Next Reality

Market Reality: HoloLens 2 Hits Primetime TV, Qualcomm Unveils XR2 Chip, & Magic Leap Tops 2019's Biggest AR Investments

Investment in augmented reality remained robust in 2019. For the third consecutive year, we looked back on the biggest funding deals in the AR industry this week, and a familiar name came out on top.

News: Snap Unveils Gucci Edition of Spectacles 3, Film Shot via Spectacles 3 by 'Kids' Director Harmony Korine

After several iterations of the product, Snap is focused on making sure the world knows that its smartglasses can be fashionable.

News: Microsoft HoloLens 2 Assists De'Longhi Japan Call Center Agents Using Augmented Reality Product Models

Less than a month after the worldwide launch of HoloLens 2, call center consultant BellSystem24 has already prepared an augmented reality solution for one of its clients.

Market Reality: Facebook Adds AR to TV, Magic Leap Gets New App from Insomniac, & Five Nights at Freddy's Debuts in AR

It's the holiday season, and the tech industry is giving consumers several AR products and apps as gift-giving options.

Hands-On: Facebook Pioneers Augmented Reality for the TV with Latest Portal Hardware

When Facebook launched its first hardware products last year, the Portal and Portal+ smart displays, the company mostly touted its video-calling features as it faced off against Amazon and its Echo Show.

News: HBO Conjures More Snapchat AR Experiences to Promote 'His Dark Materials'

As far as HBO is concerned, it's not augmented reality — it's Snapchat. The premium cable network is leaning hard on Snapchat's AR magic tricks to promote yet another series, this time for the adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series of novels.

News: Watch Trimble Give the Microsoft HoloLens 2 the Elon Musk Tesla Cybertruck Smash Test, Sort Of

Everyone seems to be talking about Elon Musk's new futuristic Tesla Cybertruck, the vehicle that either looks like a cool moon rover or an outlandish video game replica, depending on your tastes.

News: Insomniac Games Unveils Strangelets Game for Magic Leap One, the Follow Up to Seedling

The end of year surprises keep on flowing from the Plantation, Florida offices of Magic Leap. This time, it's yet another game from the company's old partner Insomniac Games, and it's called Strangelets.

News: New York Times Debuts Location-Based Air Pollution AR Visualization for Apple iOS Devices

After establishing itself as a leader among media companies in augmented reality in journalism over the course of 2018, The New York Times pulled back from the technology this year.

News: Qualcomm Launches Snapdragon XR2 5G for Next-Level AR Hardware & Reference Design for AR Wearables

As one of the leading makers of processors for smartphones, Qualcomm further bolstered its place in the market with the announcement of the Snapdragon 865 earlier this week.

News: Nreal Collaborates with Qualcomm & Deutsche Telekom to Build Prototype Enterprise AR App

As a frequent collaborator with Qualcomm, it would be kind of weird if Nreal didn't have something new to unveil at this week's Snapdragon Summit.

News: Microsoft's HoloLens 2 Makes Primetime Debut on Fox TV Show 'The Resident'

The HoloLens 2 hasn't even reached most of the market, but it's already a big-time TV star. Microsoft's augmented reality device made its primetime debut on FOX TV last night on an episode of the hospital drama The Resident.

News: The 25 Biggest AR Investments in 2019

It's safe to say that we can call the annual ranking of AR investments a holiday tradition at Next Reality.

News: Facebook Adds Image Tracking Effects & Slider Controls to Spark AR for Instagram

After opening up its Spark AR platform on Instagram for all creators, Facebook is already expanding the platform's capabilities on its Snapchat killer.

News: Startup Illumix Brings Mobile Horror Franchise Five Nights at Freddy's into Augmented Reality Gaming

A little over a year after emerging from stealth, augmented reality gaming startup Illumix has launched its first title using a familiar formula, but with a new twist.

Market Reality: Hello Kitty Comes to AR, Epic Games Negotiates with Nreal, & Magic Leap Weathers Exec Turnover

They say it is always darkest before the dawn. If that's the case, then perhaps there's a light ahead for Magic Leap after more unfavorable news in the form of executive departures.

News: Marina Abramovic's Volumetric Art Piece Heads for Christie's Auction Block After Debut in Magic Leap

Some people believe that art makes artists immortal, and now one of the best known performance artists on the planet is working on taking that immortality into the realm of augmented reality.

News: Magic Leap & Weta Workshop Launch Boosters Game from Dr. Grordbort's Invaders Universe

Magic Leap took years to launch, but when it did, the company managed to quickly become the leading rival to Microsoft's HoloLens (at least when it comes to experimental immersive experiences).

News: Hello Kitty Challenges Pokémon GO's Reign as Top AR Game with Kawaii World

After three years and change, no one seems to be able to knock Pokémon GO off its augmented reality throne. Zombies, dinosaurs, and ghosts have all met defeat at the hands of the pocket monsters. Heck, not even the world's most popular wizard and Pokémon GO's developer can replicate the original's success.

News: Snapchat Gives Users the Ultimate Selfie Filter with Time Machine Aging AR Lens

After achieving viral and financial success with its Gender Swap and Baby Face camera filters, Snapchat has returned with the augmented reality equivalent of Benjamin Button.

News: Nreal Strikes 5G Partnership with LG Uplus in South Korea, Begins Accepting Pre-Orders for Nreal Light Developer Kit

After entering into settlement talks with Epic Games over the gaming giant's trademark challenge, Nreal is now ready to open up the floodgates to potential early adopters in the augmented reality space.

News: Resolution Games Follows 'Angry Birds FPS' with 'Glimt' Mystery Game for Magic Leap One

After leveraging the well-known intellectual property of Rovio's Angry Birds for its first game for the Magic Leap One, Resolution Games is singing a new song with a familiar refrain for its next game for the augmented reality headset.

News: Knight Foundation Awards Five Museums $750K in Funding for Immersive Exhibits with Microsoft

Augmented reality seems to come into its own in museums, where audiences are ready and willing to try out new immersive tech. Now, that tech-powered palette is about to get a little larger.

News: Epic Games Enters Settlement Talks with Nreal Over Trademark Naming Dispute

At least one hurdle to China-based augmented reality startup Nreal going mainstream in the United States may be about to be knocked down, thanks to behind the scenes legal movements Next Reality has uncovered.

News: Google Researchers Develop Method for Capturing 'Relightable' Volumetric Video

As the demand for realistic volumetric video for AR experiences begins to grow (along with the available facilities and services for capturing it), researchers at Google have figured out how to improve upon the format.

News: Nintendo Crafts AR Experience via Google Lens for Pokémon Sword & Shield Game Packaging

Pokémon, Google, and augmented reality go together like wasabi, soy, and ginger, and the trio has come together again for the release of the latest game from the Pokémon universe.

News: AR Cloud Startup Ubiquity6 Launches Display.land for 3D Capture via Smartphone Cameras

While its competitors are concentrating on building out AR cloud platforms to give advanced AR capabilities to mobile apps, Ubiquity6 is taking a step in a different direction.

News: Magic Leap Loses CFO Scott Henry & Effects Wizard John Gaeta Following News of Funding Woes

This week's news that Magic Leap's patents had entered collateral limbo, now in the hands of JPMorgan Chase, threw a dark cloud over the company.

Market Reality: Magic Leap Seeks Series E Funding, Apple Delays AR Headset, & Snap Starts Selling Spectacles 3

The week in AR business news started out with a bang with two bombshell reports that cast a shadow on the AR industry as a whole.

News: Starbucks Uses Instagram AR to Promote Sustainability via Holiday Campaign

Starbucks is spicing things up ahead of this holiday season with a little augmented reality joy. This week the company launched its first Instagram filter, called Holijoy, delivered like an early Christmas gift and packing four seasonal lenses.

News: Amid Motorola Razr Hype, Lenovo Unveils AR Glasses Concept for Private Computing

After drawing attention from nostalgic Gen Xers for its Motorola Razr reboot with a foldable screen, Lenovo has a new augmented reality smartglasses concept that the company hopes will also turn some heads.

News: Disney Plus Serves Up Snapchat Lens to Promote Live-Action 'Lady & the Tramp'

Unless you've been totally off the grid, there's a good chance you're aware that the Disney Plus streaming video service launched this week. And, if you're on this site, you're likely salivating over the new Star Wars series, The Mandalorian.

News: University of Sussex Researchers Develop Method for Making Holograms Touchable

Most augmented reality experiences are purely visual, with spatial audio gaining in popularity to make visual experiences more realistic. However, leveraging the sense of touch may be the next frontier for AR experiences.

News: Flow Immersive Launches Magic Leap Augmented Reality Data Slideshow App That Puts PowerPoint to Shame

Thanks to the expanding universe of augmented reality tools being made available, increasingly, anybody can liven up sleepy office meetings with immersive computing.

News: Magic Leap Adds Spotify Music to Growing Arsenal of Spatial Computing Apps

The spatial computing world of Magic Leap is no longer limited to the rarefied tones of Sigur Rós and Sennheiser's Ambeo Augmented Audio app. Now, the entire music universe will be at your augmented reality fingertips.

News: Snapchat Transports Gucci Fans to Trippy Tropical Island for Holiday Promotion

Baby, it's cold outside, but, with some help from Snapchat augmented reality, Gucci is thawing our wintery hearths with a virtual trip to the tropics.

News: Sally Beauty's YouCam-Powered AR Try-on Kiosks Land in 500 US Stores

Another major retailer is putting all its chips in on the relentless rise of selfie culture. Sally Beauty is rolling out kiosks to try-on "some of its best" hair dyes in 500 of its stores throughout the US. The in-store augmented reality-powered kiosks invite you to view yourself on video, overlay a punky (or otherwise) hair color, and snap a selfie on the screen to share your #glowup with friends.

News: Looking Glass Launches 8K Immersive Display, a High-Resolution Holographic-Style Window into the 3D World

The next phase of the holographic display is upon us, and Looking Glass is aggressively making sure that it's at the tip of the spear when it comes to leading that charge.

News: Snap's Spectacles 3 Officially Go on Sale Internationally Online & at Retail

Following up on the initial tease over three months ago, Snap Inc. is finally letting the public get its hands on its new Spectacles 3 wearable device.

News: Kohl's Partners With Snapchat AR for Holiday Pop-Up & Black Friday Promotions

All Kohl's wants for Christmas is Snapchat augmented reality. In conjunction with a holiday pop-up hosted in New York City from Nov. 7 through Nov. 10, Snapchat ran a sponsored portal lens available to targeted Snapchat users in the AR carousel. The experience gave users the ability to virtually transport themselves to the pop-up.