<\/p>\n
Will\u00a0<\/span>Apple\u2019s<\/span><\/a>\u00a0planned mixed-reality headset lead to a virtual reality (VR) funding renaissance?<\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s the hope of startups in the VR space, according to a Sunday (June 4) <\/span>report<\/span><\/a> by the Financial Times (FT), looking at the anticipation for Apple\u2019s new headset, rumored to be unveiled at the company\u2019s Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday (June 5).<\/span><\/p>\n The headset, as the FT notes, will likely sell for about $3,000 and combine augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality.<\/span><\/p>\n Tipatat Chennavasin, co-founder of the\u00a0<\/span>Venture Reality Fund<\/span><\/a>, told the news outlet he expected the Apple headset to feature a new App Store \u2014 \u201cthe next ecosystem where millions of developers are making millions of dollars selling to billions of people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Chennavasin added that startups had for years been showing potential backers \u201chockey-stick\u201d charts to forecast rapid revenue growth once Apple enters the VR space.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been seeing people promise the Apple device in their pitch decks for like six years,\u201d said Chennavasin, whose fund has invested in 50 VR companies in the industry since 2016.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n With the promised headset launch possibly coming this week, sentiment has reached a \u201cfever pitch,\u201d Chennavasin added.<\/span><\/p>\n The report notes that hype around AR\/VR technology has been overshadowed in recent months by the rise of artificial intelligence tools such as OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT. But there was a time when the excitement over virtual worlds was so pronounced that Facebook changed its name to Meta in 2021 as it began <\/span>investing heavily in its metaverse<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n And as noted here recently, years of hype and billions in research and development have done little to convince people to see augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) goggles as a\u00a0<\/span>viable consumer product<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s core to the broader discussion about how consumers will (or won\u2019t) want to experience the metaverse. As PYMNTS\u2019 Karen Webster wrote:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMost people \u2014 as in mostly all of them \u2014 don\u2019t want to\u00a0<\/span>give up the physical world<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to live mainly via avatars in a virtual one. Even though most \u2014 as in mostly all of them \u2014 very much want to use technology to improve their interactions with people and businesses in the physical world where they live right now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n However, people in the VR\/AR space are hoping whatever Apple has planned will change people\u2019s perceptions.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMetaverse isn\u2019t really a term anyone wants to use anymore to get funding,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>Tuong Nguyen<\/span><\/a>, an analyst at Gartner, told the FT. \u201cBut there\u2019s this idea that Apple can raise the tide for all boats.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n