The 15th Augmented World Expo (AWE) took place in Long Beach with a focus on Mixed Reality (MR) on the Oculus Quest and Apple Vision Pro, as well as a surge in mobile AR tools. Despite predictions of AI dominating the show, it had a remarkably low profile. The event featured 500 speakers, including a fireside chat with Oculus inventor Palmer Lucky and the first 101 members of the AWE Hall of Fame. On the expo floor, there were 300 exhibitors, with a strong presence from developers of Mixed Reality entertainment content.
The show kicked off with a keynote from co-founder Ori Inbar, who highlighted the industry’s growth, estimating the market for XR at $35 billion this year. The audience cheered in response, with many proclaiming “the time is now.” Inbar also shared his predictions for the XR industry in 2014, including worldwide adoption of over a billion headsets by 2023. Tuesday’s announcements focused on mobile AR and spatial computing production tools, with Niantic unveiling new features for its Niantic Studio and Scaniverse app, utilizing spatial anchors and Guasian Splatting for faster volumetric capture.
Meta’s keynote emphasized the successful applications of MR for enterprises and education, with a focus on training and simulation as VR’s killer app. The company announced the Meta Quest lifestyle app accelerator, a program to support developers in prototyping new lifestyle experiences with mixed reality and AI. Snap also made important announcements about Generative AI tools in Snap Lens Studio, allowing creators to prompt GenAI images inside Lens Studio and streamlining the asset selection process for AR experiences. Zappar demonstrated a major upgrade to their Zap.works AR game engine, now called Mattercraft, a browser-based 3D content development environment.
XReal, a popular AR eyewear maker, reported having 45% of the AR glasses market, with their Air 2 model being particularly successful. The company introduced the Beam Pro, a $200 dedicated Android device made specifically for its headset. Palmer Lucky, founder of Oculus, was a major draw at the show, drawing crowds eager for a selfie with him. Despite promising to reveal details on his next headset, Lucky had nothing new to show, using an antique Oculus DK-1 VR headset as a prop to emphasize the progress made in VR over the past decade. Legendary University of Washington Professor Tom Furness also gave a talk about his long history with VR, tracing it back to 1966.
Overall, the 15th AWE was a successful event, showcasing the latest developments in XR, AR, and MR technology. The show featured a wide range of speakers and exhibitors, with a strong focus on mobile AR and spatial computing production tools. The industry’s growth and potential were highlighted throughout the event, with many exciting announcements and demonstrations from key players like Meta, Snap, and Niantic. AWE 2024 promises to bring even more innovations in the world of augmented reality and virtual reality, building on the success of this year’s event.
