The augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) world has one defining show: Augmented World Expo (AWE), which was restarted in Santa Clara, Calif., after a 1-year hiatus. Thanks, COVID.

It has been a dog year for Ori Inbar, the outgoing, energetic showman and founder of AWE. So thankful was he to give a live appearance that he could not contain himself. The irrepressible Inbar practically jumped off the stage into the audience like a rock star. He was fist-bumping the guys in the first row and entertaining the audience like no other emcee we’ve seen on AWE2021’s opening keynote.

“We found we could do a lot this year. We could have video meetings. We could conduct business. But you know one thing you can’t do virtually: fist bump.”

Of course, he is speaking of the physical interactions, the exchange of business cards, the deals sealed with a handshake, the hidden signals of trust—of business. Lost is the irony: that virtual reality exists to do exactly that, with technology that replaces—ne improves—the physical world.

Over the years, AWE has established itself as the one place to be for all startups and established players in the AR/VR world. Most of the exhibitors were startups, but also present were HP, Lenovo and Autodesk—all eager to get in on the substitute of or enhanced version of reality, whatever AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality), MR (mixed reality) and XR (all of the above) turn out to be, whichever takes off to be the next big thing.

Metaverse, Shmetaverse

It was not minutes into AWE2021 that Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse was mentioned. By announcing Metaverse, Zuckerberg has brought the shadowy world of XR into the light (more on that later).

The “M-word,” as Inbar refers to Metaverse, gives a sudden legitimacy to what has existed as mostly the dream of starry-eyed techie startups raised on a sci-fi and fantasy, educated in software and intoxicated with a belief that anything is possible.

AR/VR, or XR, the combination of the two technologies that we will now refer to, has attracted investment and interest in waves. There have been three waves, according to veteran industry pitchman Jonathan Hirshon. The first was started by Evans and Sutherland in the 1970s—from which the only real gain was computer-aided design. The last wave started building between 2001 and 2005.

The public euphoria that ensued—of a new, digital visual world, attracted quite a bit of venture capital. On that wave were many starry-eyed startups. Expectations were high.

But traction in the market was more the exception than the rule. The grandest adventures into XR did not pan out. A $2 billion acquisition of Oculus by Facebook in 2014 led only to a niche market with affluent gamers. Microsoft introduced HoloLens in 2016, but only one company (Trimble) of all the design and construction software companies has found a way to put it into use. Google Glass (AR enhanced eyeglasses) was called one of the biggest technology flops in history in 2017.

Then came the plunge into disappointment. And we are again left with an assessment of XR as a concept ahead of its time.

Once a technology sheds its hype, it may indeed find market acceptance. With XR products starting to sell, is there finally proof of traction to the now seasoned, demanding and diligent investment community?

Inbar was having fun at the expense of Silicon Valley’s heavyweights—Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai of Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Tim Cook of Apple—and used them in his contrived game show of “Metaverse/Shmetaverse.” All of them were on screen, not on stage, and portrayed as amateurs in XR. Who are they to stomp on our playground, Inbar seemed to be asking, currying favor with the audience of industry pioneers, startups hungry for investment, hundred companies full of ideas—all screaming for attention.

The shadow of Mark Zuckerberg loomed large over AWE. His celebrity and riches threatened to sweep aside all the little companies exhibiting at the Expo with Metaverse.

The crowd was encouraged to shout “metaverse” if they agreed with what the Zuck is purported to be doing, and “shmetaverse” if they found the idea preposterous. Results were mixed. But that was not the point. This was not scientific polling of an audience, it was just Inbar having fun. The audience was just as much in the dark about Metaverse as the rest of the world.

Ori referred to Google Glass and received a small laugh. It’s too soon. Google’s attempt to provide AR in the form of Glass to the general public is a little embarrassing to the XR industry. The XR industry is having to work extra hard to sell a concept as useful after it bombed so badly.

HP, a gold sponsor of AWE2021, continues to maintain a stake in XR. It still makes sense for HP, given that creation and consumption of XR content is super compute intensive. Should XR take off, HP would be able to sell more of its high-end workstations.

Perhaps the novelty of an actual physical trade show may have made several vendors rush their “solutions” to the show floor. One sport shoe manufacturer attempted to show an optimized running shoe created with AR and VR but was foiled by technical difficulties over an agonizing (for the presenters) 10 minutes. They may have had their act down. It could have been the Wi-Fi, which was anemic at best and unavailable at worst. The half dozen presenters, both onsite and offsite, took turns getting kicked off their virtual collaboration they wanted to show off.

“They don’t seem to have good Wi-Fi here in the Silicon Valley,” lamented one presenter. Indeed, Wi-Fi seems to be something shows may have to remember to keep on hand, like coffee—the other necessity of events.