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Episode 85 | The Speed of Culture Podcast | January 9, 2024
The convergence of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) is reshaping how consumers interact with the world, how teams collaborate across continents, and how brands will market their products in the coming decade.
On a special episode of The Speed of Culture Podcast recorded during CES 2024 in Las Vegas, Matt Britton—founder and CEO of Suzy, the AI-powered consumer intelligence platform—sits down with Shachar Scott, VP of Marketing for Meta Reality Labs, to explore the future of mixed reality and its profound implications for business and marketing strategy.
With over two decades of experience in marketing and recognition as a Brand Innovators' 2023 Industry Innovation and Campaign40o40 Award winner, Scott brings a unique blend of strategic vision and practical expertise. She walks listeners through Meta’s virtual and augmented reality technologies, including its groundbreaking collaboration with Ray-Ban on smart glasses.
The conversation tackles one of the most pressing questions facing marketing executives today: How do we market technologies consumers have little experience with? How do we overcome adoption barriers that stand between innovation and mainstream acceptance? And what does the future of work, education, and human connection look like when mixed reality becomes as ubiquitous as the smartphone?
This guide explores the key themes from the episode, offering actionable insights for business leaders, marketers, and anyone interested in where technology and culture intersect at the speed of culture.
One of the most compelling aspects of Shachar Scott’s journey is how it defies conventional career planning. Rather than following a linear path, her trajectory highlights the value of curiosity, adaptability, and calculated risk-taking in an industry that demands both analytical rigor and creative thinking.
In college, Scott planned to become a lawyer. She was drawn to the structured problem-solving and advocacy inherent in law. But after exploring marketing and communications, she realized the field offered the same strategic thinking and influence—without the confines of a courtroom.
That realization led her into the nonprofit and philanthropic world, where she used storytelling to educate people about causes she deeply cared about. For Scott, marketing became fundamentally about human connection—understanding motivation, crafting resonant narratives, and driving meaningful change.
When she transitioned to the private sector—joining companies like Apple, Snap Inc., Bumble, and eventually Meta Reality Labs—she brought that philosophy with her. Rather than simply selling products, she focused on telling stories about how technology could enhance human connection and improve lives.
The lesson for marketing professionals is clear: don’t be confined by your initial career plan. Skills developed in one domain can be repurposed and amplified in another. In a rapidly evolving industry, intellectual flexibility is invaluable.
A central insight from Scott’s discussion with Britton is deceptively simple: direct experience drives adoption. When marketing emerging technologies—especially immersive ones like VR headsets and smart glasses—traditional advertising alone cannot communicate the magic.
Meta Reality Labs spans multiple pillars: gaming through Quest, professional applications, content creation platforms like Oculus Studios and Beat Saber, AR initiatives like Ray-Ban Meta glasses, and productivity tools for work. What unites them is that they represent technological leaps with limited consumer reference points.
You cannot communicate the magic of VR through advertising alone.
Scott emphasizes that the strategy is not to convince people with copy—it’s to get products into their hands. Demo stations at CES, retail trials, immersive events, and strategic partnerships all serve one goal: let consumers experience the “magic” firsthand.
This approach has implications beyond VR and AR. Whether it’s spatial computing, advanced AI, or brain-computer interfaces, adoption depends on overcoming the “I don’t understand this” barrier. Until someone experiences VR presence—the feeling of being in a shared virtual space—no messaging can fully convey it.
Internal adoption is equally critical. Marketing teams must be genuine users of the products they promote. This practice—often called “dogfooding”—ensures authenticity when answering tough consumer questions about capabilities and limitations.
For marketing leaders, the takeaway is clear:
While VR is often associated with gaming, Scott highlights its transformative potential in the enterprise. As hybrid work becomes permanent, organizations face a pressing question: How do we replicate the benefits of in-person collaboration across distributed teams?
Video conferencing solved some challenges but introduced others. Zoom fatigue is real. Serendipitous hallway conversations don’t translate to scheduled calls. Nonverbal cues are flattened in two dimensions.
VR environments offer something fundamentally different: shared spatial presence. Avatars can move, gesture, and collaborate in immersive settings that feel more natural and less exhausting than traditional video calls.
Retail companies are already using VR for accelerated training. Instead of shadowing experienced associates in live environments, new employees can practice in immersive simulations—navigating customer interactions and de-escalation scenarios without real-world consequences.
The results are compelling:
Beyond training, VR enables spatial collaboration for architectural reviews, engineering projects, and complex design challenges. For global organizations, it may fundamentally change how work is structured.
Scott’s message is direct: companies that adopt spatial computing early will build institutional knowledge, attract modern talent, and gain productivity advantages.
If VR represents full immersion, mixed reality wearables like Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses represent ambient integration. Users remain present in the physical world while accessing digital layers of information.
The adoption pathway mirrors previous wearables: AirPods normalized wireless audio; Apple Watch normalized wrist-based notifications. Smart glasses may be the next leap—particularly when designed with fashion credibility and social acceptability.
Scott underscores a deeper insight: humans are social beings. Technologies that enhance communication, awareness, and collaboration amplify human flourishing.
Use cases—real-time translation, contextual professional information, or product insights—don’t offer novelty for novelty’s sake. They enhance human agency and connection.
The strategic distinction is critical: mixed reality isn’t about escaping into a digital world. It’s about intelligently augmenting physical reality.
Marketing novel technologies requires a fundamentally different mindset. Credibility is paramount. Consumers have privacy concerns, health questions, and social anxieties about wearing new devices.
Marketing must be educational, transparent, and insight-driven. Platforms like Suzy provide real-time consumer intelligence, helping brands understand barriers and information gaps before launching campaigns.
Partnership and ecosystem building are equally critical. Meta’s collaboration with Ray-Ban combines fashion heritage with technological innovation, making smart glasses feel like an evolution of an existing category rather than a foreign gadget.
Segmentation also matters. Early adopters differ dramatically from mainstream consumers. Messaging must shift from “futuristic cool” to tangible, practical benefits.
Above all, Scott emphasizes experimentation. When your category barely exists, your playbook is blank. Test, learn, iterate—and stay curious.
Virtual reality (VR) fully immerses users in a digital environment. Augmented reality (AR) overlays digital information onto the physical world, typically via phones or tablets. Mixed reality (MR) blends the two, integrating digital objects seamlessly into physical space. Ray-Ban Meta glasses are an example of AR/MR technology designed for everyday use.
Meta’s Reality Labs division has invested heavily in long-term spatial computing infrastructure. In 2024, Reality Labs achieved 40% sales growth and captured 70.8% of the VR market share in Q3, demonstrating product-market traction with devices like Quest 3 and Ray-Ban Meta glasses. The focus has shifted from speculative metaverse narratives to practical consumer and enterprise applications.
Start with a specific use case—training, collaboration, or marketing. Evaluate whether spatial computing solves the problem better than existing tools. Partner with experienced platforms, invest in demo experiences, and treat adoption as a learning journey with rigorous measurement and iteration.
Early adopters tend to be tech enthusiasts and gamers, but mainstream adoption is accelerating. Effective marketing emphasizes practical benefits—training outcomes, collaboration efficiency, convenience, and style—over novelty. Transparency builds credibility.
AI powers spatial understanding, intelligent avatars, and contextual assistance within immersive environments. The convergence of AI and spatial computing unlocks powerful enterprise applications, from guided training to real-time task support.
The conversation between Matt Britton and Shachar Scott captures a pivotal moment. Spatial computing is transitioning from niche to mainstream productivity and communication tool.
The brands that will win are those asking practical questions: How can we enhance training? Improve collaboration? Delight customers? Strengthen relationships through wearable technology?
Scott’s emphasis on curiosity, experimentation, and authentic value provides a blueprint for success.
To hear the full conversation, listen to the episode on The Speed of Culture Podcast. For more insights, explore Generation AI, book Matt for an AI keynote, visit Speaker HQ, or get in touch for speaking and consulting inquiries.
Author: Matt Britton, Founder & CEO of Suzy
Date Published: January 9, 2024
Date Updated: February 26, 2026
Episode: 85 | The Speed of Culture Podcast
Guest: Shachar Scott, VP of Marketing, Meta Reality Labs
This blog post is part of The Speed of Culture Podcast series, exploring how brands navigate rapidly changing consumer culture and emerging technologies. Visit mattbritton.com to stay updated.
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