TL;DR
Virtual reality has always meant strapping a brick to the face. That is starting to change. Meta's new VR Glasses put about 100 grams on the head, roughly a fifth of a Quest 3, by moving the computer and battery into a pocket module, and they go on sale in spring 2027. At the other end, leaked code suggests Valve is working on a headset with about two and a half times as many pixels per eye as Meta's. The high end of VR is splitting in two: light glasses with a narrower window, and sharper screens for PC players. Neither is cheap, neither is independently tested, and the cause of VR motion sickness is still unsolved. But the shape of the device is moving from helmet toward eyewear.
Below the line, for paid subscribers: The full story: where it stands, how we got here and what's dated next; our Odds board on 5 milestones, starting with "Meta's 100-gram VR Glasses go on sale by 2027"; our labeled speculation on what it adds up to; and every source.