Next Reality Features


News: Here's Your First Look at the US Army's Combat-Ready HoloLens 2 in Action
Though Microsoft has had trouble keeping up with the demand for HoloLens 2, the company has been able to supply modified headsets to the US Army.

How To: Why & When to Evolve Your Pokémon in Pokémon GO
Like previous installments in the Pokémon series, as you progress through Pokémon GO you'll be able to evolve your Pokémon into more-powerful monsters with new and more-damaging attacks. However, unlike older entries in the series, your Pokémon won't simply evolve when they reach a certain level. Instead, you'll have to "feed" them a certain amount of character-specific candy to induce the transformation.

News: Intel Takes Us Inside to Reveal How HoloLens 2 Is Transforming Computer Chip Production
The enterprise applications powering the adoption of the HoloLens 2 are only just ramping up as developers continue to work with the still relatively new hardware.

News: Microsoft Emerges from the Trenches with More Details Behind the Army Edition of HoloLens 2
When we got our first look at US Army soldiers testing Microsoft's modified HoloLens 2 last year, it still looked very much like the commercial edition, with some additional sensors attached.

News: Medivis App for Magic Leap One & HoloLens Lets You Study the Human Anatomy in Augmented Reality
Not content to merely assist surgeons via the HoloLens, Medivis has expanded its augmented reality suite to Magic Leap One with an app for medical students.

News: Devilish Lil Nas X AR Experience Debuts on Jadu App
Who had Lil Nas X, blood-drop Nikes, and satan worship on your 2021 bingo card? In a story that's stranger than fiction, the "Old Town Road" rapper has ruffled some feathers with the video for his new single, "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" filled with demonic imagery usually reserved for death metal bands.

News: Mastercard Develops Mobile AR App to Explain Rewards & Benefits to Cardholders
It's a good sign for any emerging technology when one of the leaders of an industry adopts it. So when Mastercard, a brand so recognizable that it dropped its name from its logo at CES last year, decides to develop a mobile augmented reality app, the moment is a milestone for the AR industry.

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: 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.

News: Magic Leap's Latest Job Posting Shows They're Getting Ready for Mass Production
Few companies have maintained such intense secrecy, in the face of such extreme hype, as Magic Leap, but the closer their mysterious Mixed Reality product comes to mass production, the harder it becomes to hide the details. Hopefully we'll find out way more details soon, as a Magic Leap job posting for a supply chain manager hint that they're readying for release in the next couple years.

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.

News: Apple & Snapchat Use AR to Let You Travel on the New York Subway System via Apple Pay
Many years ago, when I first traveled to Tokyo, Japan, I was amazed by the contactless IC card turnstiles embedded in the county's subway system.

News: Camera IQ Gives Cosmetics Brands the Power to Push Virtual Try-on Effects to Snapchat, Facebook, & Instagram
Cosmetics brands have a long love affair with augmented reality, embracing virtual try-on effects as a means to help sell eyeliner, hair color, lipstick, and the like.

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.

News: New Video Shows How Precise HoloLens 2.0 Depth Sensing Will Be
While the next-generation HoloLens does not have a launch date yet, we now have a better idea of how big a leap the device will take in terms of depth sensor performance.

NR30: Next Reality's 30 People to Watch in Augmented Reality for 2020
The year 2020 was a pivotal span of time during which the word "virtual" took on a brand new meaning. Instead of referring to VR or augmented reality, the term was hijacked to describe meeting across long distances through a variety of software tools, most often through video.

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: Old Meets New as App Transforms Vinyl Records into Augmented Reality Sculptures
Despite the rise of music streaming, the experience of immersing oneself in the artwork and lyrics of old school albums is alive again, as sales of vinyl records and CDs have outpaced digital downloads for the first time since 2011. Now, the latest album from Amsterdam-based Necessary Explosion evolves this experience through augmented reality.

Hands-On: Hands-On with Magic Leap's Undersea, an AR Experience That Transports You to Another World
The latest immersive production from Magic Leap Studios finally got its debut on Monday at Siggraph, during which the company also released the app to the general public, so we took it for a spin.

News: Tech-Savvy Walsh Community Previewed Through Augmented Reality with Pre-ARKit iOS
Walsh, a new community under construction on 7,200 acres of former ranch land near Fort Worth, Texas, will one day contain 15,000 homes.

News: Domino's Australia Serves Up Virtual Previews of Your Pizza Order in Augmented Reality
If you're hungry for pizza and ordering from Domino's in Australia, you can now see what your pie will look like in augmented reality before placing your order.

News: JigSpace Puts Together $4.7 Million in Funding to Expand AR Tutorial Technology
The startup JigSpace, which was among the first apps to support ARKit and LiDAR for iPhone augmented reality apps, has capitalized on its early mover status by innovating within the space.

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: Facebook's AR/VR Chief Andrew Bosworth Tapped as New CTO
If the importance of augmented reality and VR hardware to Facebook's future wasn't already clear enough, a shake-up in the executive ranks at the company has made it as clear as smartglasses lenses.

News: Vuzix Confirms New, Smaller Smartglasses Model with Fashion-Friendly Design
The recent industry whispers in augmented reality are mostly about Apple and its rumored fashion-friendly smartglasses, but one company isn't waiting for the iPhone heavyweight to enter the fray.

News: Netflix Film 'Anon' Paints Dystopian View of Augmented Reality That Obliterates Privacy
Augmented reality is expected to eventually change everything, and the prevailing view is that those changes will be for the better. The converse view, however, is that the technology will further erode privacy.

News: Meta Cuts Ribbon on New AR Workspace
Meta CEO and founder — and Next Reality 50 member —Meron Gribetz unveiled a new operating environment for augmented reality called Meta Workspace for the audience at the Augmented World Expo (AWE) in Santa Clara, California, today.

News: Meta Sues Former Employee Over Trade Secrets
Meta Company filed suit today against a former employee and his startup DreamWorld USA, Inc. for the misappropriation of trade secrets and confidential information.

News: Former Meta Exec Launches DreamGlass AR Headset, Shipping at End of June for $399
Just a year after facing trade secret theft allegations from his former employer, ex-Meta Company employee Kevin Zhong and his new company are ready to ship the product that triggered the lawsuit.

News: After Meta Lawsuit Settlement, Dreamworld to Open Pre-Orders for AR Headset
Now that it has buried the legal hatchet with Meta Company, augmented reality startup Dreamworld has announced plans to open up pre-orders for its Dream Glass AR headset.

Have You Seen This?: Oriental Museum App Explores China's Forbidden City on the HoloLens
In this episode of Have You Seen This?, we will look at Oriental Museum by 247 Technology Limited, a free application in the Windows Store for HoloLens. Museum exhibits seem to be a popular theme amongst the demonstrations going up, so let's see how this one looks.

News: Auto AR Tech Company WayRay Sets Its Sights on Unicorn Status with $80M Funding Round Led by Porsche
Automotive augmented reality company WayRay has set its destination for a $1 billion valuation with an estimated time of arrival of 2019, and it has just passed a major milestone towards that goal.

News: This AR Toothbrush App Turns Learning Good Dental Hygiene Habits into a Game for Kids
Who said brushing your teeth can't be fun? It certainly isn't Kolibree, a company that's introducing the world to the first augmented reality toothbrush for kids at this week's CES tech conference in Las Vegas.

News: Dimension NXG's New Headset Brings Rural Indian Schools into the Future of Augmented Reality
Indian startup Dimension NXG is launching augmented reality headsets into India's consumer market with a bold idea: focusing on immersive computing in education on the high-end. The plan is to give a new kind of AR headset to schoolchildren in remote Indian villages, starting from class 5 (age 10) until graduation.

News: ODG Video Shows Off Hands-Free ReticleOS Media Player for R-9 Smartglasses
A couple of months ago, I got the opportunity to get a sneak peek at a new media interface for ODG's R-9 Smartglasses, and the experience was impressive. Now, after weeks of keeping it under wraps, I can finally show off what I saw.

News: Apple Hides Augmented Reality Surprise in Invite for Next Big Event
Apple's augmented reality teases just keep on coming from the halls of its Cupertino labs. The latest comes in the form of an invitation to Apple's next public-facing event.

News: Xiaomi Wearable Uses Waveguide Tech to Mount Challenge to US Smartglasses Market
As if answering Apple's major iPhone event on Tuesday, Chinese mobile giant Xiaomi held its own product launch event the following day.

News: This Snap Spectacles Game Lets You Grow a Digital Pet in Augmented Reality
While the rest of Big Tech is still moving relatively slowly on augmented reality smartglasses, Snap continues to supercharge its own experimental AR wearable called Spectacles.

News: Snapchat Drapes the Statue of Liberty in the American Flag for Fourth of July Augmented Reality Lens
Under the rocket's red glare and the bombs bursting in air, the Statue of Liberty is swaying in celebration this Fourth of July thanks to Snapchat.

News: China's AR Showdown: How Rokid's New Vision Compares to Nreal
Ever since China's Nreal unveiled its Light smartglasses at CES two years ago, an army of look-alikes have emerged from the Asian nation.