Hot Next Reality Posts
How To: Set Up the Meta 2 Head-Mounted Display
So after being teased last Christmas with an email promising that the Meta 2 was shipping, nearly a year later, we finally have one of the units that we ordered. Without a moment's hesitation, I tore the package open, set the device up, and started working with it.
Apple AR: Tayasui Blocks Gives iPhones & iPads a Knock-Off Lego AR Experience
If building with Lego blocks in AR appeals to you, rest assured that an app is on the way for iPhones, iPads, and Android devices.
Market Reality: Perfect Corp. & EchoPixel Close Series A Rounds on Interactive Apps
Investors are ready to throw their money at augmented and virtual use cases that demonstrate a business purpose and a return on investment.
News: RE'FLEKT Launches Remote Video Support for AR Platform Along with ARKit & ARCore Demo Apps
At the Augmented World Expo Europe press conference in Munich today, RE'FLEKT will unveil the addition of remote video calling to their RE'FLEKT One enterprise augmented reality platform, in addition to ARKit and ARCore apps that demonstrate the platform's capabilities.
Apple AR: There's Really No Point to Playing StackAR in AR
When explaining augmented reality to the uninitiated, Pokémon Go is often cited as an example. For all its popularity, though, many players would recommend disabling the AR capabilities in catching Pokémon.
Apple AR: Human Anatomy Atlas Journeys to the Center of the Body with ARKit
An update to the Human Anatomy Atlas 2018 enhances the study of the human body with augmented reality courtesy of iOS 11 and ARKit.
Apple AR: Redbubble Throws Pillows in AR with ARKit Update
While IKEA will employ ARKit to help you see how that new couch looks in your living room, Redbubble wants to show you throw pillows that match.
Brief Reality: Exhibitors Pitch Their AR Ideas at IFA 2017
While not specifically an augmented reality conference, IFA 2017 packed a plethora of presentations with AR themes, including devices with AR features from Sony and Motorola, a smartphone-based AR headset from Lenovo, and a new processor from Huawei that will facilitate AR experiences.
Apple AR: The Universe Is in Your Floor with New ARKit Portal Demo
You'd better start watching where you're stepping because there are portals opening up everywhere thanks to Apple's ARKit.
News: New Yu-Gi-Oh! AR Game Lets You Fight Monsters & Duel with Friends
You know the drill. It's time to d-d-d-duel! This time you're a part of the Shadow Games in a way you've never been before, thanks to Micorsoft's HoloLens.
Hands-On: Up Close & Personal with the Meta 2 Head-Mounted Display
Last June, Meta began shipping their Meta 2 mixed reality headset, to the delight of many. In September, it was announced that shipping had been delayed until the end of the year. Then it appeared that Christmas would bring something magical when Meta sent out an email four days before the big holiday saying that the Meta 2 developers kits were finally shipping. Unfortunately, having a few on order here at Next Realit,y we are still patiently waiting for ours to arrive.
NR50: Next Reality's 50 People to Watch: Paul Travers
There is an Indian story called the Legend of Paal Paysam, and while it doesn't seem like it at first, it has a lot to say about what motivated Paul Travers in the augmented reality space.
News: HeadsupAR Turns Smartphones into Mixed Reality Headsets
Three years ago, with VR enthusiasts prepared to throw their money at Oculus to get their hands on the yet-to-be-release Rift headset, Google surprised the audience for Google I/O with Google Cardboard, a seemingly late April Fool's joke that actually jump-started virtual reality.
HoloLens Dev 101: How to Get Started with Unity's New Video Player
The release of Unity 5.6 brought with it several great enhancements. One of those enhancements is the new Video Player component. This addition allows for adding videos to your scenes quickly and with plenty of flexibility. Whether you are looking to simply add a video to a plane, or get creative and build a world layered with videos on 3D objects, Unity 5.6 has your back.
News: UC Berkeley Team Commands Drone Fleet with HoloLens
User interfaces for computers have evolved over the years, from the introduction of the keyboard and mouse on the personal computer, to touchscreens on mobile devices, to natural voice recognition. However, the same cannot be said for robots or drones—until now.
Hands-On: Our Detailed Look at Osterhout Design Group's R-8 & R-9 Smartglasses
I had the opportunity to speak with the COO of Osterhout Design Group, Pete Jameson, shortly before the announcement of the company's R-8 and R-9 smartglasses models at CES in January. And while I sadly could not make it to CES to test the smart specs out right away, ODG invited me to do just that while I was in San Francisco for the Game Developers Conference.
News: VAR Football Gives Coaches Another Tool to Train Sports Teams With—The HoloLens
The HoloLens is a natural medium for 3D data visualization, which offers a far more ideal approach over 2D screens to managing multiple resources simultaneously and grasping the bigger picture. We've already seen how management is using holograms to oversee cities, firefighters, and the military, and now training for sports teams is being addressed with VAR Football.
Proof of Concept: Music Everywhere Uses HoloLens to Help Piano Students Learn Improvisation
Students from Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center have been working on an augmented reality system to help teach music in a project called Music Everywhere.
News: Meta 2 Developers Kit to Feature PMD's Depth-Sensing Technology
Meta's long-awaited Meta 2 development kit finally began shipping in late-December last year, after having been delayed about six months. While very few have received a dev kit at this point, some more information about the headset has just been announced; Depth-sensing technology from pmdtechnologies is included in the dev kit headset.
News: Control a Synthesizer with the HoloLens to Make Music in Mixed Reality
In the world of analog synthesizers, hitting a key, twisting a knob, or sliding a fader makes a beautiful musical (or not so musical) sound and can be an amazing and downright satisfying experience. Now it's about to get even more satisfying, if you add Microsoft's HoloLens into the mix as a means to twist those knobs virtually instead.
News: Enflux's Smart Clothing Lets the VR User Control Their Avatar Just by Moving
While Leap Motion and Microsoft are looking to capture natural human motion with cameras, Enflux figured out how to do it with a shirt and pants that feel completely natural.
News: The HoloLens Can Now Wirelessly Use a PC's CPU & GPU for Faster Development Cycles
Virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive tether to desktop computers with robust GPUs in order to harness their power. The free-roaming, cordless Microsoft HoloLens forgoes those chains but loses a bit of graphical processing power in the mix. However, a recent report suggests we may get the best of both worlds.
News: The Crazy Process Behind the HoloLens Optics That Make Mixed Reality Possible
Tricking your eyes into seeing 3D images isn't all that hard in movies or even in virtual reality, but when you start projecting holograms into the physical world, you run into some difficult problems. Microsoft obviously figured them out with their HoloLens, but how? The process is pretty amazing.
News: How Face Tracking & Augmentation Technology Works
Thanks to Snapchat, we're all familiar with face swapping and augmentation thanks to some clever, fun technology. But that's just the beginning, because this kind of augmented reality can do so much more.
News: Design a Room Layout with Holographic Furniture Using HoloPlanner
When figuring out how to arrange your furniture in a new room, you traditionally have to measure everything and use your imagination. HoloPlanner has a better idea: just place holographic furniture in the room so the Microsoft HoloLens can imagine it for you.
News: Mixed Reality Tears Complex Data Off the Page & into 3D
If you've ever made graphs and charts, you know it can be a struggle to represent a large amount of data. It's something that just doesn't work very well on a flat surface. In virtual and mixed reality, however, the data can exist all around you.
News: 'See Through' Walls with This HoloLens Stud-Marking App
The HoloLens can do some pretty crazy things such as create a robot invasion in your walls, but it can also help you do simple stuff, like hanging frames, paintings, or anything else on those walls—after you repair them from the robot attack, of course.
News: The Hollagram Selfie Booth Shows How Close We Are to Functional Holograms
Walking, talking, life-size holograms aren't just for staging Hatsune Miku concerts and reviving Tupac, Michael Jackson, and other fallen stars.
News: What's the Difference Between AR, VR, and MR?
Several technologies seek to change the way we perceive our reality, whether that involves entering a virtual world, augmenting an existing one in a realistic and interactive way, or somewhere in-between.
How To: Translate Foreign Text Live in Real Time Using Your Smartphone
Early last year, Google purchased Quest Visual, acquiring the immensely popular augmented reality translator app Word Lens in the process. While Google did put the feature on the Google Glass, they spoke more about implementing Word Lens into their Translate app sometime in the future.
How To: Change the Color of an Object Before Taking the Photo with Your HTC One
Aside from the most basic functions, most of us are pretty useless when it comes to Photoshop. Yes, we can all add filters, but who wants to see everything in black-and-white or sepia? Why not change a sunflower blue, your hair pink, or your lips purple—without having to spend hours with editing software.
News: The Future of Apple Augmented Reality Wearables Through the Lens of Steve Jobs & His Legacy
Today is the 10-year anniversary of the death of Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs. To commemorate the occasion, Apple has posted a message and a mini-documentary on its website.
News: Facebook Outage Takes Down the Metaverse, Oculus Quest & Ray-Ban Smartglasses Users Impacted
On Monday, the social media giant Facebook suffered a massive outage that, as of this writing, is still in effect.
News: Microsoft HoloLens 2 & Unity Used to Highlight the Threat to Endangered Whales at the Smithsonian
Although the enterprise use cases for the Microsoft HoloLens 2 continue to impress, the arts community just can't stay away from the best augmented reality headset on the market.
News: NASA Launches First Woman to Moon via AR App, & Delivers Interactive Visit to New Space Telescope
The team at NASA is in full mission preparation mode as they prepare to send a new team to the moon for the first time in decades via the Artemis program in 2024.
News: BlueJeans Video Conferencing Giant to Launch Native Google Glass App for Remote Assistance
If you're a normal, non-corporate video conferencing user, you may not have heard of BlueJeans, but in the corporate world, the software has long been a major staple when it comes to remote meetings.
News: Vuzix Smartglasses Factory Reveal Gives Another Glimpse of Next-Gen AR Wearable
Away from the hype around Facebook's smartglasses, the high-end fascination with the Microsoft HoloLens, and the unending rumors about Apple's AR wearable is the small but powerful darling of the enterprise AR world—Vuzix.
News: This Billie Eilish Oculus Quest 2 Video Inadvertently Offers a Peek at AR Gaming on the VR Headset
It's always fun to get an unexpected glimpse of the future, especially when that peek is so close you can actually feel the excitement of the new emerging dynamic.
News: Google Adds Famous Monuments & Iconic Buildings to Augmented Reality Search Feature
Even with unlimited resources and a serious case of wanderlust, it's unlikely that you or I will be able to see all of the most famous structures in the world in person.
News: Netflix Launches Oculus Quest Immersive Game for Animated Streaming Series 'Eden'
We usually focus on augmented reality here, but when something important in VR happens, we highlight it as part of the overall immersive computing story.