Products want stability, prototypes tolerate friction
Stability arrives late.
Friction arrives immediately.
XR teams often move before they settle
Hardware shifts.
Frameworks update.
Movement keeps questions open
Nothing is locked.
Possibility stays visible.
Locking too early narrows learning
Decisions harden.
Alternatives disappear.
A prototype explains more by failing
Tracking drops.
Latency interrupts intention.
Failure becomes a shared language
Teams point to the same glitch.
Understanding forms around limits.
On “prototype”
It is not unfinished.
It is deliberately open.
Portability matters more than polish
Can it be carried?
Can it be rebuilt elsewhere?
Travel exposes assumptions
Room size changes.
Lighting changes.
Assumptions surface under movement
Calibration reveals bias.
Context edits experience.
Platforms reward familiarity
Engines standardize workflows.
Standards reduce surprise.
Surprise is expensive in XR
Motion sickness appears.
Trust evaporates.
Teams negotiate between spectacle and usability
Visual impact attracts attention.
Comfort sustains it.
Comfort rarely trends
It feels ordinary.
Ordinary keeps users returning.
Feedback arrives unevenly
Applause is loud.
Notes are quiet.
Quiet feedback compounds
Small changes stack.
Iteration accumulates.
Documentation becomes a second product
Setups are written down.
Workarounds circulate.
Circulation builds community
Someone tries it elsewhere.
Something changes.
External references steady expectations
Shared benchmarks reduce drift.
They don’t remove debate.
Eventually, products catch up
Features align.
Edges smooth.
By then, prototypes have moved on
Questions reopen.
Momentum relocates.
Movement keeps the field alive.