End-of-year reflection and outlook: why we build what we build at yondr
An end-of-year reflection and a look ahead
As the year comes to a close, I usually feel the reflex to look back. To measure what worked, what did not, and to draw cautious conclusions about what might come next. But for us at yondr, the end of the year is less about closing a chapter and more about sharpening our direction. Not because we believe we can predict the future, but because we believe we can prepare for it.
We are operating in a world where uncertainty is no longer an exception. It is the baseline. Technology is evolving faster than most organizations can structurally absorb. Buzzwords are flying around. Expectations are shifting, often without consumers explicitly realizing it themselves. In that context, standing still is not neutral. It is a slow retreat.
This article is not a manifesto, and it is certainly not a cry for urgency. It is a personal reflection from my perspective as co-founder of yondr. It is an explanation of why we do what we do, why we believe in the technologies we work with, and how we see several major trends converging over the next year. It is grounded in concrete projects, market data, and daily practice, not just in vision.
3D configurators and the rise of spatial product communication
One of the clearest signals we see is the structural shift from static, two-dimensional product communication to interactive, three-dimensional experiences. Humans perceive the world in 3D, yet we still sell, explain, and compare products mostly through flat images and text. That mismatch has been accepted for decades, but it is becoming harder to justify.
3D configurators and product visualizations dramatically change how people evaluate products. Photorealistic, interactive 3D experiences allow users to rotate, zoom, customize, and truly understand what they are buying. This builds trust. It reduces uncertainty. And it shortens decision cycles.
Multiple studies consistently show that websites using 3D visualization significantly outperform those relying on static imagery. Research from Shopify, among others, indicates that interactive 3D and AR product content can significantly increase conversion rates and reduce return rates compared to static imagery. Conversion rates can increase by up to 90 percent, returns go down because expectations are better aligned, and emotional engagement goes up because the product feels tangible before it is physically present.
The challenge has always been complexity and cost. High-quality 3D traditionally required heavy hardware, specialized software, and complex pipelines. That is exactly where pixel streaming changes the equation.
By running high-end 3D rendering on powerful cloud GPUs and streaming only the visuals to the browser, pixel streaming removes the technical barrier entirely. A smartphone, tablet, or basic laptop becomes a gateway to a premium, lifelike configuration experience. No installs. No compromises on visual quality.
With spaces, we take this one step further. Products are built digitally once and become instantly available across the entire sales journey. Website, augmented reality, showroom, dealer environment, trade show booth. All from the same source of truth.
This does not just improve the customer experience. It fundamentally changes internal workflows. By working from the same 3D configurator, marketing teams suddenly gain superpowers. Instead of relying on expensive photoshoots, they can generate unlimited product variations that would be practically impossible to photograph in the real world. Every color, option, and configuration can be ‘shot’ in their virtual 3D studio. We turn marketing teams into photographers, supported by suggested prompts built on brand DNA, allowing them to generate high-quality visuals in AI-generated environments. This enables teams to respond faster to trends, maintain perfect brand consistency, and drastically reduce production costs, all while staying connected to a single source of truth. Marketing teams can generate unlimited, consistent, up-to-date visuals without recurring photoshoots or expensive re-rendering cycles. Dealers stop working with outdated material. Brands regain control over how their products are presented everywhere.
I strongly believe that 3D will become the default language of product communication. Not as a gimmick, but as a more natural, efficient way to explain complexity.
Immersive experiences as a driver of engagement and brand relevance
If 3D configurators change how products are understood, immersive experiences change how brands are remembered. According to research from Product Seekers and similar industry studies, immersive experiences lead to stronger emotional engagement, higher recall, and increased brand affinity.
We have called ourselves an immersive media agency since 2015, long before the term became fashionable. For years, immersive experiences lived at the edge of marketing budgets. Interesting, experimental, but rarely seen as essential. That is now changing.
Multiple studies show that immersive experiences have a direct impact on perception and loyalty. A large majority of millennials prefer brands that offer unique, immersive interactions. More than 90 percent of participants report a more positive feeling toward a brand after taking part in such an experience.
At the same time, the immersive marketing market is growing rapidly. Market reports point to hundreds of millions in annual investments and a projected compound annual growth rate between 20 and 28 percent toward 2030.
We see this reflected in real projects. For Visit Ostend, we developed an immersive city walk that sold over 17,000 tickets even before the Christmas holiday season started. That is not just a marketing success. It is tangible economic impact. More visitors. More local spending. More value for the city.
On trade show floors, immersive experiences help brands stand out in environments where attention is brutally scarce. In showrooms, they make complex products understandable and emotionally engaging. Online, immersive 3D content significantly increases time spent, interaction rates, and conversion. Shopify reports that immersive 3D product content can boost engagement by up to 70 percent and increase conversion rates by as much as 40 percent compared to non-interactive alternatives.
But immersive experiences are not about technology for technology’s sake. They are about relevance. About earning attention rather than buying it.
This becomes even more important as brand loyalty comes under pressure. AI-driven recommendation systems increasingly act as decision-makers for consumers. Choices are made based on context, price, availability, and reviews, not emotional attachment. If a brand does not offer a clear, distinctive experience, it risks becoming invisible in algorithmic decision flows.
Immersive experiences are one of the strongest tools brands have to remain memorable and meaningful in that landscape.
Artificial intelligence, from tools to context
It would be impossible for me to talk about the past year without addressing artificial intelligence. AI has dominated headlines, boardroom discussions, and creative processes alike. At yondr, AI is not a side project. It is embedded in how we work.
We use AI to understand and optimize our internal processes. To remove friction. To create space for creativity rather than replace it. The result is not only higher efficiency, but also a level of consistency and quality that would be hard to achieve otherwise.
At the same time, AI has become a production tool. We create video content using AI. We build AI-powered agents and products. Not as experiments, but as scalable solutions.
Looking ahead, I am convinced that the next major breakthrough will come from smart wearables, particularly smart glasses.
All major players in the AI space are openly working toward Artificial General Intelligence. This is also one of the central themes in my upcoming book, scheduled for release in early March, where I explore how AI needs to break out of databases and screens to truly understand the world. Systems that can reason, adapt, and understand the world at a human level. To get there, AI needs more than databases and text. It needs context. It needs to perceive the world.
That perception comes from sensor data. Vision, sound, spatial awareness. Smart wearables are one of the most scalable ways to provide that context.
Today, we already see early signals. Meta’s Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses are already on the market. Google and Samsung are expected to enter the space around 2026 through their respective partnerships and hardware roadmaps. Apple is widely expected to follow, most likely in 2027. Google’s upcoming partnerships with Warby Parker and Gentle Monster. Samsung entering the space. Apple likely following later in the decade. In this video, you can see how Disney is already using an app in its theme parks that is built specifically for smart glasses.
After experimenting with smart glasses ourselves, the shift is obvious. Always-on assistance. Hands-free interaction. Context-aware information layered onto the real world. At times, the smartphone already feels like an unnecessary extra step.
Smart glasses will not replace everything overnight. But as I argue in the book, once AI gains continuous contextual awareness through wearables and spatial interfaces, entire categories of applications will accelerate much faster than we expect. But they represent a fundamental shift in computing. From screens we look at, to systems that look with us.
AI production and organizational transformation
AI does not stop at interfaces. It reshapes how organizations operate.
AI-driven production allows content to be created faster, adapted dynamically, and personalized at scale. But the real impact comes when AI is woven into processes, not bolted on top of them.
This requires understanding, not just adoption. Knowing where AI adds value. Where it creates risk. Where it should support humans rather than override them.
That is where our consultancy work comes in.
We help organizations make sense of the technological noise. We map their processes. Identify opportunities. Define realistic roadmaps. Not everything needs to be immersive. Not everything needs AI. But some things absolutely do.
Our role is to guide, to test, to implement, and to support change over time.
Embracing the never normal
We recently quoted Peter Hinssen on our podcast, and his words capture our mindset perfectly.
Organizations that accept uncertainty as permanent can redesign how they operate. They invest not only in execution, but in exploration. They build curiosity, adaptability, and learning into their core.
In a Never Normal world, success does not belong to those who plan for a single future. It belongs to those who are prepared to continuously adjust.
That belief sits at the heart of everything we do at yondr. We do not chase trends. We build capabilities. We do not sell technology. We design experiences, systems, and strategies that help brands stay relevant in a world that refuses to stand still.
That is our reflection. And our outlook.
