect to be waiting too long for the Steam Frame launch announcement, considering we already saw stock flowing into US warehouses starting earlier this month.
EssilorLuxottica and Applied Materials have signed a long-term joint development agreement, which the companies say will accelerate the commercialization of next-gen optical systems for AR and AI-powered smart glasses.
EssilorLuxottica has been a close partner with Meta over the past five years, having released multiple generations of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses in addition to its first pair of display glasses, Meta Ray-Ban Display.
Now the Franco-Italian eyewear brand announced it’s partnering with Applied Materials, the US-based semiconductor equipment giant, to scale optics for consumer AR and smart glasses of the near future.
Details of the partnership are still thin on the ground, however the companies are slated to collaborate on R&D at a dedicated lab located on Applied Materials’ Silicon Valley campus, which is said to focus on advanced optical technologies, including waveguides, adaptive lens systems, and materials innovations.
Ray-Ban Meta glasses | Courtesy EssilorLuxottica, Meta
“Designing, building and scaling next-generation smart glasses will require deep collaboration across the technology ecosystem,” said Gary Dickerson, President and CEO of Applied Materials. “By bringing together Applied Materials’ leadership in photonics and materials engineering with EssilorLuxottica’s expertise in lenses and smart eyewear, we are accelerating the development and commercialization of advanced display smart glasses that can create entirely new user experiences.”
Note: In general, waveguides are important because they allow for a lightweight, glasses-like form factors and transparent lenses, which come in contrast to birdbath optics, which tend to allow for a larger field-of-view (FOV), higher image quality, and greater optical efficiency, but at the cost of being bulkier overall and less discrete.
On the flipside, today’s generation of waveguides tend to suffer from lower light efficiency, requiring brighter, more energy-hungry source displays. They also tend to have a lower FOV than birdbath optics (see: XREAL Aura) and a smaller eyebox.
While still unconfirmed, optics manufacturers SCHOTT and Lumus are widely thought to be the manufacturers behind Meta’s Ray-Ban Display glasses. It’s unclear at this time whether this means EssilorLuxottica is looking to develop its own AR hardware relationships separate from Meta, although the competitive landscape is rapidly changing.
In late 2024, EssilorLuxottica and Meta announced they were extending their smart eyewear partnership to 2030, however since then Google announced it was partnering with a cadre of companies, including Samsung, as well as eyewear brands Gentle Monster, Warby Parker, and Kering.
And as the first wave of Android XR-clad smart glasses are expected to release sometime later this year, Apple is also reportedly working on its own smart glasses, as the company has allegedly accelerated its efforts amid a wider push for AI wearables.
More recently, Snap unveiled its first consumer pair of AR glasses, the sixth-gen Snap Specs, which are set to release sometime this fall for $2,200. The latest Snap Specs are said to feature a 51-degree FOV, although we’re still hoping to not only demo the company’s next big bet on AR, but also see the full specs sheet, which ought to include info on some outlying basics, such as resolution, brightness, and refresh rate.
VR Games Showcase is set to return next week, bringing another lineup of new trailers and updates from this season’s most anticipated VR games.
The Summer 2026 edition of the VR Games Showcase is slated to kick off live on YouTube on June 23rd at 11am PT (local time here).
This time around we’re getting another avalanche of VR gaming news, coming to Quest, PC VR and PSVR 2, which VR Games Showcase co-creator Jamie Feltham says will include Payday: Aces HighKorea. IL-2 Series, Guardians Planetfall, Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades 2, and The Lightkeepers.
Now in its sixth iteration, the show also promises 5+ VR games revealed from studios new and old, as well as updates from developers Triangle Factory and Flat2VR Studios. Fast Travel Games will also be holding a ‘Payday: Aces High Direct’ immediately after the showcase ends.
Make sure to tune in 15 minutes before the official kickoff though, as the showcase will also include an indie-focused Pre-Show countdown hosted by co-creator and creative director, Zeena Al-Obaidi, which is said to feature games like Daumier: Lila & Ghost.
At Augmented World Expo (AWE) this week, digital imaging giant Canon showed off its latest advancements in XR tech, including a concept handheld mixed reality device, augmented reality waveguide optics, and a new XR collaboration software suite.
Canon has been working in the XR enterprise space for some time now, having developed multiple generations of its MREAL mixed reality headsets.
Now, the company is showing off at AWE its so-called “Concept Model of a Pocket-Size, High-Image-Quality MR Device,” which basically does what it says on the tin: it’s a tethered, portable MR concept device that’s said to deliver high-definition visual performance and and offer “seamless compatibility with XR applications.”
While Canon isn’t taking specs just yet, by the sounds of it the company is hoping to actually release the device at some point, as Canon says the concept model is currently under development, albeit “not yet available for purchase.” Canon says it is however actively seeking partners to potentially bring it to market.
Courtesy Canon USA
Notably, these sorts of handheld viewers are fairly popular in the enterprise space in Japan, although it’s actually being demoed by Canon’s US-based division at AWE this week, which might also mean we may see it outside of the parent company’s Japanese homeland at some point.
Canon also showed off its “High-Efficiency Waveguide for AR Glasses,” which again is another patently Canon-style naming scheme. The company says it’s developed a high-efficiency waveguide prototype for AR glasses, shown off in two specific configurations: one with a mircoLED display and another with microOLED.
Courtesy Canon USA
The optical glass waveguides promise a 30-degree field-of-view (FOV), an optical coupling efficiency exceeding 15,000 nits/lm, and over 85% transmittance. Those specs may suggest Canon is optimizing its concept waveguides for smart glasses or lightweight, less immersive AR glasses, as the FOV is decidedly on the lower end of the range.
Additionally, Canon announced it’s getting ready to release MREAL Collaborator, the company’s latest XR software created to appeal to designers in the manufacturing industry.
Canon says it allows users without specialized 3D computer graphics expertise to easily operate the system and manipulate spatial data. Notably, MREAL Collaborator is compliant with OpenXR, so users can easily share across different supported XR devices and remote locations. The company says a free trial of MREAL Collaboration is slated to launch in early July. You can sign up here for more information.
Qualcomm announced at Augmented World Expo (AWE) Snapdragon Reality Elite, a new processor which aims to slim down XR headsets and glasses of the near future.
Focusing on on-device AI, improved performance, and lower power consumption, Qualcomm says Snapdragon Reality Elite is targeting both standalone XR headsets and lightweight tethered AR glasses.
The company said this could support applications such as AI assistants, photorealistic avatars, and real-time generation of digital objects within mixed reality environments, as Snapdragon Reality Elite is quoted to deliver up to 48 TOPS (trillion operations per second) of AI performance, enabling large language models (LLMs) and large vision models (LVMs) to run directly on-device, cloud processing required.
Snapdragon Reality Elite—essentially the naming scheme for Snapdragon XR2 Gen 3—is also said to include upgrades to tracking and perception capabilities too, with improvements to hand and head tracking as well as optical passthrough designed to better integrate digital content with the physical world.
In terms of raw performance, Qualcomm says the new chipset offers up to a 60% increase in GPU performance, a 30% increase in CPU performance, and a 160% increase in neural processing performance compared with Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2, which was released in 2024.
As for display capabilities, Snapdragon Reality Elite supports resolutions of up to 4.4K per eye at 90 frames per second. Qualcomm said it has also reduced latency and improved image quality for mixed reality experiences through additional hardware acceleration for computer vision workloads
Qualcomm says the new chipset can deliver up to 20% longer battery life under the same workload and—probably more importantly—can operate up to 12 degrees C (~53 degrees F) cooler under load, which is paving the way for lighter and more comfortable XR headsets and glasses.
“XR adoption continues to expand, with more than 60 million devices already in market and growing momentum across industries.” said Ziad Asghar, Senior Vice President and General Manager of XR, Wearables and Personal AI. “As more advanced and integrated XR platforms are developed, demand is increasing for XR technologies that deliver higher performance, greater intelligence, and improved power efficiency. Snapdragon Reality Elite is designed to meet those demands with powerful on-device AI, enabling faster, longer-lasting, and more immersive experiences, and reinforcing our leadership in VR and MR as we build purpose-built XR chipsets from the ground up.”
Along with its various concept devices, Qualcomm’s new chip is almost always a prescient indicator of what the next few years of XR devices is likely to be. In that respect, Snapdragon Reality Elite natively supports Google’s Android XR operating system, and is slated to debut in a number of upcoming devices, including the XREAL Aura AR glasses and a future headset from Play for Dream, with more to be revealed soon.
Check out Snapdragon Reality Elite’s spec sheet below, courtesy Qualcomm:
Snapdragon Reality Elite Platform Specifications
Artificial Intelligence
Qualcomm® Hexagon Processor
Fused AI Accelerator Architecture
Qualcomm® Hexagon Vector eXtensions
Qualcomm® Hexagon Scalar Accelerator
Qualcomm® Hexagon Matrix eXtensions
Qualcomm® Adreno GPU
Qualcomm® Kryo CPU
On-device display support
Up to 4.4K x 4.4K per eye @ 90 Hz
4x DSI
2x eDP
1x DP1.4 over USB
CPU
Qualcomm Kryo CPU
4 + 2 performance cores
Up to 2.9 GHz
Qualcomm Spectra Image Signal Processor
Support for 12 concurrent cameras
2x IFE for 12 MP @ 90 FPS Bayer for video-see-through
10x IFE-Lite for 720P @ 120 FPS mono for perception
Additional camera support through multi-drop or aggregation
Inline spatial noise reduction for low-latency video-see-through
Computer Vision
Engine for Visual Analytics with dedicated computer vision hardware
General purpose warper
Triangulation
Inverse triangulation
Optical flow
SLAM
3DR
Video
8K60 decode
8K30 encode
Low-latency slice-based decoding
AVC, HEVC, VP9, and AV1 decode
Audio
Qualcomm® Hexagon DSP
Embedded neural processing unit
Qualcomm® Sensor Hub
Voice UI
Spatial audio / recording
Adreno GPU
Up to 11% higher GPU frequency max
12 MB high-performance memory
Qualcomm® FastConnect 7800 Mobile Connectivity System
Snap today unveiled its first pair of standalone AR glasses intended for consumers, which the company says will pack in a variety of features, including AI assistance, entertainment, and productivity tools.
Snap showed off its latest pair of AR glasses today at Augmented World Expo (AWE) 2026, technically making it the sixth generation device to sport the ‘Specs’ name.
Like the fifth-gen Specs released in 2024, Specs don’t require an external compute puck or tethered connection to external devices, as the glasses pack in two Qualcomm Snapdragon processors—one dedicated to computer vision and another for running AR experiences, or “Lenses,” as the company calls them.
Courtesy Snap
The AR glasses feature Snap’s proprietary liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) display tech, offering a 51-degree field-of-view (FOV) and 16 million colors. Notably, that 51-degree FOV is said to provide a 30% larger display area than fifth-gen Specs.
There’s still no word on a few other key specs however, including resolution, brightness, refresh rate, RAM/storage sizes, camera specs, wireless standards, water resistance rating, and actual mAh battery capacity. You can see a more condensed spec sheet at the bottom of the article with everything we know so far.
What we do know however is Snap is hoping users don’t just stay indoors for room-scale AR interactions, as Specs come with electrochromic lenses that can transition from clear to tinted in 10 seconds, the company says, noting its displays can deliver 7-millisecond motion-to-photon latency. Additionally, a Snap spokesperson told Road to VR Specs are “designed to work outside and inside.”
Courtesy Snap
As it is, Specs are rated to deliver up to four hours of “mixed-use” battery life, with an included charging case extending total usage to around 20 hours, putting it fairly close to the “all-day” device category.
Built from Swiss TR90 polymer, Specs are also slated to come in two sizes, weighing 132 grams and 136 grams respectively, making them essentially 40% lighter than the fifth-gen version. Prescription inserts are also supported, and will include multiple nose pads for better individual fit, Snap tells Road to VR.
Courtesy Snap
Snap also emphasized privacy features, including on-device processing, permission prompts for sensitive information, and an LED indicator when recording is active.
The company says developers have already created hundreds of experiences for Specs, ranging from golf guidance and educational applications to immersive historical experiences. New development tools announced today include agentic development support in Lens Studio through integrations with Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor, as well as a new Native Development Kit.
While it seems users will be able to find a good number of AR Lenses, Snap ostensibly hopes one of its biggest draws will be AI integration.
“With SPECS, AI isn’t limited to a text box. It can see what you see, understand what you’re trying to accomplish, and help in the moment,” the company says. “That means guidance can appear exactly where it’s needed, information can be connected to the objects and places around you, and developers can build experiences that respond intelligently to the real world in real time. We believe AI and augmented reality are a natural fit because both help people better understand and interact with the world around them. Of course, technology like this only works when people trust it.”
We still haven’t had a chance to experience the latest iteration of Specs, as the company is using AWE as a venue for a general announcement, and not media demos as such.
In any case, we expect to hear a lot more about Specs between now and its fall shipping window. In the meantime, customers across the US, UK, and France can now pre-order for $2,195 ($200 refundable deposit).
Processor
