Can Meta's Marvel Overcome Apple's Innovations In The VR Showdown?

Put on your virtual reality (VR) headsets and prepare for an out-of-this-world adventure where you can do everything from hanging out with dolphins to climbing Mount Everest to fighting off extra-terrestrial invaders without leaving your couch! With VR, you possess a passport to a parallel realm, where the laws of nature can be broken and anything is possible.

Techopedia says a VR headset is "an apparatus that provides virtual reality data input for a user and is typically strapped onto the user's head over the eyes." These cutting-edge goggles are just one component of VR setups that aim to stimulate all five senses to simulate real-world environments.

In 2014, Mark Zuckerberg laid the basis for VR technology by spending $2 billion to acquire Oculus from VR headset maker Palmer Luckey. Since then, Facebook has spent over $1 billion on over a half dozen other VR-focused firms. Investment in the unrealized digital universe that can be accessed via VR and AR technology, known as the "metaverse," is a top priority for Meta.

Meta has continued its ‘VR quest’ with the release of the Quest 3 VR Headset. The Quest 3 is being released in the hopes that it would be a "game-changing technology" that boosts the company's financial standing.

“High-fidelity color Passthrough, innovative machine learning, and spatial understanding let you interact with virtual content and the physical world simultaneously, creating limitless possibilities to explore,” Meta said in a release.


In the midst of Meta's success with the early release of its virtual reality headgear, its competitor Apple was eager to strike back.

Vision Pro, Apple's first foray into virtual or augmented reality, was unveiled at the company's annual developer conference WWDC after months of speculation. Those who got their hands on the product during the demo were blown away by what Apple had accomplished. What’s more, this was just a preview of what buyers can expect early next year.

“Apple’s entry into the market is a watershed moment for the industry and a big validation of everything HTC VIVE has been working on,” Cher Wang, Taiwanese tech giant HTC’s CEO, told CNBC. “This will bring even more confidence in the global market for VR.”


Will Meta reign supreme in the VR kingdom or can Apple's VR headset swoop in to dethrone them? Which VR product would you prefer? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!