Next Reality Features

News: Lenovo's Star Wars AR Headset Now Available for Pre-Order

When Disney teased an augmented reality game called Star Wars: Jedi Challenges running on a headset from Lenovo, fans had more questions than Disney had answers. When? How much? Can I be a real Jedi?

News: Pokémon GO Just Gamified the Non-Sedentary Lifestyle

Pokémon GO, the biggest augmented reality sensation ever, broke app store records this opening weekend. But it also did something even more important: it gamified physical activity.

Apple AR: Quickly Find Your Friends in Crowded Places with Neon App

Going to music festivals is one of the best parts of the summer — Which is probably why thousands of people attend them. With numbers like that, trying to find and meet up with your friends can be difficult and intimidating. Thanks to Apple's ARKit, however, you'll soon be able to locate your friends in a crowd using an app.

How To: Use This App to Test Out Tattoos Before They're Permanent

If you're in the market for a new tattoo, the biggest hurdle to clear is imagining exactly how it's going to look. It's going to be part of your identity for the rest of your life, so you have to make sure it looks just right—or as your mom probably told you, "Think of what it's going to look like when you're 60."

ARCore 101: How to Create a Mobile AR Application in Unity, Part 3 (Setting Up the App Controller)

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of programming languages and variations of those languages that exist. Currently, in the augmented reality space, it seems the Microsoft-created C# has won out as the overall top language of choice. While there are other options like JavaScript and C++, to name a few, C# seems to be the most worthwhile place to invest one's time and effort.

News: Cross-Platform Diamonst AR RPG Is Pokémon Go on Steroids

Zenko Games makes no apologies for its influences. In fact, they cite them explicitly in their own promotional materials for Diamonst AR.

News: Disney Has Figured Out How to Make AR Content React to Real-World Obstacles

Researchers at Disney have demonstrated the ability to render virtual characters in augmented reality that are able interact autonomously with its surrounding physical environment.

How To: Ever Wonder How it Feels to Get Shot?

WWF's latest campaign uses augmented reality to raise awareness for the endangered Siberian tiger by demonstrating how it "feels" to be hunted down and shot. Created by Leo Burnett Moscow, thousands of special AR t-shirts featuring the tiger were printed and distributed to stores in Moscow. Each time the wearer passes in front of a "special video mirror" (re: web cam), a bloody shooting animation is triggered.

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.

News: Pokémon GO Cheaters Are Ruining the Game & Real Life

Pokémon GO, the global augmented reality game that's brought fans out of their homes to catch Pokémon across the planet, has brought about plenty of real-world positives. Unfortunately, when players get power hungry and start taking game hacks too far, we all get a little screwed—both digitally and in real life.

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: Boeing Is Fighting Wildfires with the Microsoft HoloLens & Large Drones

Fighting fires has always been a dangerous and noble venture, even with the proliferation of aerial firefighting. But things are looking to get a lot safer for firefighters with the help of the Boeing and mixed reality.

Exclusive: ODG Filing Points to Magic Leap Acquisition of Auctioned Patent Assets

In case you thought the long and unfortunate story of ODG was over, hold on, there's one last chapter to tell.

News: Augmented Reality Contact Lenses with Terminator Vision

Remember, in the Terminator movies, when Arnold's field of vision is superimposed with all sorts of data? Sci-fi writer Vernor Vinge also described electronic contact lenses, technology that "projects" information right before the eyes.

News: Blizzard Transforms Snapchat with World of Warcraft 15th Anniversary AR Lenses

If the name Leroy Jenkins elicits a reaction from you, then you are old enough to remember the iconic title World of Warcraft from its heydey (whether or not you actually played the massively multiplayer online role-playing game).

News: Magic Leap's Good News — the Haters Are Wrong, Bad News — Now Everyone Will Focus on Apple Glasses

I've had a few days to live with the Magic Leap One, and it's time to finally weigh in with some thoughts as someone who has been tracking this company from the beginning, for almost five years now.

News: Anyone in the World Can Order Magic Leap One NOW (But There's a Catch)

Although the Magic Leap One: Creators Edition is currently officially available in only six US cities, those living outside of Magic Leap's designed US cities now have a roundabout way to order the device.

News: Here's What You Need to Run ARKit 3 on Your iPhone or iPad

If you've been putting off upgrading your iPhone or iPad, you might want to start shopping for a current-generation device to take advantage of the latest capabilities in ARKit 3.

News: Unity Builds Developer Bridge Between ARKit & ARCore Apps with AR Foundation Tool

A new set of APIs for Unity promise to make it easier for developers to publish apps that support both ARKit and ARCore.

News: Magic Leap's Website Has an Immersive Reality Experience Hidden in Plain Sight, if You Know Where to Look

Magic Leap loves to stoke mystery around its still unreleased product, the Magic Leap One: Creator Edition, and now we've found yet another piece of the puzzle in the form of an Easter egg on the company's website.

News: Apple Brings 3D Scanning to macOS Monterey with Object Capture

As brands and content makers create more augmented reality experiences, the demand for tools to create 3D content grows in kind.

News: Amazon Sumerian & 8th Wall Weave Web AR Experience for 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' Movie

Sony Pictures has tapped the powers of augmented reality as provided by startup 8th Wall & the Amazon Sumerian development platform to help it promote the latest motion picture manifestation of Spider-Man.

News: Posemoji App Lets You Use Your Body to Create Augmented Reality Emoji & Designs

The great thing about augmented reality is that so much is possible using the emerging tools and software, your only real limit is your imagination — that includes making real versions of imagined products.

News: Meet Revelio, Maxst's Stylish New Augmented Reality Smartglasses

Augmented reality software developer Maxst has made the move into hardware with Revelio, their new untethered AR smartglasses. These stereoscopic glasses feature an Octa-core processor, 2 GB of memory, a 40-degree field of view, and a 720p display, and they do not require being connected to a phone or computer.

Hands-on: I Went to Battle in Augmented Reality with Father.IO & Lived to Tell About It

Last week, augmented reality startup Proxy42 released Father.IO, a multiplayer game that turns any indoor or outdoor space into a laser tag arena.

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: Magic Leap Patent Reveals the Lightpack May Be More Than Meets the Eye

Among the revelations uncovered during the December unveiling of the Magic Leap One: Creator Edition was the fact that the Lightwear augmented reality headset would be tethered to a wearable computer called the Lightpack.

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.

HoloLens Dev 101: How to Create User Location Hotspots to Trigger Events with the HoloLens

One of the truly beautiful things about the HoloLens is its completely untethered, the-world-is-your-oyster freedom. This, paired with the ability to view your real surroundings while wearing the device, allows for some incredibly interesting uses. One particular use is triggering events when a user enters a specific location in a physical space. Think of it as a futuristic automatic door.

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: 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."

NR50: The People Leading Augmented & Mixed Reality's Head-Mounted Displays

A new technological movement without the technology itself is just an idea sitting and waiting. Once the technology is present in the equation, movement forward can begin. This is how many of us see the head-mounted displays (HMDs) and smartglasses that have recently entered the augmented and mixed reality market — or are coming out in the next few months. This is a movement that will sweep over the world, changing everything in its path, and these are some of the people behind it.

News: Magic Leap Founder Says Launch 'Not Far Away'

At the eMerge Americas investors conference in Miami, Florida, Magic Leap founder and CEO Rony Abovitz previewed details of the launch of their highly-anticipated device.

Proof of Concept: HoloLens App Shrinks a Room Down to a Miniature 3D Map

Sky Zhou, also know as Matrix Inception on YouTube, is no stranger here on NextReality. We loved his Pokémon concept game for HoloLens, as well as his D3D Keyboard that lets HoloLens users leave notes around the house. He just can't seem to stop creating cool mixed reality apps, and he's already got another one in the works.

HoloLens Dev 101: Building a Dynamic User Interface, Part 5 (Building the UI Elements)

Alright, calm down and take a breath! I know the object creation chapter was a lot of code. I will give you all a slight reprieve; this section should be a nice and simple, at least in comparison.

News: We're Very Close to the Dark Future of Deeply Augmented Reality in Black Mirror's 'Playtest'

Black Mirror, Netflix's technology-horror anthology, never fails to provide thought-provoking entertainment centered around emerging and futuristic technologies, and the third season's second episode, "Playtest," delves deep into the worlds of mixed, augmented, and virtual reality. While designed to leave you haunted by the end, offering a more "evil" narrative than we'll likely see in our actual future, the episode explores possibilities that aren't as far off as one might think.

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: HoloLens App Muralize Combines Art & Technology—From an All-Female Developer Team

One thing you'll find a lot of in the Windows Store for HoloLens is demos and mockups, but very few projects are as fully realized and fully-functioning as Muralize. Created by Magnopus, an all-female development team, Muralize first appeared in the Windows Store in late-November of 2016, and makes it easy and fun to create real-life murals using a HoloLens.

HoloLens Dev 101: How to Use Holographic Remoting to Improve Development Productivity

Way back, life on the range was tough and unforgiving for a HoloLens developer. Air-tap training was cutting edge and actions to move holograms not called "TapToPlace" were exotic and greeted with skepticism. The year was 2016, and developers had to deploy to their devices to test things as simple as gauging a cube's size in real space. Minutes to hours a week were lost to staring at Visual Studio's blue progress bar.

News: Check Out These Awesome Mixed-Reality Movies Made with the HoloLens

Mixed reality filmmaking isn't a new concept. Disney managed to make it work in 1988 with Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but not without an enormous amount of work. We haven't seen many mixed reality films of that scope since, and perhaps that's because it's still hard to accomplish. Filmmakers don't look through a viewfinder or monitor and see the fully rendered result on screen—but that can change with mixed reality headsets like the HoloLens.