Raven Prism Smart Glasses Announced with Unique Hot-swappable Battery

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Raven Resonance is showing off its upcoming smart glasses, Raven Prism, which aim to stay with users all day long thanks to a unique hot-swappable battery system.

The San Francisco-based startup is publicly demoing Raven Prism for the first time today at Augmented World Expo (AWE) starting today, which is taking place June 16th – 18th in Long Beach, California.

Planned to launch later this year, Raven Prism—or what the company calls an “ambient computer”—offers more than just a handy hot-swappable battery system, which the company says lets users replace without interrupting apps or requiring shutdowns and reboots.

The glasses are also slated to pack in a feature set rarely seen in smart glasses today. Running RavenOS, the company’s 64-bit Linux-based operating system, Raven Prism features a full-color LCoS display delivered through a single waveguide in the right eye, integrated eye tracking for hands-free interaction, and an onboard camera with visible capture light that also includes a physical privacy cover.

And privacy is a major focus for the company.

“Privacy is a foundational design principle of Raven Prism,” the company says. “Eye control data is processed locally on the device, no user data is transmitted off-device without explicit user consent and core AI capabilities are designed to run locally whenever possible. Unlike many connected wearables that rely heavily on cloud infrastructure, Raven Prism was designed to perform as much computation as possible locally, keeping user data under the user’s control and reducing dependence on remote infrastructure. Raven Resonance believes privacy should be enforced through hardware and software architecture rather than policies.”

Thomas Suarez | Courtesy Raven Resonance

Unlike many smart glasses that rely on a tethered smartphone, Raven Prism is a standalone device powered by an onboard quad-core 64-bit ARM processor and will be available in multiple RAM configurations. The device natively supports Linux ARM64 applications and SSH access, positioning it as a more open and dev-friendly platform than most consumer smart glasses.

It’s also set to ship with more than 25 applications, also providing low-level access to the OS, creating a flexible platform, which the company says is being targeted at creative professionals, makers, developers and enterprise users.

“For decades, the personal computer has been confined to a desk, a pocket or a bag,” Raven Resonance co-founder and CEO Thomas Suarez says. “We believe the next era is ambient computing—technology that remains available when you need it, while staying out of the way when you don’t. Raven Prism gives users a powerful, open computing platform they can access hands-free throughout the day—from Claude Code to creative applications and more. Put simply, Raven Prism is not a pair of smart glasses: it is a powerful, privacy-first eye-controlled Linux computer that happens to take the form of eyewear.”

The company plans to officially launch Raven Prism later in 2026, with additional details regarding availability, pricing, and developer programs to be announced closer to launch.

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‘Wanderer 2’ Cancelled Amid “volatile” VR Gaming Market

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Mighty Eyes announced it will longer be developing its previously announced sequel to VR action-adventure Wander: The Fragments of Fate (2025), citing a “volatile” VR gaming market.

The studio released word via its official Discord, noting that not only is Wanderer 2: The Seas of Fortune no longer in production, but that all future updates for Wander: The Fragments of Fate will effectively come to an end too.

“The last few years have been tough. For VR as a market, for Wanderer, and for our studio,” Mighty Eyes says. “We had ambitious plans and for the most part we think we executed them as well as we could. Sadly, it wasn’t enough. The game performed solidly on console but we just didn’t see the mobile uptake we’d counted on. What we’d banked on didn’t pay off.”

Initially released in 2022 as Wanderer, the studio would go on to essentially re-release the time-travel adventure only a short three years later under the name Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate, which included an overhaul to gameplay, content, visuals, and support for PSVR 2.

In 2024—before the re-release of Wanderer even arrived—the studio announced it was already working on its sequel, which promised to bring a new pirate theme to the franchise, which was slated to bring players to 1750s Jamaica at the tail end of the Golden Age of Piracy.

In the Discord announcement, the studio also revealed Wanderer benefitted greatly from Sony’s support, with additional help from Meta and Pico.

This follows a number of similar cancellations in the VR games industry, which includes a Harry Potter VR game from Skydance, a “major” VR game from Moss developer Polyarc Games, and a Batman: Arkham VR sequel from now-shuttered Meta studio Sanzaru Games.

Check out the full message below, courtesy eagle-eyed Redditor ‘Unfallener’:

Hey everyone, and thanks as always for your patience while we worked through the future of the Wanderer IP.

Unfortunately it’s not good news and while we suspect it’s not entirely unexpected, it’s still really hard for us to share.

The last few years have been tough. For VR as a market, for Wanderer, and for our studio. We had ambitious plans and for the most part we think we executed them as well as we could. Sadly, it wasn’t enough. The game performed solidly on console but we just didn’t see the mobile uptake we’d counted on. What we’d banked on didn’t pay off.

We’re eternally grateful for the chance Sony took on us – their belief in this IP from the start (and their continued commitment) made so much of what we achieved possible. We’re also thankful and humbled by the support we received from Meta and Pico along the way. There are genuinely good people behind these platforms who backed us through and through.

We’re still figuring out what’s next for Mighty Eyes amidst this (very) volatile market. But we won’t be developing Wanderer 2, and ongoing support for Wanderer: The Fragments of Fate isn’t something we’re able to continue.

Wanderer has given us some career (life!) highlights. A GOTY nomination, consistently named as one of the top adventure games in VR – this type of stuff doesn’t happen without a team that poured years of blood, sweat and tears into something we all believed in. We’re proud of what we made, and deeply grateful to everyone who was a part of building it.

And that includes our community. The support, feedback, criticism, and the passion – it all pushed us to make a better game. So many of you stuck with us through the rough patches, warts and all, and that loyalty genuinely means everything. Thank you. We know it’s not always easy supporting from the sidelines.

One last thing, and this goes beyond Wanderer – if you love games, please support them. Put your money where your wishlist is – buy the games you want to see more of. Leave reviews, even critical ones help developers understand what’s working (and what’s not). Talk about the games you love, share them, recommend them. For an indie studio, sales aren’t a nice-to-have, they are everything. The whole ecosystem depends on people showing up. So please keep supporting the games and developers you believe in.

Thanks again – The Mighty Eyes team

PS: Please understand if we are unable to respond to every message but, we’re reading them all.

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Snap Teases Next-gen ‘Specs’ AR Glasses Ahead of June 16th Reveal

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Snapchat parent Snap is nearing the long-awaited reveal of Specs, its next pair of AR glasses, as the company says we should keep our eyes peeled come June 16th.

Specs Inc, the company’s new XR subsidiary, showed off a (very) brief glimpse of the device via Instagram on Friday, which notably included “06.16” at the end.

View this post on Instagram

The company additionally confirmed it’s publicly revealing the device on the June 16th at Augmented World Expo (AWE), which has become a prime venue for XR announcements over the past few years. AWE goes from June 15th – 18th, taking place in Long Beach, California.

Notably, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel is also set to deliver a keynote there, titled ‘Making Computing More Human‘, making it a fairly certain we’ll hear more about the company’s expectations for its next pair of AR glasses, set to be its sixth-gen device.

The fifth-gen Specs (seen below) were released in 2024 primarily for developers, ostensibly making its sixth-gen the first from the company specifically targeted at consumers.

Snap Spectacles (gen 5) | Courtesy Snap Inc

And while we don’t know the specs behind Specs just yet, the company says it’s emphasizing the device’s built-in AI, something that “uses its understanding of you and your world to help get things done on your behalf while protecting and respecting your privacy.”

The reveal of Specs does come amid some turbulence though. In April, Snap laid off around 1,000 employees and closed hundreds of open roles. Layoffs haven’t largely affected Specs Inc however, which was spun up in January to allow the company to form new partnerships, have more capital flexibility, and, more importantly, insulate its AR business.

This follows Snap’s acquisiton of Illumix, a spatial mapping company and developers behind Five Nights at Freddy’s AR: Special Delivery (2019), which is said to boost the company’s AR efforts.

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Steam Frame is Poised for Launch as Units Begin Reaching the US

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According to recent import records, Valve seems to be gearing up for the imminent launch of Steam Frame.

As spotted by XR analyst Brad Lynch, Valve has imported a large number “virtual reality devices” to its US-based warehouses, which can be none other than its long-awaited Steam Frame standalone VR headset.

The first Steam Frame imports arriving in Valve’s USA Warehouses pic.twitter.com/TfEO9SPo0b

— Brad Lynch (@SadlyItsBradley) June 12, 2026

As per the public records, Valve has imported some 32,000 kg (~35 US tons) of the VR devices in question, which was notably one week after the company imported 40,000 kg (~44 US tons) of “game consoles,” unmistakably its Steam Machine Linux-based PC.

In recap: Steam Frame is Valve’s VR headset which can wirelessly tether to a PC for low-latency game streaming, and work in standalone mode, making it capable of downloading and playing both traditional flatscreen games and SteamVR games optimized to work on its onboard Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset.

Courtesy Valve

It also sports dual 2,160 × 2,160 per-eye LCD displays, up to a 144 Hz refresh rate, eye-tracking, optical inside-out tracking, and runs its Linux-based SteamOS with built-in Proton compatibility layer, making it capable of natively running games originally designed for Windows.

Really all that’s left is the exact release date and pricing, the latter of which could be one of the biggest sticking points for both Steam Frame and Steam Machine. Valve announced earlier this year would be delayed due to the ongoing component crisis, which has seen RAM and storage prices skyrocket.

Whatever the case, we won’t have to wait for too long to find out. Last week, Valve confirmed both Steam Frame and Steam Machine are releasing sometime this summer, which means we’re truly one step closer to knowing everything.

Looking for more Steam Frame news?

Valve Unveils Steam Frame VR headset to Make Your Entire Steam Library Portable: Valve shows off Steam Frame, the standalone headset that can stream and natively play your entire Steam library—with only a few caveats right now.

Hands-on: Steam Frame Reveals Valve’s Modern Vision for VR and Growing Hardware Ambitions: We go hands-on with Valve’s latest and greatest VR headset yet.

Valve Says No New First-party VR Game is in Development: Valve launched Half-Life: Alyx (2020) a few months after releasing Index, but no such luck for first-party content on Steam Frame.

Valve is Open to Bringing SteamOS to Third-party VR Headsets: Steam Frame is the first VR headset to run SteamOS, but it may not be the last.

Valve Plans to Offer Steam Frame Dev Kits to VR Developers: Steam Frame isn’t here yet; Valve says it needs more time with developers first so they can optimize their PC VR games.

Valve Announces SteamOS Console and New Steam Controller, Designed with Steam Frame Headset in Mind: Find out why Valve’s new SteamOS-running Console and controller will work seamlessly with Steam Frame.

Steam Frame vs. Quest 3 Specs: Better Streaming, Power & Hackability: Quest 3 can do a lot, but can it go toe-to-toe with Steam Frame?

Steam Frame vs. Valve Index Specs: Wireless VR Gameplay That’s Generations Ahead : Valve Index used to be the go-to PC VR headset, but the times have changed.

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Pico’s Next Flagship XR Headset Reportedly Leaked, Showing Some Very Familiar Design

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According to video discovered in Pico’s public SDK, it appears the company’s next flagship headset has just been leaked.

Trusted data miner and serial leaker Luna was sent what appears to be a number of tutorial videos for Project Swan, which were buried in Pico’s public SDK.

Luna, who also leaked multiple devices in the past including Meta Ray-Ban Display, additionally confirmed the videos seen below are indeed authentic.

PICO Project Swan

I was sent these by a source claiming it is in the public SDK, and I was able to independently verify that is indeed the case (you can too) pic.twitter.com/wAVa56OY1T

— Luna (@Lunayian) June 11, 2026

What it reveals: a headset very much inspired by Apple Vision Pro and Samsung Galaxy XR, as it appears to include a separate battery unit and woven headstrap à la Vision Pro, and a body similar to Galaxy XR.

Vision Pro Solo Knit Band | Courtesy Apple

Earlier this week Qualcomm seemingly teased its next-gen Snapdragon XR chipset targeted at standalone headsets, something the company says we’ll learn more about “soon.”

Notably, Pico said back in March that Project Swan will contain a co-processor that combines custom XR silicon and a separate flagship SoC with “more than 2× CPU and GPU performance vs XR2 Gen 2,” something the company say will launch globally in late 2026. While possibly a coincidence, the timing does raise an eyebrow at whether Pico will be the first to include Qualcomm’s next-gen Snapdragon XR chip.

That said, we’re still waiting to hear a lot more about Project Swan, including its pricing, official naming scheme and (not to mention) full spec sheet.

So far, Pico has revealed it will weight in at 270g (presumably just the headset and not battery) and include microOLED panels with 4,000 pixels per inch (PPI). The headset’s optics are also said to provide an average ~40 pixels per degree (PPD) and a center sweet spot exceeding 45 PPD.

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Qualcomm Teases Next-Gen Snapdragon XR Chipset, Possibly Debuting in Pico’s Next Flagship

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Qualcomm seems to be teasing its next-gen Snapdragon XR chipset targeted at standalone headsets, something the company says we’ll learn more about “soon.”

It’s uncertain whether Qualcomm is getting ready to announce its next-gen Snapdragon XR3 platform, or Gen 3 of its previously released XR2 chipset. What is certain though is XR’s biggest chip manufacturer has something new in store, teasing a “new reality” in a short clip posted on X.

Imagine #XR that's smarter and more immersive than anything you've experienced before. Something new is coming pic.twitter.com/2Of6E0BS2R

— Snapdragon (@Snapdragon) June 9, 2026

And while Qualcomm says we’re due to learn about it “soon,” there’s really no telling when that could be, as the company really hasn’t stuck to a set release schedule for its various XR chip announcements.

Notably, Qualcomm announced Snapdragon XR1 at AWE 2018 in May, Snapdragon XR2 at Snapdragon Tech Summit in December 2019, Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 right before the launch of the Quest 3 in 2023, and Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 just before CES 2024.

There are however a few venues the company could announce its next iteration of Snapdragon XR. Qualcomm’s June 24th Investor Relations Day may deliver our first bit of insight into its first slate of hardware partners. There’s also the company’s big Snapdragon Summit in late September, which is notably during the exact same timeframe as Meta Connect.

Thus far, Meta has only teased what appears to be a new slate of smart glasses though, which in the past have integrated Qualcomm’s Snapdragon AR1 chipset. Meta is also seemingly preparing a puck-tethered thin and light standalone, codenamed ‘Phoenix’, although that’s reportedly been delayed to 2027.

Possibly a more likely (and timely) candidate is Pico’s upcoming Project Swan, which the Byte Dance-owned company teased in March to contain a separate flagship SoC with “more than 2× CPU and GPU performance vs XR2 Gen 2.” That’s supposed to launch globally sometime in late 2026, so we may learn a lot more fairly soon.

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Welcome to the New Road to VR

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If you’re a regular reader of Road to VR you’ll notice the site just got a huge facelift. I’m excited to introduce this new version of Road to VR, the first major revision to our humble publication in a decade.

I have to hand it to our old site. Although it evolved over the years, the foundation was technically the same server and layout that launched all the way back in 2015. It wasn’t perfect, but it did the job for far longer than it should have reasonably been asked to. But the future, as they say, is now. I’m happy to finally introduce Road to VR 5.0, and to tell you a little bit about the goals that guided its design.

At a high level, Road to VR 5.0 aims to achieve the following:

• Fully responsive – In the past, the mobile experience on our site felt like a second-class citizen to the desktop experience. With 5.0, there is no longer a ‘desktop’ and ‘mobile’ version of the site, instead everyone can access the same unified content stream no matter what device they’re using.
• Cleaner – made to take advantage of the larger screen real estate and higher resolutions than what was common in 2015 (when the prior layout was conceived).
• Better organized – a clearer system of content organization made to serve readers rather than search engines. Check out the site’s Menu to explore content based on the topics that are most relevant to you.
• Faster and more capable – the new version loads faster and has a much more modern foundation, allowing us to make tweaks and improvements far more easily than before.
• Ready for the future – our new server infrastructure gives Road to VR massive headroom for growing our readership and enables a number of planned features that are still to come.

For the Power Users

While I’m very pleased with the look and feel of the new site, I know not everyone will prefer the more spacious layout. Sometimes you just want to power through the latest content with minimal distractions. If that sounds like you, I encourage you to check out the Power Feed. This is a chronological feed of the latest content, with a greater density of articles in the same space.

You can access the Power Feed directly or by clicking the ‘Latest’ header on the front page.

For even more control over how you read the content we publish, I’d like to remind everyone that they can subscribe to our full content RSS feed in their favorite reader. And a little pro-tip for the RSS-enlightened among us: you can subscribe to individual sections of our site by adding /feed/ to the end of any section URL from the site’s Menu. For example, if you want a feed of only our game reviews, you can find it at https://roadtovr.com/sections/xr-game-review-preview-software/feed/. Or if you want a feed of only PC VR related news, you can find it at https://roadtovr.com/sections/pc-vr-news-reviews/feed/.

Feedback Welcome

Road to VR 5.0 launched with some rough edges. Thanks to community feedback, many of those have already been sanded down. But the work isn’t done; carrying over more than 10,000 articles and nearly 50GB of media that we’ve published over more than a decade was never going to be easy, and I’m sure some things have been missed or aren’t behaving as intended.

I welcome feedback from anyone who spots bugs, rough edges, or has suggestions for improvements. Feel free to reach out to feedback [at] roadtovr.com. If you are reporting a specific issue, it would be a huge help if you’d also include a screenshot, the device you’re using, and the browser version.

A Look Back

2026 marks 15 years since Road to VR was first launched. So much has changed in that time, but a little visual history goes a long way:

Road to VR 1.0

Road to VR 2.0

Road to VR 3.0

Road to VR 4.0

A Look Ahead

What’s ahead for both Road to VR and the XR industry at large, I believe, is certainly much more exciting than what’s behind. The industry is in a cooling period right now, but it’s not the first we’ve seen, and it won’t be the last. What’s actually driving the cooling period is a transition that’s happening quietly at first, but will be loud before we know. The combination of the world’s biggest tech companies (Meta, Google, and Apple) vying for the next phase of XR, and a shift toward lighter and more comfortable form-factors for head-worn devices, is going to take the industry to the next level. With Road to VR 5.0, we’re poised to bring you the very latest on that future, as it happens.

Business Updates & Recognition

As it was when we started back in 2011, Road to VR continues to be a completely independent publication with no outside investors.

Back in 2017 we partnered with media company Gamer Network to run our ad operations (with a contractual obligation that it would not get involved in the editorial side of our business). Gamer Network was sold to IGN back in 2024, and at the time we amicably ended our partnership. Since then we returned to managing our ad operations internally, while maintaining the same firewall between ads and editorial that has guided us from the very beginning. So this is technically old news, but worth putting on the record for the sake of transparency. And hey, maybe someone can finally update the Gamer Network Wikipedia entry so Road to VR is no longer listed under the ‘Partnered’ section of their page. After 15 years, we still don’t have our own Wikipedia page….

Road to VR wouldn’t be here after all these years without the passion and dedication of our small team. I want to give a special thanks to Scott Hayden, our longstanding Editor. Scott is a powerhouse of a reporter who I knew I could trust to hold down the fort while I focused on getting this new version of Road to VR out the door. It simply wouldn’t have been possible without his talent and dedication. And I want to thank my co-founder Paul James who is the mastermind and maintainer behind the technical infrastructure that kept Road to VR running smoothly for the last decade.

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