Tech to watch in 2025

While artificial intelligence (AI) remains a hot topic going into 2025, another major technology that has been overshadowed by the hype around large language models is virtual and mixed reality.

Companies like Meta Platforms and Google are finding ways to ensure people always have a screen in front of their eyes.

AI took centre stage in 2024, with big tech battling to develop the best ways to integrate personal assistants into everyday tech. However, a new race began towards the end of the year — mixed reality.

Although virtual and mixed reality technology is nothing new, several recent improvements have been released.

The major players in virtual reality include Oculus (now owned by Meta), Sony with its PlayStation VR, game publisher and digital storefront operator Valve with its Index headset, and the HTC Vive.

Apple released its Vision Pro mixed reality “spatial computing” device in February last year. However, it came with a hefty price tag of over R62,000 at the time.

Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and WhatsApp, had also already released a smart headset in partnership with Ray-Ban, which featured a camera, capture button, and open-ear speakers that provide AI-generated feedback based on visual input.

In September, Meta debuted its first augmented-reality glasses, Orion. These glasses are chunky and thick-framed, similar to those worn when watching 3D films.

While no release date was announced during Orion’s debut, given the increased competition in the mixed reality market, its release could be expected this year.

This increased competition refers to Samsung and Google entering the mixed reality race a few months after Orion’s unveiling when the two announced their collaborative project as “one team.”

The team-up involved Samsung announcing a mixed-reality headset — Project Moohan — and Google unveiling the operating system it will run on — Android XR.

XR is shorthand for extended reality, which refers to a range of virtual- and augmented-reality technologies.

While Project Moohan is likely to only become available in 2026, Android XR is expected to become available to third-party developers and manufacturers sometime this year.

However, the Financial Times has reported that the Facebook owner will add a display to its Ray-Ban smart glasses, which will display notifications and chatbot responses, upping the ante in the smart headset race.

On the AI front, Google applications could also be receiving an AI upgrade in the form of Project Astra, Google Deepmind’s latest artificial intelligence agent.

While Astra was initially planned for release in late 2024, Google announced that the agent would most likely only become available in 2025.

During Alphabet’s Q3 earnings call for 2024, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said the company is “building out experiences where AI can see and reason about the world around you.”

While Pichai did not provide any specifics about the planned AI agent, this suggests that it could have a camera-centric mode, which could also refer to its integration into Android XR.

This could see Android XR and Project rolled out in tandem with one another at some point throughout 2025.

OpenAI has also been working on a new AI model, GPT-5.

However, it is reported that the company is running behind schedule with results that are yet to justify the enormous costs of the project, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

So far, the model — code-named Orion — has been in the works for 18 months, but might not be as big of a leap forward as OpenAI’s previous models.

However, OpenAI has released its latest AI model — o3 — which scored human-level results on a test designed to measure “general intelligence.”

Samsung has also announced that it will integrate AI into its flagship range of TVs under the branding of Vision AI.

The hype around AI has seen companies in a flurry to find ways to integrate the technology into their latest products.

Logitech released an AI mouse last year, while Samsung announced Vision AI for its new TVs ahead of CES this week.

Vision AI will allow for real-time translation and searching the Internet for feedback about what’s being displayed, Samsung said on Sunday.

Its built-in AI processor will also boost colours and contrast and optimize audio.

The TVs unveiled that will feature Vision AI include the Neo QLED 8K QN990F and QN900F and Neo QLED 4K QN90F, QN80F, and QN70F.