FruitXR: A Vision for the Next Generation of Digital Content Creation

XR is advancing quickly, with lighter headsets, sharper displays and AI-powered interfaces pushing the technology closer to mass adoption. But hardware alone isn’t enough. The real barrier is content creation. Just as Instagram, YouTube and Canva unlocked creativity in their own fields, XR now needs its equivalent breakthrough. This post looks at how XR and AI have developed, why content creation remains the sticking point, and how FruitXR is working towards a solution.

The Development of XR

XR (Extended Reality), which includes Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR), has gone through many cycles of promise and reinvention. Its roots stretch back to stereoscopes in the 19th century and early head-mounted displays in the 1960s, but it was Morton Heilig’s bulky Sensorama machine that first brought the idea of a fully multi-sensory immersive experience to life. The field re-emerged in the 1980s and 90s with pioneers such as Jaron Lanier and short-lived consumer attempts like Nintendo’s Virtual Boy. Along the way, XR has seen moments of real progress as well as major setbacks.

Abstracted image of Morton Heilig's Sensorama 'device' from the 1960s

The 2010s marked a decisive turning point. Oculus Rift’s 2012 Kickstarter reignited modern VR, while Microsoft’s HoloLens and Magic Leap highlighted the potential of MR and AR.

Early XR projects were usually bespoke, built with custom software and limited tools. That made development expensive, slow, and hard to scale. As the field matured, game engines such as Unity and Unreal Engine became the backbone of immersive content, offering real-time 3D graphics, physics, and cross-platform publishing. Open-source challengers like Godot pushed accessibility further thanks to their free and non-commercial licensing.

These engines powered not only VR games but also training simulations, virtual classrooms, and enterprise applications. Even so, content creation has remained as big a barrier as the hardware itself. Traditional software tools demand advanced coding skills, which restricts who can create and slows adoption. Attempts to plug the gap with off-the-shelf experiences often proved too rigid, while fully bespoke builds remain too costly for most organisations and use cases, preventing wider uptake.

Meta’s relaunch of the “Metaverse” in 2021 tried to spark mainstream adoption, but it quickly lost momentum as often short-lived content failed to capture lasting value or attract the masses. Without solving the underlying challenge of accessible content creation, momentum faded.

Today, however, XR is moving beyond the hype cycle. Lighter standalone headsets, sharper displays, and advanced spatial computing are delivering smoother and more natural experiences. High-end devices such as Apple’s Vision Pro (2023) are positioning XR as a productivity tool, with value-driven use cases and measurable ROI beginning to emerge in industries where better technology provides a clear competitive edge.

The fast developing landscape of XR devices

AI + XR

Alongside the growth of XR, AI made its own breakthrough in the early 2020s. Machine learning and generative models, most notably OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022, have rapidly reshaped how software is built and used.

AI tools such as Cursor, Copilot and Windsurf are changing how software developers work, while agent-based platforms now allow almost anyone to build working prototypes without deep technical skills through “vibe coding.”

For XR, AI is opening up exciting new possibilities too. It enables more natural interfaces through voice, gesture, and eye tracking. It powers lifelike avatars, adaptive environments, personalised learning, intelligent assistants, and simulations. Most importantly, AI has the potential to dramatically lower the cost and complexity of creating XR content - just as it is reshaping software engineering - bringing content creation within reach of far more people and organisations.

Companies like Meta, Snap, Apple, Google and Samsung are racing to deliver the next generation of XR devices, including some that look as simple as regular glasses. These devices could move our primary electronic tools from our pockets to our faces, changing how we learn, work and play. But this shift will only succeed if supported by accessible content creation tools. In response, Snap has built its own platform, Lens Studio (though it still requires scripting), and others are likely to follow.

With the growing adoption of lighter, more natural hardware such as glasses, the combination of AI and XR creates the chance to produce and share engaging, interactive and immersive experiences at scale.

FruitXR - A vision for the next generation of digital content creation

In 2010, Instagram developed the idea that everyone could be a content creator, tearing up the old rulebook for photographic publishing. What began as casual photo sharing evolved into the phenomenon of the modern-day influencer, commanding attention and transforming how we learn, discover and shop.

Other platforms played similar roles in their own fields: YouTube for video, SoundCloud for music, Medium and Substack for writing. The same DIY spirit continued with design-focused tools like Canva, which saw massive adoption by making digital design simple and accessible. This penetrated industries once dominated by large incumbents and brought 2D online design tools to new audiences. Figma’s successful 2025 IPO has since set a benchmark for the value of collaborative, creator-focused tools.

FruitXR: AI-powered apple falling from a tree

At FruitXR, we believe XR now sits at a similar inflection point. Hardware continues to advance, while AI leaders point to 2027 as a milestone for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). What is still missing is a truly frictionless 3D content creation tool that uses AI to overcome long-standing barriers and make XR meaningful, accessible and valuable.

We see this as one of the next major opportunity areas in consumer technology.

In the coming years, XR will push further toward mainstream adoption. As with mobile, the space is already fragmented, with Apple, Meta and Android ecosystems competing to define the dominant XR operating systems, SDKs and the content development methods that go with them.

FruitXR is being built to meet this challenge. Our aim is to enable XR creation at scale, deployable across platforms, and accessible to anyone who wants to build content for the next generation of digital consumption.

We imagine a future where teachers, workers, businesses, parents and children use XR as a default medium. It will not only support familiar content formats but also unlock new ways of representing and visualising data across learning, work and play.

FruitXR is here to redefine how XR content gets made, transforming what was once a barrier into the catalyst for the next generation of digital experiences.

Interested in joining the team?

We’re hiring! If working at the intersection of AI, 3D and XR sounds like the kind of challenge you’d enjoy, get in touch at hello@fruitxr.com

Come help us make XR creation as reusable and modular as the modern web.