The XR Weekly Recap (2025.07.14): XPANCEO Achieves Unicorn Status, Upload Presents New Showcase, and More!

Hey everyone! So, this Italian dude just made history, winning Wimbledon. How cool is that? Being Italian, I’m feeling the urge to do something historic too. Maybe I should bake a pizza in space? Anyway, for now, let’s dive into this week’s XR chaos.

News Overload – Here We Go

XPANCEO – Unicorn Status, Baby!

Alright, so XPANCEO, this Dubai crew working on smart lenses, just grabbed a whopping $250M. Now they’re worth over a billion. Unicorn time! They say launch in 2026, but come on, tech deadlines, am I right? I’m rooting for these guys, saw their lab once, prototypes were legit. Mixed lenses—hard, soft, you name it. Here’s hoping they hit that sweet commercialization spot. Niche market? Diabetics need cool gear too!

XR Game Overload – Upload VR Showcase 2025

Upload VR dropped a showcase. So many indie games! No jaw-droppers, but fun stuff. Games like Elsewhere Electric — you know, puzzles, VR, phones. And, shoutout to Reach with its epic trailer—major PS VR2 vibes. The quirky Fixer Undercover? MacGyver in a puzzle prison? Yes, please!

Samsung’s Mysterious Silence

So Samsung’s big event happened, and nada on the Moohan headset. Rumors, what do they know? Maybe they’re tweaking it extra good, or hyping us up in secret? Who even knows.

Mentions Worthy of Coffee Spit Takes

• Meta and Luxottica: Meta drops $3.5B on Luxottica. Glasses monopoly incoming?
• Canon’s Secret Headset: Canon’s plotting an affordable mixed reality headset. Color me intrigued!
• SINGRAY G2: Hands-on reveals it’s cool, but maybe not HoloLens killer cool.

More Cool Tidbits

• Viture’s Luma Series: XR glasses with micro-OLEDs! Starting $399. Fancy 3D conversion tricks too.
• Ray-Ban Meta 3: Leaks hinting AI smarts and—drumroll—possibly this year!

Quick Flashes and Whirlwinds

• Apple Vision Pro Rumors: Is an update even coming?
• CREAL’s New Cash Flow: $8.9M funneled into their lightfield wonder tech.
• Realsense Rebirth: Intel’s old baby is now its very own thing with $50M to boot.

Blast From the Community and Partners

• The craziest VR LAN party to hit Reddit, and a frantic smartglasses hackathon. What’s next, marathon VR cooking?

Wrapping Thoughts

Feeling all the love from the XR world, seriously. From LAN parties to hefty investments, the XR bubble bursts with innovation and a sprinkle of chaos. Make a splash, read more, and maybe help out some folks in Ukraine if you get the chance. Here’s to next week’s madness, folks!

Cheers!