From Prototype to Playbook: XR Grows Up

Astral City was launched at the beginning of 2025 with the belief that 'Spatial computing is set to become the next engagement paradigm' and that that immersive technology would reshape and redefine brand engagement.

Pausing at the halfway mark of 2025, it’s clear our vision wasn’t just forward-thinking, it’s actually already reality. XR isn’t a future bet. It’s here, it’s accelerating, and it’s reshaping how people interact with content, spaces and brands. Those who move now won’t just keep up, they’ll lead the experience economy.

Our core mission remains unchanged: to help partners make sense of the space, plan for what’s next, and build standout immersive experiences. I’m especially proud of the work underway right now. It’s been interesting to see just how many big players are stepping up showing that XR is starting to move from 'maybe one day' to 'what’s our plan here?'

Major tech players and start-ups alike have unleashed new hardware, software, and campaigns that push XR into the mainstream. Notably, Augmented World Expo (AWE) 2025, which has just finished, underscored an 'AI+XR imperative', highlighting how artificial intelligence is converging with immersive technology.

For Astral City these developments once again validate our timing and our beliefs.
I thought I’d take the time to look back at XR news from the first half of 2025. I’d love to hear what others think or if I’ve missed anything!

XR Hits the Mainstream at AWE 2025

AWE 2025 made one thing clear: XR is no longer niche. The event spotlighted how AR, VR, and MR are now live, scalable tools across industries.

Snap announced its next-gen 'Specs' smart glasses, launching in 2026 they are lighter, sleeker, and packed with AR Lens potential. Already in some developer hands, they signal a more immersive, always-on Snapchat ecosystem.

Qualcomm unveiled the AR1+ chip, powering AI-driven smartglasses that run large models locally. This means there's no need for a phone and no lag. The thing to think about here is real-time, on-glasses brand interactions and object-aware AR. Super cool.

With 5,000+ attendees and 250+ demos, including XREAL’s Android XR glasses - 'AURA', Sony’s spatial displays, and AI-powered NPCs, the show underscored XR’s momentum.

Big Tech’s Spatial Computing Moves 

In the first half of 2025, all the tech giants doubled down on XR.  A strong signal for people to sit up and start paying attention.

Meta’s XR Vision: From Mass Adoption to Wearable AR

Meta is expanding its XR ecosystem aggressively across VR and AR:

• Quest 3S (launched just before 2025) delivers high-quality VR at a reasonable price (approx £250), broadening access. Upcoming headsets in the works target both casual users and professionals.
• Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses already include AI assistants and camera features. AR glasses (Orion) give us a glimpse into the future offering holographic overlays, contextual AI, and neural wristband controls.

We’re also keeping a close eye on June 20th, when Meta and Oakley are set to announce something new. Another signal that wearable AR is moving from prototype to product.

I’m very much looking forward to seeing what’s announced at Connect later this year and getting more insight into their plans.

Google: Android XR and Gemini AI Everywhere

Google is positioning itself as the platform backbone for XR through Android XR, announced at I/O 2025. Designed for both headsets and AR glasses, it deeply integrates Google’s Gemini AI, enabling some incredible features like on-the-fly translation, contextual object detection, and AI-powered visual lookup.

Samsung, Google’s lead hardware partner, is set to launch Project Moohan, a high-end mixed reality headset, later in 2025.

At IO 2025 Google also demoed prototype smart glasses with real-time translation and image recognition and is working with partners like XREAL, Warby Parker, and Gentle Monster, focusing on sleek design and smartphone tethering to keep glasses lightweight.

Apple: From Vision Pro to AR Glasses

Apple is laying the groundwork for the future of spatial computing with its high-end Vision Pro headset and the evolving visionOS platform. At WWDC 2025, Apple introduced new AI features (“Apple Intelligence”) for Vision Pro, enabling generative tasks like rewriting text and creating images. It also previewed spatial widgets, allowing users to pin apps like clocks or photos in their physical space. While no new hardware is expected this year, Apple is rumored to launch lightweight AR glasses by 2026, integrating Siri, AI, and iPhone apps into everyday eyewear. Apple’s long game is to turn AR into the next iPhone. Intuitive, stylish, and ever-present.

There are other players to consider in the space as well… ​​

PICO has quietly become a major force in enterprise and location-based XR. With powerful, standalone headsets like the PICO 4 Enterprise and a robust enterprise OS, it’s powering immersive experiences across education, healthcare, manufacturing, and live events. Over 20,000 devices are already deployed in U.S. schools, and it's used in 175+ hospitals across Europe. At AWE 2025, PICO showcased tools designed for scalable, kiosk-ready brand activations making it an ideal platform for retail pop-ups, training, and immersive storytelling.

AI + XR: The Next Frontier of Immersive Innovation

A unique aspect of 2025 is how artificial intelligence is merging with XR, making experiences more powerful and personalised. This for me is a much more exciting use of AI than generating a 80’s action movie star poster of myself or a ghibli style photo of my family (although that was fun!)

Smarter Interactions: Thanks to AI, XR apps can now understand and respond to the user and environment in real time.

We have now seen prototypes of glasses that translate foreign text in your view instantly and answer spoken questions via an AI assistant. 

We’ve also seen glasses that recognise objects you look at (say a landmark or product) and can pull up info via AI. This combination means AR experiences can be much more context-aware.

Content Creation via AI: Generative AI is helping produce 3D assets, environments, and even entire storylines for XR. Instead of hand-crafting every object in a VR scene, creators can use AI tools to generate backgrounds or props, then refine them. This lowers content creation costs and allows for dynamic content.

AI Avatars and Agents: AI-driven avatars are already appearing and are set to be a clear new trend. These avatars can converse naturally with users. AI agents in VR can role-play or guide users, adapting as it goes. I’m super excited about where this could lead from a user experience perspective.

Bottom line: AI is a true accelerant for XR, enabling richer, more individualised experiences and simplifying production.

As experience designers, we at Astral City are especially excited by this convergence because it can streamline the way we build (thanks to smart automation) while unlocking new creative possibilities for adaptive, personalised experiences.

Brands should keep an eye on AI-in-XR use cases because the companies that leverage this early will stand out as innovators and may capture audiences in a way competitors can’t.

Conclusion

As we reach mid-2025, the XR industry’s trajectory is clearly upward. Spatial computing is becoming an everyday part of how consumers play, shop, learn, and socialise.
For brands and agencies, I can’t keep shouting this loud enough:

Early movers will own the narrative. The brands that experiment now will set creative benchmarks, earn earned media, and shape the expectations of this next wave of computing.

Those who invested in XR early in 2025 are already reaping the benefits and the pace of innovation is only accelerating. With each breakthrough, the opportunity compounds. Brands waiting on the sidelines risk falling behind as the window for first-mover advantage rapidly closes. Now is the moment to prototype, pilot, and play before XR moves from emerging to expected.

At Astral City, we’re proud to be in the thick of it blending creative strategy, immersive design, and emerging tech to help our partners navigate what’s next.

We’re learning, building, and occasionally breaking things along the way. But every day validates the decision to go all-in on XR.

If you’re curious, inspired, or just figuring out where to start, we’d love to talk.

Bring on the second half of 2025.