Next Reality

News: How Whitney Houston's New Hologram Tour Is Proof That Virtual Beings & Volumetric Performances Are Going Mainstream

We've been so worried about volumetric scans possibly robbing celebrities and performers of their agency and right to control their image that, somewhere along the way, we forgot that scans may not always be necessary to produce passable holographic performances.

News: Apple Reveals Upcoming iPhone Shortage in Wake of Coronavirus Issues

If you thought the news coming from China about the coronavirus might not affect your daily life in Europe and in the Americas, think again.

Market Reality: Nreal Light Goes Hollywood, Coronavirus Disrupts AR Industry, & Apple Takes on Snapchat

Smartglasses startup Nreal enjoyed some highs and endured some lows this week, as the company landed a product placement with Kevin Bacon but then faced production issues related to the coronavirus outbreak.

News: Apple Attacks Snapchat's Shoppable AR with Apple Pay Button & Other Custom Actions for AR Quick Look Content

Snapchat is probably used to Facebook copying its features by now, but Apple borrowing a page out of its playbook is likely a bit more surprising.

News: Nreal Pauses Smartglasses Production as Coronavirus Issues Impact China, Amazon, Facebook, Intel, & Nvidia Exit MWC

The deadly Wuhan coronavirus outbreak has not only has claimed lives in China but also has caused disruption around the globe, particularly in the tech industry. To date, the virus has claimed more than 1,000 lives in China, according to the country's officials.

News: Nreal Light Lands Kevin Bacon Hollywood Boost for 5G Smartglasses, CEO Cozies Up with HoloLens Chief

The international profile of augmented reality startup Nreal continues to quietly rise thanks to gradual updates and various strategic branding opportunities.

Market Reality: Apple Adds AR Gaming to Arcade, Google Expands Availability of Glass, & Daqri Patents Hit Auction Block

While Apple's AR wearables development continues clandestinely, its mobile ecosystem is laying the foundation for the software side of its smartglasses, with Apple Arcade serving as the latest example.

News: Transit Navigation App Moovit Adds Augmented Reality Way Finder Feature to Challenge Google Maps Live View

As helpful as it is, Google Maps isn't the only mapping app with augmented reality walking navigation anymore.

News: Sea Shepherd's Web-Based Augmented Reality Experience Spotlights the Damage Done by the Fishing Industry

Augmented reality's status as a new storytelling medium has already led to the reinvention of filmmaking and journalism.

News: Google Prepares to Ship Web-Based AR Support in Chrome 81

Web-based mobile augmented reality technology continues to gain momentum as Google is set to expand the standard for immersive web content to AR.

News: Hulu Follows Instagram's Viral Sensation with Branded 'What Should I Watch' Lens on Snapchat

The "what (blank) are you" augmented reality filters on Instagram have become so popular that more and more Hollywood giants are following the augmented reality-powered social media meme train, with the latest example coming via Snapchat.

News: Jack in the Box Partners with Paramount to Promote 'Sonic the Hedgehog' Movie with Snapchat AR

There might not be a better brand partnership for the speedy Sonic the Hedgehog character than a fast-food restaurant. For that matter, augmented reality is also the ideal technology for promoting a movie that features an animated talking rodent living life in the real world.

News: Oscars Fashion History Lives via New LA Times Mobile AR Experience

The Oscars are just a couple of days away when Hollywood will celebrate the best crop of films from 2019 in the US and internationally.

News: USA Today Examines the Problems with the Boeing 737 Max Aircraft with Latest AR Story

After jumping to the head of the class of augmented reality journalism in 2019, USA Today is continuing to push the medium forward in 2020.

News: Magic Leap, Intel Bring Augmented Reality Cinema to SXSW

In the late nineteenth century, the advent of the motion picture wowed audiences with a new storytelling medium. Nearly a century and a half later, augmented reality is establishing a new frontier in film.

News: Daqri's Patent Portfolio & Trademarks Put Up for Sale

After closing its office last year, enterprise AR company Daqri has moved on to the final stage of its lifecycle with the liquidation of its assets.

News: Google Just Made It Easier to Get Your Hands on Glass Enterprise Edition 2

Last December, Google unceremoniously killed off Google Glass Explorer Edition with a final software update, leaving the Glass Enterprise Edition 2 as the only remaining AR wearable from Google.

News: The Lynx Mixed Reality Headset Will Be the First Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Device — Arriving This Summer

The first headset running on the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chipset from an original equipment manufacturer is official.

News: Apple Adds Multiplayer AR Spy Game 'Secret Oops' to Arcade Subscription Service

With No Time to Die, the 25th installment in the James Bond saga, arriving in April and Black Widow, the first solo film for the Marvel Cinematic Universe's own secret agent, following a month later, what better way to get in the espionage mood than some augmented reality spy gaming?

Market Reality: Apple Sets Stage for AR Smartglasses, Spatial Adds Funding, & Pinterest Enters AR Makeup Game

We may or may not see Apple's long-awaited take on AR smartglasses this year, but the company is more than getting its practice swings in with its current wearables business, which hit record revenue in 2019 according to financial results released this week.

News: Squarepusher Music Video Layers Tokyo, Japan with Augmented Reality Through the Lenses of Concept Smartglasses

Legendary drum-and-bass artist Squarepusher, the Warp records labelmate of fellow electronic music legend Aphex Twin, is back with his fifteenth album called Be Up a Hello, which is set to drop on Feb. 1.

News: Pinterest Adds AR Makeup Try-On Feature to Its Mobile Lens Tool

It's time to make some more room at the augmented reality cosmetics counter. This week, social media giant Pinterest unveiled "Try On," a virtual make-up visualization tool running on its Lens visual search tool.

News: Spatial Raises $14 Million to Improve Augmented Reality Telepresence Platform for HoloLens & Magic Leap

Having emerged as one of the leading augmented reality video conferencing apps, Spatial is ready to improve upon the experience.

News: What Apple's Record Wearables Earnings Could Mean for Its AR Smartglasses Future

This week's Apple earnings offered a report of solid performance and guarded optimism about future iPhone sales, which may be impacted later this year by issues around the current coronavirus epidemic in China.

News: Google Arts & Culture Builds AR Replica of Bangladeshi Mosque as Part of Historic Site Preservation Project

In recent years, Google's Arts & Culture project has been leading the way in terms of innovating the practice of using technology to preserve landmarks and great works of art via digital 3D copies. Increasingly, these efforts are also giving history buffs the chance to experience classic works and spaces with unparalleled intimacy through the wonders of augmented reality.

News: 8th Wall & Trigger Build AR Lego Playground for Web to Promote Fox's 'Lego Masters'

Lego has shipped several apps and products that add an augmented reality dimension to their playsets. But it has taken a reality TV show from Fox to allow brick fans to build with virtual bricks in augmented reality.

News: Startup Phiar Prepares Beta Launch of AR Driving Navigation App for iPhone

Google pushed a new kind of augmented reality walking navigation to the mainstream last year, and now startup Phiar is hoping users will use its AR app in the same way for driving navigation.

Market Reality: Apple, Snap, & Google Execs Talk AR, Form Takes AR to the Pool, & Octi Pivots to AR Social Networking

Some of the leading big tech companies are still working in the lab on actual products, but at least some of their leadership did have some thoughts to share on the future direction of the technology this week.

News: Apple Recruitment Video Features Augmented Reality Clues at the Center of Call for New Team Members

Whenever a new Apple event invite arrives, the entire tech industry begins tearing the invite's graphics apart in a bid to decipher what the company may be planning on releasing in the coming weeks.

Hands-On: Form Smart Swim Goggles Hit the Mark for Aquatics Athletes

Despite some of the biggest players in tech still lagging in terms of offering smartglasses options, there are nevertheless a number of smartglasses makers, including North and Vuzix, with consumer-grade smartglasses on the market right now.

News: Qualcomm & Accenture Upgrade Event Planning with AR App for Nreal Light & Mobile

One of the hallmarks of augmented reality's coming of age is that the technology is starting to find a home in business categories that are less obvious compared to typical AR enterprise use cases.

News: Mobile AR App Octi Evolves into Social Network via Facial Recognition Tech

In a world full of augmented reality camera effects apps, one app is going in a more social direction.

News: Apple's Tim Cook, Google's Sundar Pichai, & Snap's Evan Spiegel Deliver Strategic Insights into AR in 2020 & Beyond

The words of three of tech's most important executives in the last 48 hours are providing some valuable insight into the near term future of augmented reality and the cloud infrastructures that support it.

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: 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.