Decoding Play: Navigating the Terrain of Toys, Puzzles, and Games in XR

Oculus's Quest launch was built on the premise that games drive early adoption of general computing devices. We think this will be similarly true for MR (and eventually, AR).

The allure of AR (and MR) is to mimic physical play affordances from the real world to the simulated; so many product proposals literally replicate physical toys and puzzles - and conflate them with games.

This talk will disambiguate toys, puzzles and games, so you know what you're building, what to expect from audiences, and chart a clearer roadmap to engagement, retention, and delight.

We will also talk about what makes a game 'better' in MR, and 'only possible' in MR - with the premise that those experiences are the ones that will capture imagination and drive adoption - the way Beat Saber did for VR. It will draw upon experiences from both Meta's VR work and AR Glasses work.