I've been thinking a lot about what's coming next for AI + VR, and whether 2026 could be a real inflection point rather than just more hype. Here's the core idea, summarized:
A global catalyst: the 2026 World Cup. ~1 billion viewers, likely the last World Cup for Messi and Ronaldo. These kinds of once-in-a-generation life events are exactly where immersive experiences can actually add value (not just novelty).
Big tech is already positioned.
AI needs bigger stages than chatbots nor development tools.
The "invisible" enablers are finally maturing.
Connectivity: Satellite internet + Wi-Fi 7 reaching broader adoption.
The network can finally support high-fidelity, real-time VR at scale.
Curious to hear thoughts:
Do you see 2026 as a real investment/opportunity window for VR?
PaulHoule•1mo ago
My take is that the MQ3 with 8GB of RAM requires careful development to develop experiences that fit. Games developed using the usual game-development methodology are great, but Meta's vision of people using ordinary VR to share experiences fall flat because of this.
For instance, if Horizon Worlds let me cut-and-paste my photographs and stereograms and some GLB models into a world to make a VR art gallery I'd do it in a heartbeat. But no, I have to learn how to make worlds with their proprietary computational solid geometry and work hard to think of some other vision that could fit within those constraints -- it's just as bad for the casual consumer as it is for me or for small and large businesses which would like to create spaces.
I'd like to do the same with WebXR and I know it's possible, not difficult at all if I want to browse using my "gaming/AI PC" over the link but would be a process of understanding the texture memory limits and developing a system to keep in those limits.
Despite all that I've met people playing Beat Saber who like to share VR content, like panoramic videos they made on a cruise ship. A lot of them are older than me, the kind of demographic that Zuck wishes he could fire from Facebook.
16GB class headsets should be better -- but Apple doesn't get the "social VR" idea in the slightest and seems to think the AVP is mainly a Studio Display [1] stuck on your face instead of a Macbook stuck on your face. I'm hopeful about the Steam Frame but the MQ3 consumer is price sensitive so instead of an MQ4 we got the cost reduced MQ3S.
I wish I could put a 32GB stick into my MQ3 which would empower it for content development but it wouldn't help people I want to share it with. The 3D economy is already vast and VR should be an onramp to it.
sebastianromero•1mo ago
I've been thinking a lot about what's coming next for AI + VR, and whether 2026 could be a real inflection point rather than just more hype. Here's the core idea, summarized:
A global catalyst: the 2026 World Cup. ~1 billion viewers, likely the last World Cup for Messi and Ronaldo. These kinds of once-in-a-generation life events are exactly where immersive experiences can actually add value (not just novelty).
Big tech is already positioned.
AI needs bigger stages than chatbots nor development tools.
The "invisible" enablers are finally maturing.
Connectivity: Satellite internet + Wi-Fi 7 reaching broader adoption.
Cloud & streaming: Netflix, PlayStation, Nvidia, Microsoft refining high-quality cloud delivery.
The network can finally support high-fidelity, real-time VR at scale.
Curious to hear thoughts: Do you see 2026 as a real investment/opportunity window for VR?
PaulHoule•1mo ago
For instance, if Horizon Worlds let me cut-and-paste my photographs and stereograms and some GLB models into a world to make a VR art gallery I'd do it in a heartbeat. But no, I have to learn how to make worlds with their proprietary computational solid geometry and work hard to think of some other vision that could fit within those constraints -- it's just as bad for the casual consumer as it is for me or for small and large businesses which would like to create spaces.
I'd like to do the same with WebXR and I know it's possible, not difficult at all if I want to browse using my "gaming/AI PC" over the link but would be a process of understanding the texture memory limits and developing a system to keep in those limits.
Despite all that I've met people playing Beat Saber who like to share VR content, like panoramic videos they made on a cruise ship. A lot of them are older than me, the kind of demographic that Zuck wishes he could fire from Facebook.
16GB class headsets should be better -- but Apple doesn't get the "social VR" idea in the slightest and seems to think the AVP is mainly a Studio Display [1] stuck on your face instead of a Macbook stuck on your face. I'm hopeful about the Steam Frame but the MQ3 consumer is price sensitive so instead of an MQ4 we got the cost reduced MQ3S.
I wish I could put a 32GB stick into my MQ3 which would empower it for content development but it wouldn't help people I want to share it with. The 3D economy is already vast and VR should be an onramp to it.
[1] ... also deliciously overpriced