Business & Technology

The 3 next big things in spatial computing, virtual reality, and mixed reality for 2026

The metaverse hype bubble may have burst, but that doesn’t mean immersive computing is yesterday’s news. Technologies such as spatial computing and VR are changing how products are designed, where entertainment can happen, and what kind of medical care is available in remote maritime situations. Dassault SystèmesFor putting Apple Vision Pro to workOrganizations of all kinds are eager to create digital twins of their most crucial real-world products, processes, and spaces. 3D-design software giant Dassault Systèmes’ 3DLive turns Apple’s Vision Pro headset into an intuitive, precise way to engage with these simulations. Customers have adopted it for applications ranging from engineering new EVs to testing surgical instruments. An aerospace company used the platform to bring participants on three continents together to review an aircraft’s interior, cutting approval time in half and saving $450,000 in travel costs. ExcurioFor breaking through VR’s boundariesShared VR experiences in public spaces have been held back by challenges such as scaling up the number of people supported by an environment and allowing different participants to explore varying worlds. Paris-based Excurio’s LBXR Pulse lets museums, cultural institutions, entertainment venues, and other organizations deploy VR to up to 130 users simultaneously in multiple concurrent experiences. It’s in use at 25 venues in 17 countries, with big-name content partners such as the Musée d’Orsay and Harvard University’s Giza Project. Veyond MetaverseFor using XR to bring healthcare to the seaMore than 2 million people are seafarers or work on offshore rigs. Veyond Metaverse’s OceanMD lets them receive telehealth services from onshore medical professionals wearing mixed-reality headsets. Unlike most mixed-reality platforms, which assume the availability of high-speed internet, OceanMD is designed to operate at just 100 kbps, allowing it to run over the slow satellite access available at sea. Pilot programs are underway in West Africa and Brazil offshore operations, and in May 2026, international SOS company Medaire secured a five-year exclusive agreement to use the technology for global civilian aviation. The companies and individuals behind these technologies are among the honorees in Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech awards for 2026. Read more about the winners across all categories and the methodology behind the selection process.