Hero Zone: Where Social VR Meets Real-World Revenue -
Bob Cooney’s Take – AWE is one of the few shows where the people building the XR industry actually sit in the same room. And while there isn’t that much LBE, LEXRA members ARE showing up next week in Long Beach with new hardware, new content, and a few things you can only see in person if you ask nicely (and sign an NDA). If you’re going, here’s where to find the people doing the work. If you’re not going, this is what you’re missing.
AWE USA 2026 is in Long Beach next week, and a few LEXRA members are speaking and will be showing stuff on and off the show floor. The list below is what I have been able to confirm so far. If you’re a LEXRA member who should be on this list and isn’t, ping me, and I’ll add you.
Hololabs is showcasing its new adventure puzzle game, Abyss: Vault, on the Synthesis VR platform inside the PICO booth. That’s the LEXRA stack: PICO is the LEXRA hardware member providing the headsets; Synthesis VR (also a LEXRA member) is the platform layer that operators use to manage content; and Hololabs is the content developer building the title.
If you’re an operator running a PICO fleet on Synthesis VR, this is the demo to schedule. It shows the whole pipeline working end-to-end.
vrCAVE is exhibiting its newest VR escape room game, Cyberscape. vrCAVE is a LEXRA Board member and the leading escape-room-style content developers in the category. They’ve been at it for almost a decade and are in over 250 locations globally.
Ryan Bromsgrove, Head of Growth & Marketing at vrCAVE / Basement Bunker Labs, is also on the speaker list. Speaker page here.
vrCAVE is also co-hosting an after-hours event with LEXRA members Pico and Hololabs at PANIQ Room Long Beach from 5:00 PM on June 16th. You can snag one of the remaining tickets here for free. (https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/awe-after-hours-free-xr-mixer-tickets-1990180885603)
CleanBox is exhibiting its hygiene solutions. For any operator running shared-headset venues, this category matters more than it gets credit for. Customer-perceived cleanliness is one of those things that determines whether a guest comes back, and CleanBox is the name most operators in the category trust.
DreamPark is on the floor, showcasing the latest developments in their downloadable mixed-reality theme park solutions. DreamPark is a LEXRA member and hybrid operator/supplier, and the downloadable MR theme park model is one of the more interesting plays in the category. Drop by and see how mixed reality fits into a location-based footprint. Or a park. Or a parking lot.
Joe Mares from Thousand Bit is back, showing his VR haunted house project. If you saw it last year, see what’s changed. If you didn’t, this is the one to add to the list, especially if you’re an operator considering seasonal or limited-run programming.
VR Expert is the leading distributor of hardware for LBE, and is showcasing some of the newest innovations from PICO. The headline here: the new PICO Swan. If you haven’t seen it yet, this could be your chance for a behind-the-scenes hands-on demo. You’ll need to arrange it in advance and sign an NDA. Contact VR Expert, or ping me directly to set that up.
Cooney’s Take – A behind-the-scenes look at unreleased PICO hardware is what makes going to AWE worth it. Operators and developers making tech stack decisions in the next 12 months should know what’s coming BEFORE it ships, not after. Track down VR Expert or Pico early in the show, not on the last day.
The official speaker list that we’ve pulled together so far:
Rob Shalhoub, Team Lead, USA & Canada, Fever Speaker page
Andranik Aslanyan, Head of Growth, VIVERSE (HTC) HTC is a LEXRA Board member; VIVERSE is HTC’s VR platform arm. Speaker page
Neville Spiteri, CEO, Wevr Neville is on the big stage. Wevr is a LEXRA member and one of the platform companies building the content-into-venues distribution layer alongside Univrse, Excurio, Small Creative, and others. Speaker page
Ryan Bromsgrove, Head of Growth & Marketing, vrCAVE / Basement Bunker Labs Speaker page
Masahiro Yamaguchi (Masa), Styly Speaker page
If you’re a LEXRA member speaking at AWE and not on this list, send me the link and I’ll add you.
A couple of things on the floor that aren’t LEXRA members but matter for the category:
Snap is unveiling the new Spectacles. They teased this at AWE last year. Snap Specs sponsored the VR Arcade and Attraction Summit in Las Vegas last year, so they’ve been engaging with the LBE category directly. AR hardware coming from a consumer-product company with a real distribution channel is worth paying attention to, especially after what we’ve seen happen on the AR-content side recently. The hardware platform commitment question matters.
**Xreal Aura was teased at last year’s show, and it was the standout announcement for me. Hit up Amir at XREAL for a demo if you’re thinking about building in the AR space. And tell him LEXRA sent you.
Bob’s Take – AWE is one of the few weeks of the year where operators, content people, hardware companies, and platform builders are all in the same place at the same time. The companies above are LEXRA members who are showing up to do business. If you’re going, go meet them. If you’re a content developer, an operator, or an investor and you walk past the PICO booth without seeing the Synthesis VR / Hololabs stack running live, you missed the point of the trip.
A few of the LEXRA members on the floor next week represent different layers of the same operator stack: PICO (hardware), Synthesis VR (platform), vrCAVE and Hololabs (content), VRsenal (distribution and integration), CleanBox (operations), DreamPark and Thousand Bit (venue-side experience design), Wevr (content platform). That’s most of the LBE supply chain in one building.
The companies that show up to industry events are the ones investing in the category long-term. Worth remembering when you’re choosing who to do business with.
Where is AWE USA 2026 being held? AWE USA 2026 takes place in Long Beach, California next week. The official site is awexr.com.
Which LEXRA members are exhibiting at AWE 2026? Confirmed so far: Hololabs (at the PICO booth), vrCAVE, CleanBox, DreamPark, Thousand Bit, and VRsenal. PICO is also exhibiting as a LEXRA hardware member. The list will grow as more members confirm.
How do I see the new PICO Swan at AWE? VRsenal is offering behind-the-scenes hands-on demos of the new PICO Swan at AWE 2026. The demos require advance arrangement and an NDA. Contact VRsenal directly to schedule.
Which LEXRA members are speaking at AWE USA 2026? Confirmed speakers connected to LEXRA members and the broader LBE category include Andranik Aslanyan (VIVERSE / HTC), Neville Spiteri (Wevr), Ryan Bromsgrove (vrCAVE), Rob Shalhoub (Fever), and Masahiro Yamaguchi (Styly).
Is there an after-hours LEXRA event at AWE 2026? vrCAVE is co-hosting an after-hours event at one of their venues during the show. Contact the vrCAVE team for an invite. Other LEXRA-member after-hours events will be added to the guide as they’re confirmed.
