‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ and ‘Super Mario Galaxy Movie’ Head to Vision Pro in 3D

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Vision Pro is steadily becoming the premier destination for 3D theatrical releases to reach home audiences. The latest 3D movies headed to Vision Pro include The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026) and Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025).

The News

Apple has confirmed two new 3D movies headed to Vision Pro. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026) is available to buy or rent in 3D as of this week, through the Apple TV app.

Image courtesy Nintendo

That will be followed by the top-grossing movie of 2025, Avatar: Fire and Ash, which will be available starting on June 24th, streaming in 3D on the Disney+ app.

That’s it… that’s the news.

My Take

Vision Pro is the best way to watch 3D versions of major movies today, thanks to a combination of high-quality OLED displays and ease-of-access to high-quality 3D content. 3D movies on Vision Pro are generally streamed in 4K with HDR and surround sound, and you can make the screen literally as large as it would be in an actual movie theater. From my personal experience, if a movie in Vision Pro is available in 3D, there’s no reason not to watch the 3D version; it’s a pure value-add to the experience.

This follows the collapse of the 3DTV market years ago, which led to a near-elimination of movies being released in 3D for at-home viewing. Vision Pro is offering a second life to the 3D releases at home. And while the number of 3D movies available on the headset is continuing to grow, the high cost of Vision Pro makes it anything but certain that releases will continue in the long term.

Avatar: Fire and Ash, in particular, is a major win for 3D movies on the headset; Vision Pro is now the only way to experience the movie with the 3D perspective that director James Cameron originally intended it to be seen.

Granted, the release calls into question the partnership between Cameron’s Lightstorm Vision studio and Meta, which was announced at the end of 2024, a year before the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash.

At the time the studio and Meta said they were partnering to “scale the creation of world-class 3D entertainment experiences spanning live sports and concerts, feature films, and TV series featuring big-name IP on Meta Quest—which will be Lightstorm Vision’s exclusive MR hardware platform.”

While it wasn’t ever confirmed that the partnership would include a 3D release of Avatar: Fire and Ash on Meta’s headsets, the release of an exclusive 3D clip on Quest—to promote the movie’s release—certainly teased as much. But at this point it’s unclear if the movie will be released in 3D on Quest like on Vision Pro. We reached out to Meta about this but the company didn’t respond to a request for comment.

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Apple Acquires Key Talent & Patents Behind AI Avatar Company ‘Animato’

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According to an official EU filing spotted by Apple Insider, Apple has recently acquired key talent and IP behind Animato, a Bay Area startup creating AI avatars.

Animato was known for the now-defunct AI video calling app Call Annie, which paired 3D avatars with AI for face-to-face tutoring and language learning.

According to the filing (seen below), Apple isn’t outright acquiring Animato, but rather reserving the right to hire certain employees, get non-exclusive licenses to Animato’s intellectual property rights, and acquire Animato’s patent applications.

Here’s the January 19th filing via the European Commission’s Digital Markets Act:

Apple Inc. (“Apple”) will have the right to make employment offers to and hire certain employees of Animato, Inc. (“Animato”), receive a non-exclusive license to Animato’s intellectual property rights, and acquire Animato’s patent applications. Animato develops and distributes software that creates virtual avatars for video chats and tutoring. Apple (together with its group companies) designs, manufactures and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and sells a variety of related services.

According to LinkedIn, Animato was founded by Francesco Rossi, who worked at Apple from 2015-2022 in the company’s computer vision R&D department, which included work on machine learning.

Having left Apple in 2022 to found Animato, the company released two now-defunct apps, Call Annie and BeSanta, the latter of which let users create impersonate Santa Claus and record videos for playback.

‘Call Annie’ | Images courtesy Animato Inc

This isn’t the first avatar-related acquisition (or in Animato’s case acqui-hire) Apple has undertaken following the 2024 launch of Vision Pro.

In early 2025, Apple quietly acquired 3D avatar company TrueMeeting, having obtained its 3D avatar tech stack and a number of its employees. At the time, the deal was thought to support the company’s photorealistic avatars for Vision Pro, aka ‘Personas’.

Notably, Personas are some of the most realistic 3D avatars in the XR space right now. Based on facial scans, Personas are animated with the help of Vision Pro’s various sensors; the downward-facing camera tracks mouth movement, internal sensors track your eyes and facial micro-expressions, and a particularly advanced machine learning stack blends all of this together into a realistic 3D avatar.

At least in terms of what we’ve seen in Call Annie, Animato’s tech seems to be more targeted at creating realistic AI avatars, which is something Apple may be after as the company further develops not only XR headsets like Vision Pro, but its forthcoming AR glasses, which are rumored to follow its first smart glasses—still in development behind closed doors.

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Google & Samsung Reveal Smart Glasses for Fall Launch, Aiming to go Head-to-head with Meta

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Google and Samsung today gave the first official glimpse of an upcoming pair of smart glasses which are set to go head-to-head with Meta’s own AI-based smart glasses.

The News

The new smart glasses revealed by the companies at Google I/O today are seemingly unnamed at this point but generally referred to as “intelligent eyewear.” Like most of Meta’s smart glasses lineup, this pair is limited to audio input & output. A camera exists for visual input, but there’s no built-in display for visual output, unlike Meta’s Ray-Ban Display glasses.

Image courtesy Google & Samsung

The new smart glasses from Google and Samsung come in two styles: one made in collaboration with eyewear brand Warby Parker and another made in collaboration with Gentle Monster. Last year Google reportedly invested $100 million in Gentle Monster as part of its growing smart glasses ambitions.

Image courtesy Google & Samsung

Google and Samsung say the glasses are designed to work as a companion device to a mobile phone—similar to Meta’s smart glasses—suggesting it will have limited capabilities when worn by itself. The companies say the glasses will work with both Android and iOS phones, though it’s likely that some limitations may exist on iOS.

As part of the announcement, the companies offered a tease of the device’s capabilities:

Users can access navigation assistance by simply asking Gemini with their voices, receive personalized suggestions such as a nearby coffee shop on their walking route, or even place an order for pickup. Users can also receive summarized notifications for important texts and add events to their calendars. Additional features include real-time translations with audio that matches the speaker’s voice, as well as the ability to translate text on menus or signs in the user’s line of sight. Working seamlessly within the Galaxy ecosystem, the device helps users easily manage everyday tasks or effortlessly capture photos, all without taking their phone out.

On stage at Google I/O, the company showed that some requests (like ordering food from a restaurant) pass the request to Gemini on the user’s phone, which actually navigates the Doordash app by itself to place the order. It’s unclear how widespread this ‘Gemini app control’ capability will be, but it could be a huge breakthrough for the usefulness of AI through smart glasses and beyond.

Pricing and detailed specs have not been announced at this time, though the companies say the Google and Samsung smart glasses will launch this Fall “in select markets.”

My Take

Meta has already been seen to double-down on its smart glasses business after seeing greater than expected adoption, and this announcement of new smart glasses coming from Google and Samsung shows a growing belief in head-worn devices as the ideal place to capitalize on increasingly useful AI agents that have motivated the tech sector in recent years.

While the initial focus is on audio as the primary output modality of these glasses, Google has already confirmed its intentions to also bring smart glasses with displays to market, though it’s unclear if that will happen in 2026 or beyond. Adding a display to smart glasses vastly increases its range of uses, but adds significant cost and UX complexity. Meta even saw the need to pair its Ray-Ban Display smart glasses with a neural control band to make it easier for users to control the glasses.

I find it interesting that Google and Samsung were ready to show the design of these upcoming smart glasses but haven’t actually given them a proper name yet. Perhaps they are aiming to call the glasses by a combination of the company name and the corresponding eyewear brand, ie: Samsung Warby Parker glasses and Samsung Gentle Monster Glasses (like Meta has done with the “Meta Ray-Ban” glasses and “Oakley Meta” glasses).

Interestingly, the announcement accompanying this news doesn’t include any mention of “Android XR,” which tells us that Google is likely to position smart glasses separately from more immersive and interactive AR glasses like those coming from XREAL.

It’s been nearly 14 years since Google introduced its first pair of smart glasses, Google Glass. Equipped with significantly more advanced AI capabilities and a form-factor that looks much closer to actual glasses, this era of smart glasses has a much better chance of taking off.

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Google Announces New Android XR Developer Program with AR Glasses Dev Kits

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Google today announced at its I/O developer conference that it’s launching a new Android XR developer program, which will include XREAL’s upcoming AR glasses.

Called the ‘Android XR Developer Catalyst Program’, Google and AR hardware partner Xreal say they’ll be seeding program applicants with Project Aura dev kits, as well as tools and additional resources to get them creating fresh XR content.

Project Aura is the first pair of AR glasses running Google’s Android XR operating system, which the companies confirmed will ship sometime this year.

XREAL Project Aura | Image courtesy XREAL

“As part of the program, Project Aura developer kits will become available globally, giving select developers early access to hardware along with tools and resources designed specifically for Android XR development on Project Aura,” Xreal and Google said.

“The goal is simple: empower developers to start building the XR apps and experiences they’ve always imagined.”

Developers hoping to join the program can apply today at g.co/dev/catalyst, and Google/Xreal will review submissions and provide Project Aura developer kits in the coming weeks.

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LG-Backed AR Lens Startup LetinAR Raises $18.5M Ahead of Planned IPO Next Year

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South Korean augmented reality startup LetinAR has raised $18.5 million in fresh funding ahead of its planned IPO next year, something the company says will help scale production and accelerate commercialization of its AR optics.

As first reported by TechCrunch, LetinAR’s latest round was led by Korea Development Bank and included participation from Lotte Ventures, the investment arm of retail conglomerate Lotte Group, alongside additional undisclosed investors.

The funding brings LetinAR’s total raise to approximately $41.7 million, with previous investors including LG Electronics.

Founded in 2016 by CEO Jaehyeok Kim and CTO Jeonghun Ha, LetinAR develops compact optical modules for AR and smart glasses. Its proprietary ‘PinTILT’ technology is designed to deliver brighter images in thinner, lighter, and more power-efficient lenses than conventional waveguide or birdbath optics systems.

“We see AI glasses as that next platform,” Kim said, speaking to TechCrunch. “And the optical module is the hardest part to get right as AI glasses makers will need a lens that is thinner, lighter, and more power-efficient than what exists today.”

Notably, the company doesn’t manufacture complete AR or smart glasses, instead focusing on the sort of optical engines already in use with a few early collaborations, including NTT QONOQ Devices and Dynabook, formerly Toshiba Client Solutions.

The startup also said it’s engaged in R&D discussions with several major global tech companies regarding next-gen smart glasses platforms, with one such partner including Aegis Rider, a spinout from ETH Zurich Computer Vision Lab developing AI-powered augmented reality motorcycle helmets.

The funding round comes amid accelerating investment across the smart glasses sector. Companies including Meta, Google, Samsung, Apple, Huawei, Alibaba Group, and Xiaomi are all working on display-clad glasses of some sort.

The company plans to pursue a public listing in South Korea in 2027.

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Pimax Starts Sending Out ‘Dream Air SE’ PC VR Headsets, But Fulfillment Could Take Weeks

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Pimax announced it’s finally started shipping out the first batches of Dream Air SE, the younger sibling to its thin and light PC VR flagship. Despite officially launching Dream Air SE last week, most customers will probably still be waiting a bit longer—even if you pre-ordered a year ago.

The company revealed in its big launch day event last week that Dream Air SE is technically now shipping, which has been over a year in the making. Still, you won’t find a big ‘buy now’ button on the website just yet, as the company is still taking pre-orders for its cheapest thin and light PC VR headset to date.

That said, it’s unclear when batches pre-ordered today will actually ship out without actually putting money down to find out yourself. Whatever the case, if you pre-ordered on day one, you may be waiting a matter of weeks, not days.

Dream Air – Thin and light PC VR headset containing Sony microOLED panels (3,840 × 3,552 pixels per eye) and concave-view pancake optics, delivering 110° horizontal FOV, eye-tracking, auto-IPD adjustment, spatial audio, and DisplayLink.

• Versions: Lighthouse tracked and no controllers ($2,000) – SLAM tracked with controllers ($2,300)

Dream Air SE – Lower resolution version of Dream Air containing Sony microOLED panels (2,560 × 2,560 pixels per eye) and all of the above, except with 105° horizonal FOV.

• Versions: Lighthouse tracked and no controllers ($900), SLAM tracked with controllers ($1,200)

One such pre-order customer, Reddit user ‘Aitch_5’, says they’ve received an email indicating their May 2025 pre-order is currently in production, however delivery was estimated to take “another 4-5 weeks,” putting the UK-based delivery sometime in mid-to-late June.

Pimax Dream Air SE (Lighthouse) | Image courtesy Pimax

Pimax tells Road to VR that the first batch has been shipped out however—a bulk shipping to local warehouses—so the company expects the first users to receive their headset in two-to-four weeks. The company says it’s going to provide more clarity around shipping in an update on the official website “soon.”

As the flowchart goes, Pimax says that early pre-order orders will be fulfilled first, then early reservation fee orders (pending full payment), and then additional pre-orders to follow.

The company says it’s offering a few benefits for customers pre-ordering Dream Air SE right now. Effective between May 14th – May 31st, Pimax is including:

• Free shipping to selected regions
• Two face masks (new & old, new is shipped separately later)
• Discount coupon (DMAS Hardstrap 50% off, 50% off ringless controllers)
• US-only Regional Surcharge: $50 USD

Both Dream Air and Dream Air SE have been subject to multiple delays, so at least for some, this will feel like a long-awaited relief.

Notably, Pimax first announced Dream Air in December 2024. Before it could even be shipped out to external beta testers, the company announced in May 2025 it was releasing a more budget-friendly version with Dream Air SE.

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How to Play ‘Subnautica 2’ in VR, Although You May Want to Wait

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Subnautica 2 launched into early access yesterday, already having sold over two million copies in the first 12 hours. While it doesn’t include native VR support, that hasn’t stopped the most intrepid of us, who are already swimming around the depths in VR.

It’s no surprise that many Subnautica 2 owners have quite literally already popped their heads into the non-VR game. Like many games built in Unreal Engine, Subnautica 2 can be played in VR already thanks to PrayDog’s UEVR mod suite.

One such user was YouTuber ‘LunchAndVR’, who showed off some of the first footage of playing the game in immersive VR. Here’s the quick, spoiler-free video:

LunchAndVR notes that for now, they’re only able to play in VR with 3DOF and head aiming, which is admittedly less than ideal when it comes to user comfort and immersion, since most VR gamers expect 6DOF and immersive hand controls.

Some pitfalls to avoid include disabling autosave in the game’s accessibility settings, LunchAndVR says, otherwise the game crashes repeatedly. To do that, simply go to Subnautica 2 settings > Debug Settings > Disable Auto Save. At least for now, that means you’ll need to disable VR mode, save whilst in flatscreen, and then re-enable VR.

LunchAndVR also warns that the game isn’t “so good performance wise,” forcing them to lower settings for better stability.

While UEVR isn’t a plug-and-play solution—i.e. you can’t expect perfect results right out of the box—the modding community is currently hard at work generating more immersive mod profiles, which we expect to see in the coming days.

To boot, the Flat2VR modding team even teased a more advanced UEVR profile on the official Discord (invite link), showing Subnautica 2 in action with what appears to be basic motion controls.

 

Still, as tantalizing as it may seem, you may be better off waiting if you’re hoping to play from start to finish in VR—and that goes beyond the ad hoc VR implementations we’re seeing today.

Although the game is impressively polished at this early date, it’s going to be in Early Access over the course of the next two to three years, developer Unknown Worlds says, which means we’re sure to get plenty more content between now and then.

Image courtesy Unknown Worlds Entertainment

That said, there’s nothing holding you back from doing it right now, or actively contributing to the modding community to make it better for everyone else. Just be warned that updates are likely coming down the pipeline quickly, which could throw UEVR profiles out of whack.

As it is, the studio says official VR support “seems unlikely” and that they’re not currently working on it—something that also seems to be even more clear in the early access roadmap released today.

How to Play Subnautica 2 in VR

From what we’ve heard so far, you’ll need to download the nightly build of UEVR to mess around in Subnautica 2—mess around being the operative words. Of course, you’ll need the PC version of Subnautica 2 as well.

Extract the UEVR.zip to a folder of your choice, then:

1. Launch the frontend GUI (UEVRInjector.exe)
2. Launch Subnautica 2
3. Locate Subnautica 2 in the process dropdown list
4. Select your desired runtime (OpenVR/OpenXR)
5. Toggle existing VR plugin nullification (if necessary)
6. Configure pre-injection settings
7. Inject

PrayDog advises that more information and troubleshooting can be found on the Documentation page. In any case, we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for some of the quick and dirty fixes the modding community will come up with, and add them here.

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