Augmented World Expo USA 2026 arrives in Long Beach from June 15 to 18 with the theme “I, Spatial: Humans Empowered by Spatial AI”.
In this XR Beat interview, Ori Inbar, Co-Founder of AWE and UniteXR, joins Luke Williams to discuss why AI, smart glasses and enterprise adoption are now moving much closer together.
Inbar said AWE has grown from a small gathering for early XR enthusiasts into a 5,000-attendee event with 250 exhibitors, while still acting as a “family reunion” for the industry. This year’s theme, he said, is designed to keep the human role at the centre of the AI conversation:
“We’re not denying AI. AI will be a major part of [the future], but we want to keep humans at the centre, empowered by spatial AI.”
The interview also covers whether XR is entering a more practical phase. Inbar argued that enterprise adoption has moved beyond early uncertainty, with mature use cases and stronger commercial evidence:
“The question is really becoming now how do you scale it? How do you manage it across the entire enterprise?”
The conversation also builds on The XR Beat’s recent look at the AWE Auggie Awards shortlist, where enterprise-focused companies in training, healthcare, infrastructure, input and spatial AI were strongly represented.
Inbar also discusses Snap CEO Evan Spiegel’s AWE keynote, the future of Specs, why smart glasses may be worn for specific tasks rather than all day, and why the HoloLens gap has created both a problem and an opening for enterprise AR vendors.
The XR beat also covered the AWE ‘Auggie’ award nominees from the enterprise buyer’s perspective.
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