September 23, 2026Meta
Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 and camera-free Audio
Gen 3 goes on sale from $449. Ray-Ban Meta Audio, Meta's first glasses without a camera, ships October 13 from $349.
OfficialMeta Newsroom
VR Express · Community Resource
Meta Wars Tracker
The battle between Big Tech for XR supremacy. Every launch, price and number, sourced and dated.
Last updated September 24, 2026
OfficialAnalystReportedRumor
Act I · The Dream
- 1838
Wheatstone's stereoscope
Charles Wheatstone shows the Royal Society that two slightly different drawings, one per eye, fuse into depth. Every headset since runs on this trick.
Royal Society - 1901
Baum imagines AR glasses
In The Master Key, L. Frank Baum (of Oz fame) invents spectacles that stamp a letter on each person's forehead revealing their character. Augmented reality, 90 years early.
IEEE Spectrum - 1935
Pygmalion's Spectacles
Stanley G. Weinbaum's short story describes goggles that play a movie you can see, hear, smell and touch, and in which you are a character. The clearest early sketch of VR.
History of Information - 1938
"La réalité virtuelle"
French dramatist Antonin Artaud calls theatre "virtual reality" in The Theatre and Its Double, the earliest known use of the phrase. He meant the stage, not a machine.
Tampere University - 1939
View-Master
Stereoscopic photo reels go mainstream at the New York World's Fair. Generations of kids get their first taste of 3D through a plastic viewer.
Smithsonian - 1929
The Link Trainer, the "Blue Box"
Edwin Link launches a motion-driven flight simulator nicknamed the Blue Box. Hundreds of thousands of WWII pilots learn instrument flying in it: the first proof that simulated experience trains real skill.
Canadian Aviation Museum - 1960
Heilig's Telesphere Mask
Morton Heilig patents a head-mounted stereoscopic TV with stereo sound: the first head-mounted display patent. No tracking, no interaction, but the shape is unmistakable.
US Patent 2,955,156 - 1961
Philco Headsight
Two Philco engineers build a helmet with a screen per eye and a magnetic head tracker driving a remote camera. Built for hazardous military viewing, it is the first head-tracked display.
Virtual Reality Society - 1962
Sensorama
Heilig patents an arcade-style booth with 3D film, stereo sound, wind, smells and a vibrating seat. Multisensory immersion, decades ahead of the computing to drive it.
US Patent 3,050,870 - 1965
"The Ultimate Display"
Ivan Sutherland describes a room where a computer controls matter itself. The essay becomes the founding manifesto of computer-generated virtual worlds.
University of Virginia (PDF) - 1968
The Sword of Damocles
Sutherland and Bob Sproull build the first head-mounted display showing computer-generated, head-tracked 3D graphics. It is so heavy it hangs from the ceiling, hence the name.
ACM SIGGRAPH - 1975
VIDEOPLACE
Myron Krueger's "artificial reality" lab lets people interact with computer graphics using only their projected silhouettes. No headset, no gloves.
Britannica - 1978
Aspen Movie Map
MIT lets users drive through Aspen, Colorado on a screen, turning at any corner. Street View, 34 years early.
MIT Media Lab - 1982
VCASS: the virtual cockpit
Thomas Furness demonstrates a helmet display for the US Air Force that shows pilots flight data and targets in 3D space around them.
University of Washington - 1985
NASA's VR headset prototype
NASA Ames builds a head-tracked headset to explore virtual environments for pilots and astronauts. The prototype now sits in the Smithsonian.
Smithsonian Air and Space - 1986
The Super Cockpit
Furness's Air Force program goes public: helmet display, head tracking, 3D audio and cockpit controls combined into one immersive pilot interface.
University of Washington - 1987
Jaron Lanier names the field
VPL Research, founded by Lanier, sells the first commercial DataGlove and EyePhone headset, and Lanier popularises the term "virtual reality".
Britannica - 1990
"Augmented reality" is coined
Boeing researchers Tom Caudell and David Mizell use the phrase for a headset that overlays wiring diagrams while workers assemble aircraft cables.
IEEE Spectrum - 1992
The CAVE
University of Illinois researchers build a room of stereo projection walls you walk into. CAVEs still run in labs and industry today.
UIC Electronic Visualization Lab - 1992
Virtual Fixtures
Louis Rosenberg builds one of the first interactive AR systems for the US Air Force, overlaying virtual guides on a real workspace, and shows it makes operators measurably better.
IEEE Spectrum - 1991
Virtuality arcades
Virtuality puts headset VR into shopping-mall arcades, some with networked multiplayer. For most of the public, this is the first time VR is real.
Virtual Reality Society - 1992
Snow Crash coins "metaverse"
Neal Stephenson's novel names a shared virtual world of avatars the Metaverse. Twenty-nine years later a trillion-dollar company takes the name.
Britannica - 1993
Sega VR announced
Sega shows a VR headset for the Genesis at CES. Technical problems and motion-sickness worries kill it before it ever ships.
Virtual Reality Society - 1995
Nintendo Virtual Boy
Nintendo's red-and-black 3D console flops within a year. The industry takes the lesson that VR is a fad, and the first wave ends.
Wikipedia - 2012
The Oculus Rift Kickstarter
Palmer Luckey asks for $250,000 to build a cheap VR headset and raises about $2.4 million. VR is back.
BBC - 2013
Google Glass Explorer
Google sells its head-worn display to the public for one day at $1,500. The backlash over cameras on faces coins the word "Glasshole".
BBC - 2014
Facebook buys Oculus
Facebook agrees to buy Oculus VR for about $2 billion in cash and stock. The XR war between Big Tech effectively starts here.
Meta Newsroom - 2014
Google Cardboard
Google hands out folded cardboard viewers that turn any phone into a VR headset. Millions try VR for the price of a pizza box.
Google Developers Blog - 2015
Microsoft unveils HoloLens
An untethered headset that pins holograms into the real room. It never goes mainstream but defines enterprise mixed reality for years.
Microsoft - 2016
Oculus Rift ships
The first consumer Rift ships at $599 and needs a gaming PC. 2016 becomes "the year of VR".
BBC - 2016
HTC Vive
HTC and Valve launch room-scale VR with tracked controllers at $799. Walking around a virtual room becomes normal.
HTC Vive - 2016
Pokémon GO
A phone game puts creatures on real streets and becomes a global craze. AR's first mass hit needs no headset at all.
The Guardian - 2016
PlayStation VR
Sony brings VR to the living room for $399 on top of a PS4, and becomes one of the best-selling headsets of the era.
PlayStation Blog - 2019
Oculus Quest
A $399 headset with no PC, no cables and no external sensors. Standalone VR becomes the default.
CNBC - 2021
Facebook becomes Meta
Zuckerberg renames the parent company after the metaverse and bets its future on it.
Meta Newsroom - 2023
Ray-Ban Meta
Meta and EssilorLuxottica launch camera-and-AI smart glasses in classic Ray-Ban frames. The first AI glasses to go mainstream.
Meta Newsroom - 2023
Meta Quest 3
Full-colour mixed reality at $499.99 makes passthrough the new baseline.
Meta for Developers - 2024
Apple Vision Pro
Apple enters at $3,499 with eye and hand control and the sharpest screens in the industry. The platform war is on.
Apple Newsroom - 2026
Meta VR Glasses
Unveiled at Connect 2026: VR in a ~100 g glasses frame with a 5K display, powered by a separate compute puck. $1,299.99, shipping spring 2027.
Meta
From Fiction to Your Face
Two centuries of XR: from stereoscopes and pulp novels to flight simulators, military cockpits and the headsets of today.
- 1838
Wheatstone's stereoscope
Charles Wheatstone shows the Royal Society that two slightly different drawings, one per eye, fuse into depth. Every headset since runs on this trick.
OfficialRoyal Society - 1901
Baum imagines AR glasses
In The Master Key, L. Frank Baum (of Oz fame) invents spectacles that stamp a letter on each person's forehead revealing their character. Augmented reality, 90 years early.
OfficialIEEE Spectrum - 1935
Pygmalion's Spectacles
Stanley G. Weinbaum's short story describes goggles that play a movie you can see, hear, smell and touch, and in which you are a character. The clearest early sketch of VR.
OfficialHistory of Information - 1938
"La réalité virtuelle"
French dramatist Antonin Artaud calls theatre "virtual reality" in The Theatre and Its Double, the earliest known use of the phrase. He meant the stage, not a machine.
ReportedTampere University - 1939
View-Master
Stereoscopic photo reels go mainstream at the New York World's Fair. Generations of kids get their first taste of 3D through a plastic viewer.
OfficialSmithsonian
By 2025, the dream had a price tag. Then the war started.
Act II · The War
The War, Event by Event
June 2027
October 2026
September 2026
July 2026
June 2026
January 2026
December 2025
October 2025
Six armies. One face. Here's where each of them stands.
Act III · The Battlefield
War Room
Who's fighting, with what, and which way it's going.
Position = share of each faction's devices that are glasses. Size = number of devices.
Armies are only as good as their weapons.
Act IV · The Evidence
The Arsenal
Every device in the fight. Pick up to three to compare.
Meta VR Glasses
$1,299.99
100 g
Spring 2027
5K micro-OLED, 37 pixels per degree, pancake lenses; Snapdragon Reality Elite, battery and storage in a tethered pocket puck; up to 3 h media playback; full-colour passthrough.
OfficialMeta Newsroom
Meta Quest 3
$599.99
Oct 2023
512 GB, 4K+ Infinite Display, full-colour mixed reality.
OfficialMeta Store
Meta Quest 3S
$349.99
Oct 2024
Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2, 1832×1920 per eye, 128 GB or 256 GB.
OfficialMeta Store
Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 3)
$449
Sep 23, 2026
12 MP camera, 3K video, up to 9 h battery, 6-microphone array, customizable action button.
OfficialMeta Newsroom
Ray-Ban Meta Audio
$349
43 g
Ships Oct 13, 2026
Meta's first camera-free glasses: open-ear audio, calls and voice AI; up to 12 h plus 48 h from the case.
OfficialMeta Newsroom
Meta Ray-Ban Display
$799 · €899
US, CA, UK now; FR, IT, DE from Oct 13, 2026
In-lens display paired with the Neural Band wristband; navigation, hologram video calls, notifications.
OfficialMeta Newsroom
Oakley Meta Vanguard
$499
Oct 21, 2025
Sport glasses: IP67, 12 MP 122° camera, 3K video, up to 9 h battery.
OfficialMeta
Apple Vision Pro (M5)
$3,499
Oct 22, 2025
M5 + R1 chips, micro-OLED up to 120 Hz, 12 cameras, up to 2.5 h battery, 256 GB–1 TB.
OfficialApple Newsroom
Samsung Galaxy XR
$1,799.99
545 g
Oct 21, 2025 (US)
Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2, 3552×3840 micro-OLED, 109° horizontal FOV, separate 302 g battery pack.
OfficialSamsung Newsroom
Samsung Android XR eyewear
Price TBA
Fall 2026, select markets
Phone-companion AI glasses with Gemini, frames by Gentle Monster and Warby Parker.
OfficialSamsung Newsroom
Valve Steam Frame
$1,059
Sep 18, 2026
2160×2160 LCD per eye, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, 16 GB RAM, eye tracking, Wi-Fi 6E adapter for PC streaming. 1 TB kit: $1,299.
OfficialVR.org
Snap Specs
$2,195
132 g
Fall 2026
Standalone see-through AR, 51° waveguide display, two Snapdragon chips, up to 4 h mixed use.
OfficialSnap Newsroom
XREAL One Pro
$599 · €649
Early 2025
57° FOV, Sony micro-OLED, X1 spatial chip, Bose audio; a big virtual screen tethered to your device.
OfficialXREAL
XREAL Project Aura
Price TBA
Fall 2026
70° optical see-through, Gemini, Google Play apps, tethered compute puck. Final price capped at $1,500.
OfficialXREAL
PlayStation VR2
$399.99 · €449.99
Feb 22, 2023
OLED 2000×2040 per eye, 90/120 Hz, eye tracking; needs a PS5 (PC adapter available).
OfficialPlayStation Bulgaria
PICO 4 Ultra
€599
Sep 20, 2024
Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2, 12 GB RAM, 2160×2160 per eye, 105° FOV, Wi-Fi 7.
OfficialPICO
Market Pulse
Research firms count differently. We show each figure with its source and never blend them.
The numbers are in. Time to call it.
Act V · The Verdict
Predictions Board
What we called, what we missed, and what's still open.
4 hits · 2 misses · 0 partial · 0 open
Hit2023
Apple will unveil its mixed-reality headset on June 5 at WWDC.
2023
Vision Pro was announced on June 5, 2023.
Hit2023
It will run an M2 chip with 16 GB of RAM.
2024
The first Vision Pro shipped with M2. Apple moved it to M5 in 2025.
Hit2023
Eye tracking will be the main way to interact.
2024
Eye tracking plus pinch became the category standard.
Miss2023
Price between $1,500 and $2,500.
2024
It launched at $3,499.
Miss2023
Two 8K displays.
2024
The micro-OLED panels are roughly 4K per eye.
Hit2023
Apple's entry will legitimise the category and pull the other giants in.
2026
Google built Android XR, Samsung shipped Galaxy XR and Valve returned to hardware.
Live from the front
Pick a side and drop your take. No account needed.
LIVE0 opinions
Team HeadsetTeam Glasses
Want the full story, one battle at a time?
Epilogue
The Meta Wars Series
BGJuly 13, 2026
⚔️ Meta Wars: войната за следващата компютърна платформа
Хъбът на поредицата Meta Wars: кой печели войната за XR — Apple, Meta, Google или Samsung? Всички епизоди на едно място.
BGJuly 13, 2026
⚔️ Meta Wars се завръща: какво предсказахме през 2023 — и какво се случи
Публична равносметка на прогнозите от 2023: 4 от 6 попадения, обратите, които никой не предсказа, и новата карта на XR войната.
BGJuly 14, 2026
🥊 Galaxy XR срещу Vision Pro: битката $1,799 срещу $3,499
Samsung атакува на половин цена с Gemini; Apple отговаря с M5 и екосистема. Пълно сравнение — и кое устройство има смисъл за бизнеса.
ENJuly 14, 2026
🥊 Galaxy XR vs Vision Pro: The $1,799 vs $3,499 Fight
Samsung attacks at half the price with Gemini; Apple answers with M5 and ecosystem depth. A full comparison — and which headset makes business sense.
DEJuly 14, 2026
🥊 Galaxy XR vs. Vision Pro: Das Duell für 1.799 $ gegen 3.499 $
Samsung greift mit Gemini zum halben Preis an; Apple kontert mit dem M5 und der Tiefe seines Ökosystems. Ein vollständiger Vergleich – und welches Headset für Unternehmen sinnvoll ist.
BGJuly 15, 2026
🕶️ Meta уби метавселената (за да спаси очилата)
Компанията, преименувана заради метавселената, я изостави като стратегия. Защо Meta заложи всичко на умните очила — и какво означава това за Quest и за бизнеса.
BGJuly 16, 2026
🏰 Войната на операционните системи: visionOS срещу Android XR срещу Horizon OS
Хардуерът се сменя на всеки две години — платформите остават завинаги. Кой печели истинската XR война и как бизнесът да не попадне в капана на заключването.
BGJuly 17, 2026
🃏 Valve Steam Frame: джокерът на XR войната
След години слухове Valve обяви Steam Frame — хедсетът, който никой от тримата гиганти не очакваше на масата. Какво знаем, какво е слух и защо PC VR има значение за бизнеса.
BGJuly 21, 2026
👓 Умни очила 2026: следващият фронт
На 22 юли Samsung отваря най-опасния за телефона фронт — умните очила. Кой къде стои преди Unpacked, разломът дисплей/без дисплей и какво значи за бизнеса.
BGJuly 23, 2026
🎯 Какво означава войната за бизнеса в България
Финалът на Meta Wars: как ценовата война, разцепените платформи и умните очила се превръщат в конкретни възможности за обучения, маркетинг и събития в България.