Extended Reality covers a growing range of technologies and applications, and recent data shared by ARISE provides an interesting snapshot of what is currently receiving attention across the XR landscape.
The analysis by VR.org looked at 130 original articles, alongside a snapshot of 139 stories across 36 technology sources. One of its notable findings is that 44% of stories touched on Augmented Reality (AR) or smart glasses. At the same time, 40% of VR coverage referenced Meta/Quest.
Rather than pointing to one technology dominating the conversation, the figures reveal attention across several areas of the industry.
What Is the Industry Talking About?
Gaming represented the largest share of the topics identified in the analysis, at 25%. This was followed by hardware at 19%, AR at 18%, software at 15%, XR at 12%, and enterprise applications at 10%.
Together, these figures provide a useful snapshot of the subjects appearing in current XR and AR coverage. They also show that discussions around immersive technology encompass the devices themselves, the software behind them, and applications across consumer and professional contexts.
The prominence of AR and smart glasses is particularly interesting. The finding that 44% of the analysed stories touched on these technologies indicates that a substantial part of the current conversation is looking at ways digital content can be integrated with people’s physical surroundings, alongside fully virtual experiences.
Connecting Industry Developments with ARISE
Understanding where the XR field is heading is particularly relevant to ARISE, which focuses on education in Human–Computer Interaction, Design, and Extended Reality.
As the range of XR technologies and applications develops, understanding the interaction between people and digital systems remains an important part of the field.
Human–Computer Interaction and Design provide perspectives for considering how people experience, navigate, and interact with immersive technologies, while XR brings these questions into increasingly spatial and interactive digital environments.
The data highlighted by ARISE therefore offers useful context for the areas addressed by the program. A landscape that includes AR, XR, hardware, software, gaming, and enterprise applications also illustrates the breadth of the environment in which future professionals may apply their digital skills.
Evolutionary Archetypes Consulting SL and 28DIGITAL, as partners in ARISE, continue to follow developments across the XR landscape as the project supports advanced digital education in Europe.
The VR.org analysis provides a snapshot rather than a prediction of where the industry will go next. What it does show clearly is the variety of technologies and applications currently forming part of the XR conversation in 2026.
Learn more about ARISE: https://28digital.eu/eu-collaborations/arise
Project Number: 101225600 — ARISE — DIGITAL-2024-ADVANCED-DIGITAL-07-KEYCAPACITY
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or HADEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
