This week’s roundup highlights significant developments in the augmented reality smart glasses landscape. Amazon’s Alexa Fund has invested heavily in IXI, a secretive AR startup, signalling its continued interest in this technology, particularly for applications like delivery services.
Simultaneously, Vuzix is bolstering its innovation capabilities with a new Silicon Valley facility, while Sightful shifts its Spacetop AR productivity solution towards the burgeoning AI PC market.
Amazon Continues AR Smart Glasses Journey
This week, Amazon announced that, through its Alexa Fund, it has provided a total of $36.5 million to IXI, a Helsinki-based developer of AR smart glasses, in collaboration with other investors. This funding comes after Amazon’s internal experimental deployment of AR smart glasses for delivery drivers.
This investment allows IXI to create its first device following a period of operational secrecy. Plural led the Series A funding round, with additional contributions from Tesi, byFounders, Heartcore, Eurazeo, FOV Ventures, Tiny Supercomputer, and previous investors such as Maki. VC, First Fellow, Firstminute Capital, John Lindfors, Illusian, and the Bragiel Brothers.
Sten Tamkivi, a Partner at Plural, added:
Niko, Ville and the team’s rare European hardware expertise puts them at the forefront of advanced optics and eye-tracking developments. They’re creating beautiful, literally invisible technology that pioneers a new approach to vision which will finally improve human eyesight once and for all. By backing IXI, we’re not just investing in a company, but in a future where technology revolutionises how we see the world.
The timing comes as Amazon explores AR smart glasses to help its delivery drivers, and while Niko Eiden, CEO, noted how the smart glasses market is “a really hard space to be in because there is no market, and the volumes are not there,” having a giant-backer like Amazon proactvily experimenting with the technology may provide fuel for the firm to grow-just as smart glasses boom.
Last year, Amazon announced plans to deploy custom smart glasses for delivery drivers. These glasses will use augmented reality visualisations to assist drivers with their routes, especially for on-foot navigation to customer delivery points.
Vuzix Supercharges Smart Glass Innovation with Silicon Valley Hub
Vuzix Corporation recently acquired a waveguide research and development facility in Milpitas, California. This acquisition allows Vuzix to enhance waveguide tools essential for its next-generation workplace AI-driven smart glasses and those of its ODM and OEM partners.
Paul Travers, President and CEO of Vuzix, added:
Vuzix continues to drive innovation in waveguide optics and display technology, enabling the development of next-generation AI-powered smart glasses. This facility strengthens our ability to support our partners with the highest-quality waveguide solutions, ensuring they have the technology needed to bring advanced, fashion-forward smart glasses to market. AI and AR are converging rapidly, and Vuzix is positioned to lead the way in this evolution.
Vuzix emphasises that this move centralises its innovation in Silicon Valley and involves acquiring advanced equipment, reinforcing its position as a key player in the smart glasses market.
Spacetop’s AR Productivity Promise Unleashed on the AI PC Wave
Sightful has announced an update regarding its innovative productivity AR laptop, Spacetop. The company has shifted to a software-only Windows model, aligning with AI PCS’s growth.
Initially focused on developing proprietary AR hardware, Sightful has now expanded its efforts to support the emerging AI PC market. Spacetop for Windows features augmented reality capabilities, including a virtual canvas that exceeds 100 inches.
Tamir Berliner, CEO and co-founder of Sightful, added:
Spacetop is exactly why AI PCs were designed – it unlocks the true power of the architecture. For four years while we developed Spacetop, the number one request from users and businesses was ‘When is it coming to Windows?’ Today is that day. The rise of AI laptops not only accelerated our mission to use software to reach scale but unlocked huge new possibilities for what an AR workspace can do when combined with the power of AI.
Starting April 24th, 2025, the Spacetop Bundle, which includes XREAL Air Ultra 2 AR glasses and a 12-month Spacetop subscription, will be available for order for $899.
Accenture Leads the Enterprise Metaverse Charge as Meta Revamps Horizon
Accenture, a pioneer in adopting extended reality technologies, has spent the last few years exploring how augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality can positively impact business operations. Recently, the company highlighted a successful collaboration with Meta to create a Metaverse service designed for enterprise use.
Accenture began its Metaverse journey in 2019 by launching its multi-user virtual campus, the Nth Floor. This initiative aims to enhance training engagement, improve knowledge retention, and streamline the employee onboarding process.
Throughout the development of the Nth Floor, Accenture fostered an internal network of over 1,300 XR enthusiasts who were eager to adopt Meta’s portfolio of Quest devices and Horizon applications. These internal champions offered peer-to-peer technical support and created a social networking and knowledge-sharing community.
The company’s immersive pilot, One Accenture Park, built within the Nth Floor framework, has received widespread acclaim, earning the Brandon Hall Gold Award for Technology Excellence for two consecutive years. The pilot has achieved impressive milestones, including 50,000 active users across six countries, a rating of 4.7 out of 5 for its onboarding experience, and a 33% increase in learning retention compared to traditional video-based training methods.
