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Funding and advertised pay are reported in USD; filed accounts retain their stated source currency and basis.

Exchange-rate basis

Indicative conversions use ECB reference rates dated 2026-09-14, applied consistently across all periods. They are not historical exchange rates. Indian rupees may use crore (1 crore = 10 million); other currencies use K, M and B. CSV downloads, source documents and quoted news headlines retain their original currencies.

THE SAN FRANCISCO EDITION 2026

San Francisco’s
ar, vr and spatial computing industry,
in focus.

The companies, capital and talent shaping ar, vr and spatial computing in San Francisco. Find the leaders. Understand the segments. See where the activity is.

Explore in Radar Read the key signals
Snapshot: Funding in USD
Illustrated cover for AR, VR and Spatial Computing Industry Landscape of San Francisco
US
COMPANIES · CAPITAL · TALENT

An industry ecosystem,
measured in context.

AR, VR and Spatial Computing illustration
Companies tracked 360AR, VR and Spatial Computing ecosystem in San Francisco Disclosed funding $9.13B141 companies · all recorded rounds Companies hiring 24With open roles at the snapshot Tracked open roles 510 employers posted in the preceding 30 days
MEET THE COMPANIES

Explore San Francisco’s ar, vr and spatial computing leaders

24 featured companies from the funding, hiring, revenue and team-size leaderboards.

Expand panel +
Explore the full landscape
AR, VR and Spatial Computing company highlights in San Francisco, snapshot 3 September 2026
Company
Unityunity.com$3.08B—7,703Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
World Labsworldlabs.ai$1.23B3 roles——
Forteforte.io$910M—3—
Nianticnianticlabs.com$772.84M—733Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
Mapboxmapbox.com$507.18M3 roles618—
OpenSpaceopenspace.ai$199.45M—117—
Ceptoncepton.com$150M—103—
Hoverhover.to$147.5M—280—
Ousterouster.com—8 roles217$169.38MFYFY2025 filing
Advexadvex.ai—5 roles——
Flamflamapp.ai—4 roles47Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
Human Archivehumanarchive.ai—3 roles——
Squintsquint.ai—3 roles10—
Digital eclipsedigitaleclipse.com—2 roles12—
Autodeskautodesk.com——13,700—
David AIwithdavid.ai————
DiffuseDrivediffusedrive.com————
Fabulatwitter.com——7,500Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
Linden Lablindenlab.com——213—
Recraftrecraft.ai————
Second Lifesecondlife.com——141—
Sightcallsightcall.com——100—
SyncSketchsyncsketch.com——23—
VRChatvrchat.com——34—
24 featured companies

Locked revenue figures are available in Radar; the eight company financial previews stay the same throughout this page. A dash means the figure is outside these featured lists. Revenue years vary by company; the figures are not a like-for-like revenue comparison. Compare annual accounts ↗

Company discovery

Recorded evidence only
THE KEY SIGNALS

AR, VR and Spatial Computing industry KPIs in San Francisco

A few useful ratios bring the size of this ecosystem into perspective.

3 September 2026
Hiring participation6.7%

24 of 360 tracked companies have open roles.

Funding participation45.0%

162 of 360 tracked companies have a recorded round.

Top 3 funding share57.2%

Share of disclosed capital received by the three largest recorded recipients.

Median disclosed round$3.7M

Midpoint of 239 rounds with a disclosed amount.

Scale is concentrated. Opportunity is broader. The three largest funding recipients hold 57.2% of disclosed capital, while 55.0% of tracked companies have no recorded funding round.

Explore the segments →
CAPITAL & COMPANY FORMATION

How San Francisco ar, vr and spatial computing has grown

Recorded company formation and disclosed funding across the complete annual series shown.

Expand panel +
2016 — 2025

Disclosed funding by year

Sum of recorded funding rounds · USD

San Francisco ar, vr and spatial computing
$0$843.98M$1.69B$2.53B$3.38B2016: $307.34M20162017: $863.45M20172018: $357.81M20182019: $615.55M20192020: $315.15M20202021: $2.96B20212022: $650.99M20222023: $366.79M20232024: $413.56M20242025: $896.23M2025
View the numbers
Annual ar, vr and spatial computing funding and company formation in San Francisco
YearFunding (USD)FoundedRaising
2016$307.34M4720
2017$863.45M2629
2018$357.81M2222
2019$615.55M2320
2020$315.15M1420
2021$2.96B2320
2022$650.99M2321
2023$366.79M1812
2024$413.56M2220
2025$896.23M1416
WHERE CAPITAL SITS

Funding concentration

Share of all disclosed company funding.

  • Unity33.8%
  • World Labs13.5%
  • Forte10.0%
  • Other companies42.8%

Funding by stage

302 recorded rounds since 2016

NUMBER OF ROUNDS
Seed & Angel149 49.3%
Series A–B91 30.1%
Series C+ / PE29 9.6%
Grants, debt & other33 10.9%

Recent recorded rounds

Latest recorded rounds · USD
2 rounds

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Seed05/2026
Altara $7M

Backed by Greylock Partners and Neo and others.

Largest and notable recorded rounds

Each card is one recorded round
10 cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Series A05/2021
Forteforte.io$185M

Backed by Griffin Gaming Partners and Union Grove Venture Partners and others.

Series C07/2016
Unityunity.com$181M

Backed by China Investment Corporation and Frees Fund and others.

THE BUSINESS BEHIND THE ACTIVITY

Revenue, profitability & financial strength

Annual accounts for reporting companies linked to this landscape, on like-for-like currency and reporting bases.

Expand panel +
USD · millions · consolidated

Display conversions use the dated reference rates above. Where a verified rate is unavailable, figures retain their source currency. Each reporting cohort keeps its currency and accounting basis separate.

FY2025 · company accounts; aggregate reporting threshold not met · 1 reporting entities from 1 eligible matches.

Revenue in covered accounts—

Sum of reporting-entity revenue; not San Francisco market sales.

Net profit / loss—

Combined result for the same cohort.

Aggregate net margin—

Combined net income ÷ combined revenue.

Median company revenue—

The middle covered reporting entity.

Profitable entities—

None of 1 covered entities.

Top-five concentration—

Share of covered revenue from the five largest entities.

Annual account trend

Reported cohort totals by year; coverage is stated for every period.

Bar height shows revenue. Changes in coverage can affect totals.

Profitability has two perspectives

FY2025 · 1 reporting entities

Open the company accounts

Up to eight fixed company previews show financial amounts. Search and sort the wider company list, then continue in Radar.

1 reporting entities
Continue your financial research in Radar

Explore full company accounts and filings.

View financials in Radar ↗
SAN FRANCISCO · INDUSTRY COHORTS

How does ar, vr and spatial computing compare?

Each pair uses the same year, currency and reporting basis. Cohort overlap is disclosed.

IndustryCovered / eligibleRevenue totalMedian revenueNet profit / lossAggregate marginProfitable shareOverlap

Available-account cohorts are not estimates of whole industries. Overlapping entities can occur in more than one cohort; do not add cohort totals.

Coverage, calculations & financial sources

Filed annual accounts for exact designated national identifiers. Every aggregate and peer pair uses one fiscal year, source currency and reporting basis; periods, coverage and overlap are explicit; 2026 partials are excluded.

The same up to eight reporting entities remain open across years, filters and sorts. Other company figures are available in Radar.

Source currencies and accounting bases stay separate. Missing accounts are excluded rather than treated as zero. Exact reporting periods appear on company previews. Annual totals can change with coverage and do not measure growth of a fixed company cohort.

DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

Web traffic, app reach and release cadence

How the San Francisco companies on this page show up online: the sites people visit, the apps they install, and how often those apps ship.

Busiest websites

10 of the 360 companies on this page carry a measured traffic record (2.8%); these are the largest of those, by monthly visits. The median among them is 2,497,230 visits.

CompanyMonthly visitsAuthorityMobile
VRChatvrchat.com20,067,8446745.6%
Unityunity.com13,901,3427140.1%
Second Lifesecondlife.com6,741,4605934.5%
Websimwebsim.com2,718,3624467.3%
Recraftrecraft.ai2,715,9105025.3%
Mapboxmapbox.com2,278,5505550%
Mixamomixamo.com1,675,8344716.8%
Momento360momento360.com325,8274171.5%
Hoverhover.to201,3223420.2%
Omiomi.me182,8903342.6%

Visits and authority are third-party web estimates, not company-reported figures.

Most-installed apps

28 of these companies (7.8%) publish at least one Android app — 50 apps in all, carrying 596.3M installs between them.

AppInstallsRatingStore category
Pokémon GONiantic555.9M3.8Adventure
IngressIngress21.7M4.1Adventure
Father.IO AR Laser TagFather4M2.8Action
Polycam: 3D Scanner & EditorPolycam3.8M3.5Photography
Niantic CampfireNiantic3M3.3Social
VRChatVRChat2M4.2Casual
Second LifeSecond Life1.4M2.1Entertainment
Recraft: AI Images and VideosRecraft1.3M3.5Art & Design
Hover: Measure Design EstimateHover1.1M2.6Productivity
Visual SupportSightcall853.5K3.9Business

Installs are lifetime totals to date at the June 2026 store reading — a measure of reach, not of people using an app today.

App reach by segment

The busiest app inside each of this page’s own segments, with the quarterly release trend behind it (2023Q2–2025Q4).

SegmentAppsInstallsLeading appRelease trend
Mobile Gaming6584.9MPokémon GO 555.9M
Augmented Reality26560.2MNiantic Campfire 3M
3D Animation75.5MPolycam: 3D Scanner & Editor 3.8M
3D Scanning35.3MHover: Measure Design Estimate 1.1M
Metaverse53.5MVRChat 2M
Virtual Reality43.4MSecond Life 1.4M
Artificial Intelligence21.5MRecraft: AI Images and Videos 1.3M
Geographic Information Systems31.3MMapbox Studio Preview 232.1K

A company can carry several segment tags, so these rows overlap and should not be added together. Trend lines are zero-based and share one quarter grid, so a flat line is a quiet segment, not a missing one.

Release cadence by quarter

New apps published, beside apps whose most recent update landed in that quarter — the second bar is how much of the shelf is still being maintained.

2022Q4: 12022Q4: 12022Q42023Q2: 22023Q2: 02023Q22024Q1: 22024Q1: 02024Q12024Q2: 22024Q2: 12024Q22024Q3: 32024Q3: 42024Q32025Q1: 12025Q1: 12025Q12025Q2: 12025Q2: 12025Q22025Q4: 32025Q4: 152025Q42026Q1: 12026Q1: 62026Q1

Darker bars are new releases, lighter bars apps updated. 44 of 50 apps carry a release date. The series ends at 2026Q1, the last quarter that closed before the June 2026 reading.

INSIDE THE INDUSTRY

The San Francisco ar, vr and spatial computing market map

Explore the segments behind the headline numbers.

Expand panel +

Where companies are building

Rank segments by scale, hiring or disclosed funding.

Enterprise tech262
Deep tech224
Consumer digital174
Enterprise software128
Saas83
Gaming71
Artificial intelligence34
Gaming engines31
Industry 4.026
Loneliness economy25
Virtual social networks20
Healthtech17

Companies can sit in several segments. Counts and funding overlap.

SEGMENT TO EXPLORE

Enterprise tech

The largest measured segment in this report snapshot.

262companies
7.6%have hiring activity

20 companies hiring · $8.05B disclosed funding

Explore in Radar

How companies make money

Common revenue models; a company can use more than one.

Subscription308
Commission on transaction34
Advertising30
Fee-for-service29
E-commerce - service24
E-commerce - product19
Physical commerce9
Freemium2
THE COMPANIES IN MOTION

Who is listing, hiring leaders, launching and winning work

Recorded corporate activity linked to companies in this landscape.

Expand panel +
Recent corporate headlines 10 dated reports
Mergers & acquisitionsnianticlabs.com ↗

Savvy purchased Pokémon Go maker Niantic in 2025 for $3.5 billion.

Mergers & acquisitionsouster.com ↗

Lidar-maker Ouster has acquired StereoLabs, a company that makes vision-based perception systems for robotics and industrial applications, for a combination of $35 million and 1.8 million shares.

Mergers & acquisitionstwitter.com ↗

Last year, he merged X, the social-media company formerly known as Twitter, and xAI into one company valued at an estimated $113 billion.

Mergers & acquisitionsopenspace.ai ↗

OpenSpace has acquired Disperse, the company behind the construction progress tracking technology that powers OpenSpace Progress Tracking, launched in June 2025 to help construction teams identify productivity issues earlier in projects.

Funding roundswithdavid.ai ↗

David AI, a data startup focused on audio AI, has raised $50 million in a Series B round led by Meritech Capital

Funding roundssquint.ai ↗

San Jose-based Squint has raised $19 million from investors that include Sequoia and Menlo Ventures.

Funding roundsrosebud.ai ↗

Rosebud raised $6 million in seed funding for its platform that is dedicated to transforming journaling into an AI-enhanced personal mentor.

Funding roundsflamapp.ai ↗

Flam has raised $14 million in Series A funding to scale its AI Infra technology. The latest investment round was led by RTP Global, with participation from Dovetail and other existing investors, taking Flam’s total funding to $22 million.

Funding roundsrecraft.ai ↗

Recraft, the startup behind a mysterious image model that beat OpenAI’s DALL-E and Midjourney on a respected industry benchmark last year, has raised a $30 million Series B round led by Accel, it exclusively told TechCrunch.

Full recorded event mix

Top 10 categories among 331 recorded events in the 24-month window.

Lawsuit
69
Regulatory
64
Leadership moves
57
Mergers & acquisitions
34
Funding rounds
32
Earnings
32
New products
20
Layoffs
6
Contracts
6
Asset acquisitions
5
4 activity cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Leadership moves

7 tracked people moves

Ouster ↗
Cyrille Jacquemet

Appointment Chief Revenue Officer

Ouster ↗
Darien Spencer

Appointment Chief Operating Officer

Unity ↗
Alex Blum

Appointment Chief Operating Officer

Niantic ↗
Jori Pearsall

Appointment Senior Vice President of Games

Ouster ↗
Phillip M. Eyler

Appointment Board of Directors

Flam ↗
Rachit Jain

Appointment Head of GTM Strategy (Global)

Flam ↗
Arun Kumar Rajendran

Appointment AVP of Marketing

Contract wins

1 recorded customer wins

Ouster ↗

Customer: local motors

Workforce actions

1 companies with reported reductions

Niantic ↗

Scale not stated rolesbusiness restructuring

Litigation

2 tracked suits

Company
Investors who purchased shares of Cepton, Inc. (formerly NAS v cepton, Jun Pei

alleged securities laws violations related to Koito acquisitionClass Action · Filed

Company
Investors in Cepton, Inc. v cepton

breach of fiduciary dutyCivil ·

Earnings pulse

Reported company results in the recorded window.

3companies
26period observations
29.9%median reported growth

Median across 22 reported growth observations; companies may contribute multiple periods.

Mergers and acquisitions

Company-linked deal reports; status is preserved as recorded.

Acquirer → targetStatusDateValue / context
Streem→selerioAnnounced2026-05-23Not stated in snapshot
Elon Musk→Fabula ↗Completed2026-04-22Not stated in snapshot
Savvy Games→Niantic ↗2026-03-20$3.5B
scopely→Niantic ↗Completed2026-02-19$3.5B
Ouster→Stereolabs ↗Announced2026-02-09$35.0M
xai→Fabula ↗Completed2026-02-06Not stated in snapshot

A discussion or rumour is not a completed transaction. An unstated value is not zero.

PEOPLE & OPPORTUNITY

The talent market

656 postings in the preceding 12 months. The full 1,061-posting snapshot covers 45 employers.

Expand panel +

Most advertised job titles

Chief Of Staff27
Software Architect (Mobile)14
Account Executive, Strategic Accounts12
Senior User Experience Designer11
Senior Technical Revenue Accountant10
Finance Manager, Digital & Ecommerce8
2 internship postings

23 tracked postings mention remote work.

The seniority mix

599 postings specify a level.

unspecified
462
senior
271
manager
218
lead
95
intern
15

Skills employers mention

Top skills across 1,061 tracked postings in the available jobs snapshot.

Python
30
Aws
13
Ai
9
Unity
9
Pytorch
8
Docker
8
Kubernetes
7
Crm
6
Machine Learning
6
Go
6
ADVERTISED PAY$140.6K/ year

Median across 142 postings with pay data, expressed in USD.

Salary by seniority

senior$150.2K/ year34 postings
manager$140.6K/ year48 postings

Advertised posting medians do not describe all employees or roles.

THE PEOPLE BUILDING THE FIELD

Founders and leaders

298 founders and chief executives across 181 companies.

Expand panel +
12 profiles

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Education networks

92 profiles with education records.

Stanford University
28
University of California (Berkeley)
14
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
10
Harvard University
6
Stanford Business School
5
University of Pennsylvania
4
University of Oxford
4
Yale University
3

Prior employers

33 profiles with prior-work records.

Microsoft
10
Google
9
Apple
6
Amazon
5
McKinsey
4
Facebook
3
Salesforce
2
Uber
1

Profiles cover recorded founders and leaders; contact details remain in Radar.

NEWS INTELLIGENCE

How this industry appears in the news

9,319 articles in the measured 12-month window.

Expand panel +
9,319articles in the measured year
2,205articles in 2026Q1
69.5%positive tone in the latest complete year

News volume trends

AR, VR and Spatial Computing coverage tagged San Francisco · articles per complete quarter

01,0212,0423,0644,0852021Q2: 6782021Q22021Q3: 8942021Q4: 7302022Q1: 1,1072022Q2: 1,1622022Q22022Q3: 1,2432022Q4: 1,7092023Q1: 2,4082023Q2: 3,5522023Q22023Q3: 2,1372023Q4: 2,2242024Q1: 2,0002024Q2: 1,8422024Q22024Q3: 1,8292024Q4: 1,7512025Q1: 2,1112025Q2: 1,9362025Q22025Q3: 3,0012025Q4: 1,9942026Q1: 2,2052026Q1
View quarterly article counts
QuarterArticles
2021Q2678
2021Q3894
2021Q4730
2022Q11,107
2022Q21,162
2022Q31,243
2022Q41,709
2023Q12,408
2023Q23,552
2023Q32,137
2023Q42,224
2024Q12,000
2024Q21,842
2024Q31,829
2024Q41,751
2025Q12,111
2025Q21,936
2025Q33,001
2025Q41,994
2026Q12,205

Article volume measures coverage, not market sales.

Tone of coverage over time

2021
1,891 positive · 23 neutral · 555 negative
2022
3,453 positive · 74 neutral · 1,694 negative
2023
7,037 positive · 78 neutral · 3,200 negative
2024
5,183 positive · 31 neutral · 2,203 negative
2025
6,283 positive · 22 neutral · 2,733 negative

Leading coverage topics

AR, VR and Spatial Computing coverage tagged San Francisco · ranked by full-period article count.

Artificial Intelligence Advancements32,181 articles in the full recorded period
12,544 recent · 8,935 prior
New Product Launches And Innovations15,637 articles in the full recorded period
5,193 recent · 3,659 prior
Technology Adoption And Digital Transformation14,019 articles in the full recorded period
4,478 recent · 3,385 prior
Semiconductor Industry Updates13,538 articles in the full recorded period
5,147 recent · 3,401 prior
Latest Gadgets And Consumer Electronics12,556 articles in the full recorded period
3,473 recent · 2,524 prior
Strategic Partnerships And Collaborations11,437 articles in the full recorded period
3,765 recent · 2,619 prior
Tech Policy And Government Regulations11,069 articles in the full recorded period
2,993 recent · 2,974 prior
Mobile Operating Systems10,865 articles in the full recorded period
2,835 recent · 2,274 prior
Cybersecurity Threats And Solutions10,115 articles in the full recorded period
2,800 recent · 2,370 prior
Ethical Considerations In Ai Development9,439 articles in the full recorded period
3,580 recent · 2,385 prior

Recent and prior counts use the source comparison windows.

Topics gaining and losing attention

United States comparison coverage

KeywordRecentPriorChange
cloud infrastructure1,65094375%
ai copyright issues819382114%
green data centers80150858%
new gadgets69446450%
ai liability669229192%
h-1b visa51848979%
ip litigation504441045%
flagship pricing46933241%
tech legislation46232741%
smart glasses451159184%
drone defense587982-40%
faa drone rules401899-55%
drone airspace rules391883-56%
anti-drone system479748-36%
political reporting237736-68%

Event and signal lenses

United States comparison coverage

All complete annual cohorts shown
Rising

Regulatory Risk

178,306 classified articles

ai regulation compliance, responsible ai, ai research

65.4% critical · 35.3% positive
Rising

Funding Momentum

37,562 classified articles

ai infrastructure financing, neural network ventures, ai hardware

47.4% critical · 59.4% positive
Rising

Growth

57,687 classified articles

ai hardware, dc fast-charging deployment, ai research

56.0% critical · 50.0% positive

AR, VR and Spatial Computing coverage tagged San Francisco. Topic labels describe recorded classifications and can include broad context.

RESEARCH SIGNALS

What AR, VR and Spatial Computing research is working on

6,803 papers in the recorded india scope.

Expand panel +
6,803papers
53,448worldwide comparison pool
6,803India-affiliated papers

Research orientation

Promising
3,017
Breakthrough
1,653
Descriptive
659
Problem-identifying
639
Cautionary
468
Comparative
302
Critical
65

Contribution mix

Empirical
2,951
Methods-led
2,589
Reviews
863
Position pieces
323
Theoretical
77

Tone counts: 6,595 positive · 80 neutral · 128 negative.

Common problems researchers identify
704 papers · 10.3% of this field
  • Virtual reality379 papers
  • Human–computer interaction156 papers
  • Augmented reality152 papers
  • Metaverse125 papers
  • Perception51 papers
  • Mixed reality27 papers
  • Cognition24 papers
  • Multimedia24 papers

Landmark: Virtual reality for stroke rehabilitation

Cautions
468 papers · 6.9% of this field
  • Virtual reality268 papers
  • Augmented reality92 papers
  • Human–computer interaction88 papers
  • Perception46 papers
  • Psychological intervention26 papers
  • Usability22 papers
  • Training20 papers
  • Metaverse20 papers

Landmark: Online Communication and Adolescent Relationships

Opportunities
4,670 papers · 68.6% of this field
  • Virtual reality2,399 papers
  • Augmented reality998 papers
  • Human–computer interaction939 papers
  • Visualization268 papers
  • Metaverse265 papers
  • Haptic technology213 papers
  • Perception209 papers
  • Training190 papers

Landmark: KinectFusion: Real-time dense surface mapping and tracking

Leading institutions

Stanford University
15,573
Microsoft
13,828
University of Southern California
9,398
University of Central Florida
7,656
Creative Technologies
5,186
Columbia University
5,060

Leading researchers

Otmar Hilliges
6,772
Shahram Izadi
6,604
Jeremy N. Bailenson
6,406
David Molyneaux
5,999
Richard A. Newcombe
4,202
Andrew Fitzgibbon
3,902
Hrvoje Benko
3,670
Albert Rizzo
3,334

Highly cited breakthrough-labelled papers

  • KinectFusion: Real-time dense surface mapping and tracking3,902 citations
  • KinectFusion2,097 citations
  • Coming of age in Second Life: an anthropologist explores the virtually human1,428 citations
  • Local light field fusion1,047 citations
  • VirtualWorlds as Proxy for Multi-object Tracking Analysis1,003 citations

Common problems researchers identify

677 papers · 7 recurring themes
7 cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Metaverse Interaction ChallengesCommon problems researchers identify · 01

Metaverse Interaction Challenges

126 papers

18.6% of this theme group

Researchers highlight ethical, social, and design difficulties in building immersive virtual worlds.

Metaverse (121) · Social worlds (14) · Possible world (13) · Human–computer interaction (35)

The Seven Worlds and Experiences of the Wireless Metaverse: Challenges and Opportunities

Navigating Ethical Dimensions in the Metaverse: Challenges, Frameworks, and Solutions

View research history
YearShare index
202251.3
202379.3
202476.1
202544.1
AR/VR Development BarriersCommon problems researchers identify · 02

AR/VR Development Barriers

118 papers

17.4% of this theme group

Papers discuss technical and usability obstacles that limit current augmented and virtual reality applications.

Augmented reality (109) · Human–computer interaction (57) · Mixed reality (19) · Virtual reality (45)

Creating Augmented and Virtual Reality Applications: Current Practices, Challenges, and Opportunities

Making Augmented Reality a Reality

View research history
YearShare index
2022770.8
2023832.7
2024959.7
2025500.7
VR Perception and AdoptionCommon problems researchers identify · 03

VR Perception and Adoption

108 papers

16.0% of this theme group

Studies examine how users perceive distance and usefulness, especially older adults, affecting acceptance of virtual environments.

Virtual reality (93) · Perception (22) · Athletes (4) · Maturity (3)

Older Adults’ Experiences with Audiovisual Virtual Reality: Perceived Usefulness and Other Factors Influencing Technology Acceptance

Visual Perceptual Confidence: Exploring Discrepancies Between Self-reported and Actual Distance Perception In Virtual Reality

View research history
YearShare index
20222196.1
20232184.3
20242179.8
20252327.8
Rehabilitation Using VRCommon problems researchers identify · 04

Rehabilitation Using VR

93 papers

13.7% of this theme group

Works identify gaps in evidence and design for virtual reality therapies in stroke and developmental disability care.

Rehabilitation (20) · Virtual reality (73) · Psychological intervention (18) · Physical medicine and rehabilitation (9)

Considerations in the Efficacy and Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Interventions for Stroke Rehabilitation: Moving the Field Forward

Design Considerations for Virtual Reality Intervention for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Systematic Review

View research history
YearShare index
20221336.8
20231323.1
20241365.7
20251316.0
Wearable and Big‑Data IntegrationCommon problems researchers identify · 05

Wearable and Big‑Data Integration

82 papers

12.1% of this theme group

Research points to challenges in merging immersive planning tools with wearable sensors and large‑scale data.

Wearable computer (6) · Big data (4) · Plan (3) · Embodied cognition (5)

Immersive Planning: A Conceptual Model for Designing Public Participation with New Technologies

Supporting Sport Participation and Performance in Autistic Youth: A Narrative Review of Wearable Technologies and Emerging BCI Approaches

View research history
YearShare index
202269.7
202368.9
202456.6
202572.1
Multimedia Interaction IssuesCommon problems researchers identify · 06

Multimedia Interaction Issues

82 papers

12.1% of this theme group

Authors note difficulties in creating seamless sensory and collaborative experiences within virtual reality platforms.

Human–computer interaction (72) · Virtual reality (78) · Multimedia (14) · Computer graphics (9)

Sensory VR

Technology and applications for collaborative learning in virtual reality

View research history
YearShare index
2022760.7
2023810.0
2024867.6
2025336.6
VR in Medical TrainingCommon problems researchers identify · 07

VR in Medical Training

68 papers

10.0% of this theme group

Papers reveal obstacles in curriculum design and effectiveness of virtual reality for health‑care education.

Virtual reality (52) · Medical education (12) · Curriculum (10) · Training (9)

Using virtual reality in medical education to teach empathy

Virtual reality for education and workforce training

View research history
YearShare index
2022509.3
2023497.5
2024405.6
2025265.4

Cautions

459 papers · 7 recurring themes
7 cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

VR Clinical Trial ConcernsCautions · 01

VR Clinical Trial Concerns

101 papers

22.0% of this theme group

Researchers urge careful evaluation of virtual reality’s impact on pain and mobility outcomes.

Virtual reality (78) · Psychological intervention (18) · Rehabilitation (12) · Randomized controlled trial (12)

The Effect of Virtual Reality on Pain and Range of Motion in Adults With Burn Injuries

Virtual reality for persistent pain: A new direction for behavioral pain management

View research history
YearShare index
20221357.4
20231347.6
20241372.5
20251387.1
Affective Design RisksCautions · 02

Affective Design Risks

101 papers

22.0% of this theme group

Studies caution about emotional and usability pitfalls when designing immersive virtual reality systems.

Human–computer interaction (60) · Virtual reality (88) · Affect (9) · Multimedia (11)

Current opportunities and challenges of immersive virtual reality for psychological research and application

Designing a virtual reality system for clinical education and examination

View research history
YearShare index
2022758.8
2023808.0
2024865.2
2025333.6
AR Usability LimitationsCautions · 03

AR Usability Limitations

82 papers

17.9% of this theme group

Works highlight practical obstacles in depth perception and personalized learning using mobile augmented reality.

Augmented reality (78) · Human–computer interaction (20) · Usability (8) · Mobile device (3)

Designing for Depth Perceptions in Augmented Reality

Personalization of Interactive Teaching Materials Supported by Augmented Reality: Potentials vs Obstacles in 3D Geometry Learning

View research history
YearShare index
2022792.1
2023854.2
2024980.2
2025558.9
Rendering and Perception IssuesCautions · 04

Rendering and Perception Issues

60 papers

13.1% of this theme group

Papers discuss how visual fidelity and sensory cues affect spatial accuracy in immersive environments.

Virtual reality (48) · Rendering (9) · Perception (13) · Offset (3)

Elucidating Factors that Can Facilitate Veridical Spatial Perception in Immersive Virtual Environments

Effects of Rendering a Virtual Nose on Odor Perception and Presence in Mixed Reality

View research history
YearShare index
20222167.7
20232153.6
20242148.7
20252295.8
VR Educational EffectivenessCautions · 05

VR Educational Effectiveness

52 papers

11.3% of this theme group

Researchers question the instructional value and transferability of immersive simulations across subjects.

Virtual reality (41) · Educational technology (8) · Multimedia (8) · Instructional simulation (4)

The role of virtual reality in enhancing educational outcomes across disciplines

Implicit Learning of Professional Skills through Immersive Virtual Reality: a Media Comparison Study

View research history
YearShare index
2022282.7
2023274.8
2024235.1
2025128.5
Robotics and Drone DistractionsCautions · 06

Robotics and Drone Distractions

34 papers

7.4% of this theme group

Studies note how animated stimuli and virtual training can interfere with perception in robotics contexts.

Robot (5) · Drone (5) · Perception (7) · Distraction (3)

Technical and conceptual considerations for using animated stimuli in studies of animal behavior

Children’s ability to estimate approaching vehicle time-to-arrival following training in a virtual pedestrian environment

View research history
YearShare index
20223131.7
20233131.9
20243161.9
20253103.2
Metaverse Knowledge TransferCautions · 07

Metaverse Knowledge Transfer

29 papers

6.3% of this theme group

Works caution about gaps between virtual affordances and real‑world application in education and collaboration.

Metaverse (20) · Virtual world (3) · Social media (3) · Knowledge management (2)

Understanding Online Education in Metaverse: Systems and User Experience Perspectives

Reaching Between Worlds: Calibration and Transfer of Perceived Affordances from Virtual to Real Environments

View research history
YearShare index
2022194.0
2023224.2
2024209.6
2025206.8

Opportunities

4,440 papers · 7 recurring themes
7 cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

VR for Therapy and PainOpportunities · 01

VR for Therapy and Pain

889 papers

20.0% of this theme group

Research shows virtual reality can support anxiety reduction, physical therapy, and symptom management.

Virtual reality (731) · Anxiety (75) · Physical therapy (58) · Physical medicine and rehabilitation (68)

Virtual reality and neurofeedback as a supportive approach to managing cancer symptoms for patients receiving treatment: A brief report of a

Virtual Reality Facilitated Exercise Increases Sympathetic Activity and Reduces Pain Perception

View research history
YearShare index
20221005.2
2023977.9
2024965.5
2025584.6
Advanced Rendering WorkflowsOpportunities · 02

Advanced Rendering Workflows

863 papers

19.4% of this theme group

Papers explore optimized visualization pipelines and adaptive techniques for high‑fidelity virtual environments.

Rendering (81) · Visualization (103) · Virtual reality (278) · Workflow (37)

Risk-Based Optimization of Virtual Reality over Terahertz Reconfigurable\n Intelligent Surfaces

Exploring Multiscale Navigation of Homogeneous and Dense Objects with Progressive Refinement in Virtual Reality

View research history
YearShare index
202296.8
202399.5
202482.3
2025143.1
AR for Design and LearningOpportunities · 03

AR for Design and Learning

848 papers

19.1% of this theme group

Studies demonstrate augmented reality’s potential to enhance education, simulation, and mixed‑reality design evaluations.

Augmented reality (781) · Human–computer interaction (248) · Mixed reality (65) · Visualization (69)

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality for Learning: An Examination Using an Extended Technology Acceptance Model

The Application of Augmented Reality in Simulation-Based Design Evaluations of Trauma Rooms

View research history
YearShare index
2022770.8
2023832.7
2024959.7
2025500.7
Collaborative VR Data VisualizationOpportunities · 04

Collaborative VR Data Visualization

757 papers

17.0% of this theme group

Research highlights immersive platforms that enable shared analysis and multimodal feedback for complex data sets.

Human–computer interaction (504) · Virtual reality (637) · Computer graphics (92) · Multimedia (81)

Immersive and collaborative data visualization using virtual reality platforms

Exploring Multimodal Feedback Mechanisms for Improving User Interaction in Virtual Reality Environments

View research history
YearShare index
2022760.7
2023810.0
2024867.6
2025336.6
Experiential VR TrainingOpportunities · 05

Experiential VR Training

591 papers

13.3% of this theme group

Works present virtual reality as a powerful tool for hands‑on learning and skill acquisition.

Virtual reality (482) · Training (92) · Multimedia (74) · Experiential learning (31)

Virtual Reality Simulation

Assessing Immersive Virtual Reality as Learning Tool for Surgical Trainees

View research history
YearShare index
2022303.1
2023296.4
2024253.7
2025164.4
Metaverse Social InteractionOpportunities · 06

Metaverse Social Interaction

274 papers

6.2% of this theme group

Papers investigate avatar dynamics and virtual communities as foundations for future social and healthcare applications.

Metaverse (254) · Social worlds (13) · Human–computer interaction (86) · Avatar (26)

Avatars, People, and Virtual Worlds: Foundations for Research in Metaverses

Development of metaverse for intelligent healthcare

View research history
YearShare index
2022672.6
2023737.3
2024822.0
2025334.3
Haptic Wearable TechnologiesOpportunities · 07

Haptic Wearable Technologies

218 papers

4.9% of this theme group

Research showcases skin‑integrated and wearable haptic devices that enrich tactile feedback in virtual experiences.

Haptic technology (198) · Virtual reality (133) · Actuator (15) · Wearable computer (33)

Skin‐Integrated Vibrohaptic Interfaces for Virtual and Augmented Reality

Wireality: Enabling Complex Tangible Geometries in Virtual Reality with Worn Multi-String Haptics

View research history
YearShare index
2022134.0
2023127.5
2024114.4
2025116.0

How this field compares with the research baseline

Orientation shares compared with 25,000 papers in the reference sample.

Research orientationThis fieldReference sample
Promising44.3%36.8%
Breakthrough24.3%26.5%
Descriptive9.7%17.4%
Problem-identifying9.4%9.8%
Cautionary6.9%4.6%
Comparative4.4%3.8%
Critical1.0%1.0%

Concerns receiving less research attention

Counts and shares refer to the stated research pool. A low count describes how much of that research is recorded here, not the absence of a real-world concern.

Concern / example paperPapersShareRaised as a problemWorldwide share
Privacy & surveillanceOnline Communication and Adolescent Relationships1191.85%58 (48.7%)1.12%
Safety & misuseLEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR PROTECTING BANKING TRANSACTIONS IN THE METAVERSE AGAINST DEEPFAKE TECHNOLOGY110.17%4 (36.4%)0.1%
Bias & fairnessNavigating Gender Biases in XR: Towards Equitable Technological Future70.11%2 (28.6%)0.05%
Energy & datacenter footprintEnergy-Efficient Resource Allocation for Mobile Edge Computing-Based Augmented Reality Applications20.03%0 (0.0%)0.03%
Water use00.0%0 (%)0.0%
Carbon & emissions of compute00.0%0 (%)0.0%
Hardware, e-waste & supply chain00.0%0 (%)0.01%
Labour & data work00.0%0 (%)0.03%
Concentration of compute power00.0%0 (%)0.01%

Institution and researcher rankings use citations to their covered work. Research scope: United States. This may be broader than the company geography.

UNDERSTAND THE LANDSCAPE

AR, VR and Spatial Computing in San Francisco: key questions

Clear definitions for making better comparisons.

What does this landscape measure?

It measures the tracked company ecosystem, recorded funding, hiring and other available evidence. It is not a market-size estimate.

Can segment counts be added together?

No. A company can belong to several segments, so segment counts and funding can overlap.

What does a missing figure mean?

A dash or unavailable panel means the current reviewed source snapshot does not support that figure.

KEEP EXPLORING

Put San Francisco in context

All landscapes ↗

Company ecosystem snapshot: 3 September 2026. Funding is recorded in USD; filed accounts retain their stated currency and reporting basis. Each section identifies its own coverage. The news and research behind these sections is explorable in Prism.

Canonical landscape ↗
Coming soon