Next Reality » Augmented & Mixed Reality News, Rumors & Dev Guides

News: Facebook Adds New Story Time Content to Portal, New AR Features to Portal TV

Friends and family receiving new Portal devices for Christmas will have some extra stocking stuffers in the form of new AR features.

News: Magic Leap Repackages Developer Tools as The Lab, Publishes Updates to Lumin SDK & Lumin OS, & Previews Magicverse SDK

Along with rebranding Magic Leap 1 for enterprise customers, Magic Leap has gifted its developer community with some new toys with a tease of more to come in 2020.

News: Magic Leap Pivots to Enterprise, Announces New Business-Focused Services, Slightly Modified Name

As we predicted this time last year, Magic Leap is finally moving from consumer entertainment hype to making a firm commitment to enterprise customers.

News: North Focals 2.0 to Arrive in 2020, First Generation Sales Halted

While Apple, Facebook, and Snapchat are still working on their first-generation AR wearables, startup North is already preparing to bring its second-generation smartglasses to the world in 2020.

News: Google Update Adds Real-World Occlusion to ARCore with Depth API

Apple's ARKit has built a considerable lead in terms of features over Google's ARCore, but Google's latest update to ARCore adds a capability that makes the platform a bit more competitive with ARKit.

News: Now You Can Drive Elon Musk's Tesla Cybertruck in AR from the Comfort of Your Home via iOS & Android

What do you do when your favorite new car is still two years away from hitting the road? Look to augmented reality, of course.

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: 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: Magic Leap Used to Bring AR to H&M & Star Wars Fashion Collaboration in Tokyo Developed by Warpin Media

There may be questions from some about the future of Magic Leap, but in Japan, The Force is with the augmented reality startup.

News: Bosch Designs Easy to Deploy Optical System for Smartglasses Makers

With big-name tech companies like Apple and Facebook gearing up to push out their own smartglasses in the coming years, engineering conglomerate Bosch has been working on the optical components that could help the competition catch up.

News: Chinese Smartphone Maker Oppo Previews AR Glasses & Futuristic Hardware Concepts

China-based smartphone maker Oppo is ready to put Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon chips in its latest round of smartphones, but, like Qualcomm, Oppo is also preparing to move on to augmented reality wearables.

Hands-On: Magic Leap App Obsess Lets You Create a Fashion Store Pop-Up Nearly Anywhere

The newly enhanced focus from Magic Leap on enterprise, announced on Tuesday, also came with a few companies opting to weigh in with their experiences developing for the platform.

News: After 7 Years, Google Abandons Individual Glass Owners Who Spent $1,500 to Join Its Early Wearables Experiment

Did Google CEO Sundar Pichai kill Google Glass for non-enterprise users? That's the obvious first question following news that non-enterprise Glass users will no longer have access to Google's core apps after February 2020.

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: 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'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: 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.

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.

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: 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.