The VR Monopoly

Meta’s VR Monopoly: Mark's Doing It Again🤦

Virtual Reality (VR) is in a weird place right now. On one hand, we have Meta—throwing billions into the industry, making VR headsets more accessible, and pushing the tech forward. On the other hand, it feels like they’re choking the competition and, ironically, stifling innovation. As someone passionate about VR (and a computer science graduate who overthinks tech trends for fun), I have some thoughts. Buckle up—this is going to be a ride.

Making It Mainstream

Let’s give credit where it’s due—Meta made VR affordable. The Meta Quest 2 was a game-changer, bringing untethered VR to the masses at a price that didn’t require selling a kidney. Without Meta’s aggressive push, we might still be stuck in an era where VR was a niche hobby for enthusiasts with deep pockets.

But here’s the catch: monopolies kill competition. With Meta dominating the standalone VR space, there’s little incentive for other companies to innovate. Sure, we get hardware updates, but the overall ecosystem? It’s stagnating. Imagine if Meta had an actual competitor pushing them to do better—maybe we’d already have OLED microdisplays, better hand tracking, or a metaverse that didn’t look like a PS2 game.

The Meta Quest Pro: A Confusing Identity Crisis

Meta’s attempt to break into the "business productivity" space with the Quest Pro was... well, let’s just say ambitious. Selling a $1,500 headset to business professionals who barely understand VR was a bold move. But the real problem? The software wasn’t ready for it.

• No serious productivity apps.
• Eye and face tracking that felt underutilized.
• A battery life that made you question your life choices.

Meta ignored the fact that its core audience is gamers and media consumers. Instead of making an incredible high-end gaming VR headset, they aimed for business users who still prefer Zoom meetings over strapping a headset to their face. The result? A device that failed to find a home.

The Apple Gamble

Now, here’s where things get interesting. Apple’s Vision Pro is coming, and it looks impressive. But here’s the problem—Apple has a habit of aiming for the "end goal" without acknowledging how to get there.

• If they don’t support open-source development, they could alienate VR’s current enthusiast base.
• If they focus too much on mixed reality for business instead of gaming and media, they’ll repeat Meta’s Quest Pro mistake.
• If they price out too many consumers (which they already did at $3,500), VR adoption could stall instead of accelerating.

Apple needs to recognize that VR is still in its experimental phase. The most successful VR products so far have been gaming-focused, and Apple ignoring that in favor of a "spatial computing" buzzword could backfire hard.

Meta’s AI Move (and What It Cost VR)

Here’s a weird twist—Meta actually made a smart move recently: open-sourcing their LLaMA AI models. Unlike their usual walled-garden approach, this allowed developers worldwide to experiment and innovate with Meta’s AI tech. It was a bold and surprisingly not monopolistic move.

But while Meta was busy impressing AI researchers, their VR division felt... abandoned. Quest software updates slowed down. VR innovation took a backseat. It’s as if Meta got distracted by the next big thing and left VR to fend for itself.

This raises a question: Does Meta really believe in VR, or was it just a stepping stone for their AI ambitions?

What VR Truly Needs

VR has massive potential, but to reach its full capability, we need a few things:

• More competition – Meta needs real rivals in the standalone VR space.
• Better software – A powerful headset is useless without compelling applications.
• Open-source innovation – If companies like Apple and Meta work with developers instead of locking them out, VR will grow faster.
• A clear direction – No more half-baked attempts at making VR a business tool when it clearly thrives in gaming and media.

A Future Worth Fighting For

I love VR. I want to see it succeed, evolve, and blow our minds. But Meta’s monopoly is suffocating innovation, Apple is at risk of making the same mistakes, and competition is desperately needed. If the industry doesn’t learn from these missteps, we’ll be stuck in a loop of overpriced headsets with no groundbreaking changes.

VR deserves better. We deserve better.

Let’s hope the industry wakes up before we’re all just stuck in another metaverse meeting that could’ve been an email.