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- BMW & Siemens Are Betting Big on XR: Should You?
BMW & Siemens Are Betting Big on XR: Should You?
Roman L Binder & Bruno Filkin
July 16th, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes
Big players aren’t waiting anymore.
BMW, Siemens, and Unity are joining forces to make extended reality a core pillar of industrial innovation. This isn’t a proof of concept. It’s a strategic overhaul—reshaping design, training, and operations. So why are most midsize companies still on the sidelines?
Let’s unpack how XR is crossing the threshold from hype to must-have—and what your team can learn from it.
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The Enterprise Shift: From Exploration to Execution
When companies like BMW Group and Siemens double down on XR, it signals something deeper than experimentation.
At the Hannover Messe 2025, Unity unveiled a new Industry-focused program showcasing real deployments—not pilot demos—of extended reality in design, manufacturing, and workforce training.
The theme was unmistakable: XR is no longer a toy for gamers. It’s an industrial-grade tool for transformation.
HUGE XR NEWS (July 2025 Edition)
Meta Quest 3S hits record-low price
Amazon’s Prime Day deal slashed the standalone Meta Quest 3S to $249 (128 GB bundle with Gorilla Tag) or $329 (256 GB with Batman: Arkham Shadow)—marking the lowest prices since launch and including a 3‑month Meta Horizon+ subscription .
Last-minute Prime Day Quest deals extend beyond headsets
In addition to the Meta Quest 3S discounts, Prime Day offers deep discounts on accessories like elite straps, battery packs, Link cables, and even third-party brands—plus competitive pricing on PSVR 2 and Pico 4 Ultra .
India’s first mythological VR universe launches
Filmmaker Ram Madhvani is debuting a spiritual and mythological VR universe blending ancient Indian narratives with AI-driven immersive storytelling—marking a cultural-first for VR in India .
Swiss XR firm Maradin releases laser display module for glasses
Maradin launched a new laser-based scanning display module for XR glasses, boosting image clarity and contrast in next-gen lightweight wearable displays .
Freeaim’s motorized VR Shoes Kickstarter goes live
UK startup Freeaim launched a campaign for its motorized VR Shoes, offering natural omnidirectional walking in VR for £799 (basic) and £1,049 (advanced), with deliveries expected late 2025 .
How BMW Uses XR for Efficiency & Accuracy
BMW is leveraging XR for collaborative design reviews across global teams. Engineers from Munich to Mexico City can step into a shared virtual prototype, inspect every detail, and approve changes in real time.
This means:
No more endless CAD screenshots
No costly travel for early-stage design reviews
Fewer miscommunications between global stakeholders
They also apply XR to assembly line validation—allowing teams to simulate and test new processes before anything goes live on the shop floor.
The result?
💡 Faster cycles, fewer errors, and major cost savings.
Siemens: Scaling XR for the Workforce
Siemens is going all in on XR-enabled training. Their focus?
Upskilling workers fast—especially in factories transitioning to smart automation. Through VR simulations, employees learn to operate complex machinery in a safe, repeatable environment. Mistakes are just data points, not disasters.
Benefits include:
70%+ improvement in knowledge retention
Measurable boosts in worker confidence
A standardized onboarding experience across multiple sites
And it’s all cloud-based—train anywhere, anytime.
VR Tool of the Week: Siemens and Sony XR head-mounted display, the SRH-S1
Industrial XR with Surgical Precision
Siemens and Sony have joined forces to launch the SRH-S1, a high-end XR head-mounted display tailored for engineering, manufacturing, and digital twin applications.
🔍 Built for professional use—not entertainment—this headset combines Sony’s OLED microdisplays with Siemens’ NX integration, enabling ultra-precise CAD visualization in mixed reality.
Why it matters:
Crystal-clear rendering of complex industrial designs
Integrated with Siemens’ NX for seamless CAD model manipulation
Ergonomic fit for extended wear in production environments
Ideal for automotive, aerospace, and heavy industry use cases
The SRH-S1 isn’t here to entertain—it’s here to engineer the future.
Unity’s Role: Enterprise-Ready XR Tools
Unity’s new push is about making XR deployment scalable and maintainable, not just sexy.
Their latest updates help:
Integrate XR modules into existing software stacks
Centralize data tracking for analytics
Shorten dev cycles for custom environments
In short, they’re building infrastructure—so XR isn’t a one-off stunt but a sustainable strategy.
What This Means for You
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: If you’re still viewing XR as “experimental,” you’re already behind.
Forward-thinking organizations are using it to:
Compress design timelines
Cut onboarding time in half
Improve safety training with zero real-world risk
And here’s the kicker: the tools are available. What’s missing in most orgs isn’t the tech—it’s the initiative.
That’s a wrap
Talk soon!
Bruno Filkin
Founder, Mastermind VR
VR Strategy Consultation
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