Next Reality

News: Magic Leap Trade Secrets Lawsuit Against China's Nreal on Hold as Mediation Begins & Court Sets Tentative Trial Date

This week, the beginning of an epic legal battle was set to begin between augmented reality players Magic Leap and Nreal, the small China-based startup accused by the former of stealing trade secrets.

News: Apple Launches Reality Converter to Prepare 3D Objects for Reality Composer

After introducing and launching Reality Composer alongside iOS 13 and ARKit 3 last year, Apple is making it easier for developers to create apps with it.

News: Artists Transform Brooklyn Light Installation into Instagram AR Filter That Doubles as Dimensional Portal

What if you went to an art installation at one of the coolest venues in New York that you could then take with you anywhere in the world?

Market Reality: Samsung Prototype, Mastercard App, Plus Vuzix, 0Glasses, & Pacific Future AR Wearables Shown Off at CES

In years past, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) mostly dabbled in the future as far as the long-term vision for augmented reality was concerned. This year, however, objects in the future are much closer than they appear.

News: Hong Kong Startup's Am Glass Wearable Offers Powerful Augmented Reality Smartglasses Alternative to Nreal Light

We've been predicting the rush of augmented reality wearable makers from China for a couple of years, and now it looks like it's in full swing, with one of the most promising entrants coming from startup Pacific Future.

News: BMW Augmented Reality Windshield Concept Adds Gaze Detection for Natural Interaction

While the automotive industry is moving towards adopting AR displays in future models, BMW is already shifting into the next gear with its vision of the technology.

News: Mastercard Develops Mobile AR App to Explain Rewards & Benefits to Cardholders

It's a good sign for any emerging technology when one of the leaders of an industry adopts it. So when Mastercard, a brand so recognizable that it dropped its name from its logo at CES last year, decides to develop a mobile augmented reality app, the moment is a milestone for the AR industry.

News: Unity Previews Immersive Art Experiences for Mobile AR, Magic Leap One, & HoloLens at Upcoming Sundance Festival

The Unity 3D engine is not only responsible for facilitating the creation of 60% of AR and VR content but it also plays a significant role in producing the immersive stories that increasingly push the boundaries of cinema.

Market Reality: Apple & Snap Boost AR Features, Magic Leap & Nreal Work on Truce, & Mojo Vision Unveils Smart Contacts

While the big names in augmented reality demonstrated the breadth of opportunities in the industry's landscape this week, one new startup showed off what is possible further in the future.

News: This Is Why All Augmented Reality Startups Suck

People fundamentally distrust magicians. And they should. The illusions they proffer are just that, illusions meant to astound rather than tangible interactions and results that have weight and meaning in our real world. Our lizard brains know this, and, no matter what the outstanding feat of "magic" presented, we nevertheless hold fast to our survival-based grip on the truth: we just saw simply "can't be real."

News: Startup Mojo Vision Seeking FDA Approval for First Augmented Reality Smart Contact Lens

After more than two years of teasing, augmented reality startup Mojo Vision has confirmed that "invisible computing" means what we've suspected all along.

News: Startup Ubiquity6 Expands 3D Object Social Network into AR Cloud Creation with Display.land Studio

After dipping its toes into the AR cloud arena last year, Ubiquity6 is now jumping in with both feet this year.

News: Snapchat Turns Real World into AR Scavenger Hunt with Nearly Instant Object Recognition

While Snapchat is no stranger to location-based AR scavenger hunts, the app's new world-facing game adds some environmental understanding to the mix.

News: China-Based Startup 0glasses Looks to Challenge Nreal Light with Its RealX Augmented Reality Smartglasses

Brace yourselves: Nreal Light clones are coming. Since the China-based startup wowed the crowd at CES 2019 with its consumer-centric smartglasses, a number of followers from Asia have emerged, and all with very similar aesthetics to Nreal Light.

News: Samsung Demos AR Smartglasses, Virtual Workout Partner at CES

The world of CES, the annual technology conference in Las Vegas, usually brings a few surprises, but few expected Samsung to fire off its first real augmented reality salvo at the event.

News: Vuzix Reveals Next-Gen M4000 Enterprise Smartglasses, Shows Off Smart Swim AR Wearable for Aquatic Athletes

While consumer-grade smartglasses are the holy grail for tech companies, smartglasses maker Vuzix knows where its bread is buttered, and that's in the enterprise segment.

News: Nreal Light Intros Nebula for Augmented Reality Interfaces on Android Apps, AR Cloud & 6DoF Controllers

With the consumer edition of its Nreal Light headset, scheduled to ship in 2020, Nreal is prepared to bring the entire Android app ecosystem into augmented reality.

News: Explore the Grueling Wartime Trenches of Golden Globe Winning Movie '1917' via Web-Based AR Experience

Filmed in what appears to be a single continuous shot, war film 1917 is now the front-runner to conquer the Best Picture category of the Academy Awards after bringing home the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture in the drama category.

Market Reality: The Year in AR — HoloLens 2, Magic Leap's Rocky Ride, Apple's Future, & AR Startups Under Pressure

When filtered through the prism of the top stories of the year, the business of augmented reality 2019 was defined as much by epic failures of AR startups as it was by the promising developments that propelled the industry forward into 2020.

News: Instagram Creators Launch Filters for Harry Potter, Pokémon & Simpsons Characters in Augmented Reality

The developer who gained notoriety for his What Disney Are You? augmented reality filter on Instagram is striking again while the iron is hot.

News: USA Today Deepens Story on Afghanistan War with AR Experience

The augmented reality team at USA Today closed out a prolific year of immersive storytelling with a hard-hitting companion piece exploring the controversial conflict in Afghanistan.

News: Android Chrome Browsers Get More WebXR Support via Open Source Platform A-Frame & ARCore

While Apple and Google have paved the way for developers to create web-based AR experiences through their respective mobile toolkits, an open source option has entered the space.

News: This Viral Instagram Augmented Reality Filter Will Tell You Which Disney Character You Really Are

One Instagram creator's augmented reality homage to Disney's deep bench of animated characters has earned him fifteen minutes of fame.

Hands-On: Spotify Premium on Magic Leap One Is Futuristic, But Not Quite the iPod of AR

Back when I worked in the music industry, I never imagined there would be a day that I'd be able to sit in a room surrounded by virtual album covers while listening to beats, but that day is really here.

Market Reality: Google Lens Pairs with L'Oreal, 8th Wall Riffs on Pink Floyd, & Magic Leap Delivers Holiday AR

In his famous 1996 "Content is King" essay, Bill Gates predicted that content is where tech companies will make money on the Internet. The adage clearly holds true in the current phase of augmented reality experience.

News: Star Wars Baby Yoda Unofficially Comes to Magic Leap via This Developer Experiment

The first season of Star Wars: The Mandalorian may be over, but the love for its biggest star, Baby Yoda, persists.

News: Snapchat, Facebook, Google, 8th Wall, & Immersion Bring Holiday Cheer via Augmented Reality

Sending Christmas cards via snail mail is so passé. Why spend the time and money for a bougie photoshoot, saccharine card design, and postage when you can use augmented reality to instantly dress up photos and videos to send to friends and family instead?

News: Magic Leap Wraps 2019 with Immersive Holiday Experience

The book is almost closed on 2019, but Magic Leap has one more gift to offer its users before the new decade arrives.

News: Google Lens Delivers AR Try-On for L'Oreal's Garnier Products at Walmart

Sure, it's the giving season, but sometimes you've just got to treat yourself to some cosmetics. If you're shopping at Walmart, L'Oreal just made that a shade easier when shopping for Garnier hair color products with an assist from Google Lens and the Modiface AR platform.

Market Reality: AR Leaders Predict 2020, Nreal Fights Back, Elon Musk's Vision in AR, & Magic Leap's Boosters

As the year comes to a close, we've invited some of the leaders of the AR industry to take the time to look back at the progress the AR industry has made while looking forward to what's ahead in 2020. A report on the top apps of 2019 — and the decade — also offers some insights on the progress and direction of mobile AR.

News: 8th Wall's Web AR Brings Album Art of Pink Floyd to Life

What better band than Pink Floyd, the pioneers of psychedelic and progressive rock, to show the music industry how to reinvent album art for the augmented reality age?

Vision Forecast 2020: AR Execs Weigh in on Recent Industry Milestones & What We Can Expect in the Coming Year

The year 2019 was filled with all the normal peaks and valleys of the tech business cycle, but this year was particularly important in a space as relatively young as the augmented reality industry.

News: Augmented Reality Apps Account for Over Half of the Top 10 Most Downloaded Apps of 2019, Report Says

If there's any lingering uncertainty as to the mainstream viability of augmented reality, a list of the top mobile apps and games of 2019 serves to dispell those doubts.

News: 8th Wall, Amazon Sumerian, & Trigger Team Up to Deliver Web AR Promotion for 'Jumanji' Movie Sequel

Augmented reality already seemed like the ideal technology to advertise for a movie based on the premise of being sucked into a video game world the first time around. For the sequel, how about two times the immersion?

News: HyperloopTT Uses Magic Leap to Show How Elon Musk's Futuristic Vision of Transport Will Work in the US

While Elon Musk is in Los Angeles showing off the future of personal transport via the Cybertruck, another, unaffiliated group is taking one of his most popular ideas to market, with augmented reality as a key part of the plan.

News: Niantic Bringing Buddy Interactions to AR+ Mode in Pokémon GO, Shared Experiences with Other Trainers to Follow

It looks like Pokémon GO players may get a surprise gift from the game's developer, Niantic, this holiday season.

Exclusive: Nreal Fires Back at Magic Leap with Motion to Dismiss Trade Secrets Lawsuit

In a stunning end-of-year twist to the Magic Leap versus Nreal legal saga, the China-based startup is now filing a motion against Magic Leap.

News: Snapchat Launches Trailer Reaction AR Lens for Tom Cruise Movie 'Top Gun: Maverick'

Usually, flying into unknown territory would mean riding into the "danger zone", but Paramount and Snapchat are taking the trip anyway with one of Summer 2020's most anticipated movie sequels.

News: Dior Returns to Instagram AR with Virtual Makeup Effect to Promote Holiday Collection

The cosmetics brands are among the earliest adopters of augmented reality, using virtual try-on tools to preview shades of makeup before buying.

Market Reality: Google Updates ARCore & Cuts Glass, Star Wars AR in Japan, & Hands-On Magic Leap for Fashion & Voice

After facing reports of financial troubles over the past month, Magic Leap came out swinging this week with a big push for the enterprise segment of AR, including a repackaged Magic Leap 1, a suite of enterprise apps, and updates to Lumin OS and its supporting development ecosystem. Oh, and its AR headset managed to win a starring role in the marketing juggernaut for the forthcoming Star Wars movie.