🎮 Gaming
24 March 2026
VR Games Showcase March 2026: Two Dozen New Titles Revealed
The spring edition of Meta's VR Games Showcase delivered a packed slate of announcements. Headline reveals included Payday: Aces High — a VR-exclusive four-player co-op heist title — and Compass, an open-world piloting adventure set in a fantastical aerial landscape. The showcase balanced brand-new reveals with near-term release dates across Meta Quest, PC VR, and PlayStation VR2.
Other notable announcements included Spymaster (an espionage thriller from the makers of A Fisherman's Tale), a new multiplayer dimension for Dimensional Double Shift, and Primal Rumble — a mixed reality slapstick card battler that drops the battle arena into your living room. The full showcase is available on YouTube.
For schools: Mixed reality titles like Primal Rumble hint at where classroom VR could go — experiences that blend the physical room with virtual content, removing the isolation of traditional headset use.
🌐 Industry
17 March 2026
Meta Pulls Horizon Worlds from Quest Headsets
In a significant strategic shift, Meta announced that Horizon Worlds will no longer be available on Quest headsets from 15 June 2026. The company is separating its social VR platform from its hardware strategy, moving Horizon Worlds to mobile-only. Quest headsets will instead focus purely on gaming, productivity and dedicated experiences.
From 31 March, Horizon-specific perks including Meta Credits and digital clothing will be removed from the Horizon+ subscription, though core gaming benefits remain. Meta said it continues to invest in improving the Quest experience, with recent updates adding a Surface Keyboard, customisable window positioning, and the new Navigator interface.
For schools: Schools using Horizon Worlds for collaborative virtual lessons should note the June deadline. The focus shift to mobile Horizon Worlds may actually open new possibilities for device-agnostic classroom collaboration.
🤖 AI & XR
27 March 2026
Google Launches "Vibe Coding XR" — Build VR Apps in Under a Minute
Google has unveiled Vibe Coding XR, an experimental workflow that uses its Gemini AI and the XR Blocks framework to generate working VR and AR prototypes from natural language prompts — in under 60 seconds. The system uses pre-built modular components for physics, hand interactions and spatial UI, which Gemini assembles based on your description rather than explicit code.
Demonstrated examples include a physics lab where students balance scales, a 3D Dino game, and a Schrödinger's Cat mixed reality simulation. Currently optimised for Android XR and the Samsung Galaxy XR headset, Google will showcase it at ACM CHI 2026 in April. The tool is positioned as a high-speed prototyping aid for educators and developers rather than a replacement for professional XR development.
For schools: This is potentially transformative for teachers who want to create bespoke VR content — describing a lesson scenario in plain English and getting a working interactive environment could dramatically lower the barrier to custom educational XR.
🏫 Education
25 March 2026
Atlanta Public Schools Celebrate a Decade of AR/VR in STEM Education
zSpace has highlighted the long-running success of its AR/VR platform across Atlanta Public Schools (APS), where the technology has been in use since 2015. Across nearly a decade, APS has integrated immersive learning experiences through elementary, middle and high school, earning national recognition including the 2023 ISTE District of Distinction award. Students use the platform to explore human anatomy in 3D, conduct virtual science experiments, and practice career skills in simulated environments.
Dr Natasha Rachell, Director of Instructional Technology for APS, said: "Immersive learning allows our students to experience science and career pathways in ways that traditional classrooms simply can't. Students aren't just learning about concepts — they're exploring them, interacting with them, and beginning to see themselves in the careers of the future."
For schools: APS's decade-long track record is a compelling case study for schools considering long-term AR/VR investment. Their cross-phase approach — from primary through to sixth form equivalents — shows how a consistent immersive learning strategy compounds over time.
🏫 Education
18 March 2026
Mayfair High School Opens 36-Station AR/VR Lab for Career Education
Bellflower Unified School District in California has opened a new 36-station zSpace AR/VR lab at Mayfair High School, specifically designed to transform career education. Using headset-free zSpace Inspire laptops — which combine a 3D screen with sensor-tracked eyewear — students explore the human heart in 3D holograms, practice nursing procedures, and engage with engineering simulations without the discomfort associated with traditional VR headsets.
The lab's site technician is being credited as a key driver of its success, collaborating with teachers to design lesson plans and explore new integrations with AI tools. He will present the model at the CUE Conference in Palm Springs. Experts caution that high costs, teacher training and equity of access remain significant challenges to wider adoption.
For schools: The headset-free approach is worth noting — zSpace's laptop-based format avoids many of the hygiene, storage and comfort issues that make traditional VR headsets difficult to manage in classrooms, particularly at primary level.
🏫 Education
25 March 2026
EdTech Magazine: How Schools Can Successfully Implement AR and VR
A timely guide from EdTech Magazine draws on interviews with educators and technology leaders to set out what works — and what doesn't — when introducing AR and VR into K-12 schools. Key advice: start with strategy, not the technology. Schools that succeed build cross-functional teams of teachers across subjects, rather than siloing XR in one department. Educators are encouraged not to feel they must master the technology before introducing it to students.
One teacher reported that in five and a half years of VR use, she could "count on one hand the number of kids who opted out." The guide also notes it's fine to start small — eight headsets is enough to begin a meaningful pilot — and recommends coupling VR sessions with existing lesson structures rather than treating them as standalone activities.
For schools: Required reading if you're planning a VR rollout. The emphasis on teacher confidence, cross-department collaboration and starting small mirrors what we see working in schools using the apps reviewed here on XR School.
📱 Industry
January 2026, ongoing
Android XR: Google's Platform Play That Could Reshape the Whole Market
2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for Android XR — Google's open, AI-native platform for spatial computing. At least five Android XR devices are expected to launch this year, including flat-AR display glasses from Samsung and Xreal, and AI glasses from Warby Parker. Samsung's Galaxy XR headset is projected to sell over 100,000 units in 2026, the most significant challenger to Meta's Quest dominance in some time.
Crucially, Android XR launches with Google's Gemini AI built in from day one — meaning devices understand context, provide real-time navigation arrows, translate language in real time, and identify objects on the fly. Analysts describe 2026 as the year Android XR does for spatial computing what Android did for smartphones two decades ago, addressing the fragmented ecosystem that has slowed XR adoption.
For schools: An open Android XR ecosystem means more devices at more price points, more app choice, and familiar Android management tools for IT departments. If the platform delivers, it could make XR deployment in schools significantly more practical by 2027.
🥽 Meta Quest
23 March 2026
Meta Quest System Update v2.3: Light/Dark Themes and Smoother Performance
The latest Meta Quest system update rolling out this week introduces the ability to switch between light and dark system themes without restarting the headset. It also brings improvements to the ongoing activities bar, hidden virtual hands when not needed, and continued rollout of Navigator — Meta's modernised interface — to more users.
An earlier update (v85, January 2026) introduced System Positional TimeWarp, which uses real-time scene depth to reduce visual judder when apps drop frames — making movement smoother and more comfortable particularly in social and gaming apps. These ongoing software improvements continue to make Quest headsets more stable and easier to use without requiring hardware upgrades.
ℹ️ Sources: Meta Blog, Bloomberg, Android Headlines, GlobeNewswire, EdTech Magazine, UploadVR, Next Reality, Meta Community Forums. Stories summarised in our own words — click links to read originals.
