XR Weekly Update (April 30, 2025): Meta Advances Ray-Ban Meta, Quest 3S Refurbished for $270, and More!

It’s wild how the universe just… pauses sometimes. May 1st rolls around, and it’s like the world collectively decides to take a knee—or maybe just kick back on a couch. Here’s me, though, working away while others take their holidays. I guess I’m "celebrating" Labor Day with, you know, labor. This newsletter’s fashionably late, but don’t sweat it—the quality? Oh, it’s the usual goodness, promise. Most of you are off tomorrow, so find your moments of joy with your favorite humans. Also, snag yourself a free VR game—Harpagun’s up for grabs today!

Epic News, Right Now

Meta’s Fancy Ray-Bans
Meta’s pushing hard on their Ray-Ban Meta glasses, aiming for an October release with bells and whistles. New updates are in:

• Now they’re multilingual translators—bonjour, hola, ciao! Makes sense with that Essilor-Luxottica hookup, really.
• UK and European territories are joining the fun with full-on AI features, waving goodbye to past privacy worries.
• US and Canada will soon rock out with live AI sessions (yeah, CES gave me a sneak peek).
• Instagram calls via your glasses? Check.
• Three rad variants of the Skyler design just dropped.
• Mexico, India, UAE—Meta’s opening new doors there.

The glasses’ potential is sizzling, but is it just a fad or a tech revolution? Well, time will spill the beans soon enough.

Second-Hand Quest 3S Steals
Refurbished? More like renewed gems. Meta’s doling out Quest 3S headsets for $270. Who knew? They’re sans Batman VR, but at that price, who’s even mad? Definitely a sweet entry point for XR darlings.

BigScreen’s Beyond Drama
BigScreen Beyond 2? Not on shelves till June! Design hiccup with PCBs—yikes. Instead of dumping glitchy gear on customers, BigScreen’s axing 5000 faulty boards. Bold and costly choice for a small shop, but hey, quality over hasty shipping. Kudos.

Italy’s XR Vision—Or Not

Italy’s hopping into the XR chat with a so-called plan—honestly, the "strategy" feels more like sci-fi fantasy.

• Guess what? Italy claims top dog status in AR/VR—I sure haven’t seen any headsets jogging around my block.
• Apparently, AR/VR ideas sprang up from “non-scientific literature” in 1992. Wait, what? The pioneers of the 80s might have a word or two about that.
• Luxottica’s venture with Meta? Apparently tied to Oculus? Didn’t Palmer Luckey launch Oculus at 19? Hmm. Birth year 1992 must be a glitch in the Matrix story plot.

Gripes aside, at least the government sees XR as crucial. We might, one day, meet inside Mozilla Hubs, rocking ‘retro’ headsets and waxing nostalgic about our 1992 origins. But hey, 300-character takedowns welcome—just email ’em. Rewrite, start to end, seems the need of the hour.

Random Whims and Wonders

Virtual Whispers and Wireless Musings

• Spacetop for Windows demands AR attention—it’s a subscription world, folks.
• Varjo’s Teleport 2.0 does visual wonders, good luck unclouding the teleported fog.
• Quest 3 goes live with room meshing—a magical mingling of real and virtual.

Lens to the Future: Insta360 and Beyond

• Insta360 X5 could be a filmmaker’s fancy on a budget—$550 for crisp sweet footage.

Tidbits and Teasers

Sure, there’s more, but let’s hit the highlights:

• Elder Scrolls IV gets a glow-up and VR twist.
• Ghost Town puzzles delight, meanwhile Vertigo 2 wraps its dramatic saga.
• Musical chairs in VR? Room Invaders, Eldramoor, and Final Fury crank up future beats.

Friendly Chats and XR Lulls

From podcasts to YouTube dives, the XR chat’s buzzing with creators sharing insider tales. Peek into stories of innovation and creativity lurking behind the immersive veil.

And… A Bit of Heart

Before you click away, let’s shine some light on goodness. If your wallet’s willing, extend a hand to Ukraine’s crisis with a Red Cross donation. Kindness can (and does) ripple far beyond borders.

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled chaos!