In the world of augmented and virtual reality, Meta's Reality Labs is gearing up for what could be a defining year for the metaverse. With 2025 on the horizon, Meta CTO Andrew "Boz" Bosworth, one of the company's first 15 engineers, has predicted that this year could either mark the greatness of Reality Labs or go down in history as a "legendary misadventure."

Bosworth, who has been at the forefront of Meta's technological advancements, now leans towards the potential for greatness. However, the ultimate decision lies with the market. "We'll judge at the end of the decade, but this does feel like the pivotal year," he said during a recent Bloomberg Technology interview.

One of Meta's most significant breakthroughs has been the Ray Ban AI glasses, which have generated excitement among both consumers and competitors. Since their debut in October 2023, Meta has sold over 2 million pairs, outselling traditional Ray Bans even before the AI features were rolled out. This success has put Meta in the spotlight, attracting the attention of competitors like Google and Apple, who are also making strides in the smart glasses market.

The competition is heating up, with Google announcing partnerships with Gentle Monster and Warby Parker to create smart glasses based on Android XR, and Apple reportedly planning to release smart glasses in 2026. Boz noted that the competition's presence has shifted the focus from obscurity to a more consumer-driven market. "Suddenly, we go from toiling in the realms of obscurity to being very much in the world with a product that is very attractive to consumers, and thus competitors," he said. "The clock has started on competition coming, and that just means that the progress we make in this year is of disproportionate value to any year before or after it closes."

Despite the growing competition, the success of Meta's AR and VR products ultimately depends on market adoption, which would drive the industry to standardize the technology. Boz emphasized that the market is a trailing indicator, especially when it comes to hardware. "So you look for early indicators. To some degree, you do have to have a level of confidence and taste in-house," he said.

Boz credits this mindset to Sheryl Sandberg, Meta's former chief operating officer, who often spoke about how most companies fail not because they are beaten by a competitor but because they don't execute their own plan correctly. "What I try to do with the team is really focus us, not so much on the competitive landscape as on [whether] we’re executing to our standards," he said.

As Meta gears up for the year ahead, the company has a set of ambitious plans in place and is on track to achieve them. "What we’ll know by the end of the year is whether we executed on our plan or not," Boz said. "What we’ll know in five years time is whether that was enough." With the metaverse's future hanging in the balance, 2025 will indeed be a pivotal year for Meta's Reality Labs and the entire industry.