Next Reality Features
News: New York Times App Lets You See a Higgs Particle Reaction from the Large Hadron Collider in Augmented Reality
Although it's impossible (at least for now) to travel back in time to see the Big Bang, The New York Times has provided its readers the closest simulation of the experience via its latest augmented reality feature.
News: 8th Wall Adds Another Brick to Its Web AR Platform with AR Camera for Easy Prototyping
In the past few years, augmented reality software maker 8th Wall has worked to build its platform into a cross-platform augmented reality toolkit for mobile apps, as well as web-based AR experiences.
News: Adobe Releases Aero App to Compete Head-to-Head with Apple's Reality Composer for Mobile AR Development
As one of the household brands in creative software, Adobe is now ready to lay its claim to the artistic side of augmented reality.
News: Occipital Wants to Turn iPhones into Mixed Virtual Reality Headsets
If you're an Apple user and want an untethered virtual reality system, you're currently stuck with Google Cardboard, which doesn't hold a candle to the room scale VR provided by the HTC Vive (a headset not compatible with Macs, by the way). But spatial computing company Occipital just figured out how to use their Structure Core 3D Sensor to provide room scale VR to any smartphone headset—whether it's for an iPhone or Android.
News: Apple Working on AR Shopping App for iOS 14, Report Says
Apple's first AR wearable might not arrive until 2022, but we may have an early preview of what it will be like to wear a pair of its smartglasses via iOS 14.
News: 'The Purge' Invades Your Safe Home via Mobile AR App
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to try to survive The Purge as depicted in the popular movie series? Well, thanks to augmented reality, now you can.
Apple AR: Soccer Players Get to Test Their Skills via a Unique ARKit-Powered App
If you've been paying attention, you already know that ARKit can detect horizontal surfaces and estimate ambient light, but did you know that it can also help you improve your soccer game?
News: Tesla Files Patent for AR Manufacturing Tool, Elon Musk Talks Factory Innovation, Weed, & SEC Fine on '60 Minutes'
New documents reveal that electric car company Tesla has filed a surprising new patent that has nothing to do with batteries or autonomous driving and everything to do with augmented reality.
News: Apple CEO Tim Cook Says AR 'Is Going to Change Everything'
Just one day before the retail release of the iPhone X, Apple CEO Tim Cook trumpeted the company's continued success during an earnings call with reporters conducted via telephone. And while he rolled out the expected glowing praise for the new iPhone, what stood out most was his effusive language describing Apple's new focus on augmented reality.
News: Snapchat Unveils Web-Based Tool for Creating Custom AR Lenses & Filters
Snapchat just fast-tracked the majority of its app user base into the world of augmented reality production by making its Lens and Filter tools available to anyone with a web browser.
News: Apple Granted Patent to Make Augmented Reality Maps—Hinting at a Cool, Futuristic Version of Our Well-Worn Maps App
Apple recently scored a patent (number 9,488,488) to create augmented reality maps, hinting at possible AR integration into the iOS Maps application for iPhone. Does this mean we'll be seeing super visionary projections of places in the app in the near future? Maybe.
News: HoloBooth Presents Exhibition Booth Through HoloLens
Asobo Studios, one of the first companies to partner with Microsoft on HoloLens development, is applying their expertise towards building applications for various business verticals through their internal HoloForge Interactive team.
News: Snapchat Gains Super Powers with 'Incredibles 2' Augmented Reality Experience
Pixar's Incredibles 2 has entered the fray as the latest sequel in a summer of highly anticipated follow-up films and, like its peers, it also has an augmented reality experience to promote its presence in theaters.
News: Apple Bursts onto Augmented Reality Scene with ARKit
During the opening keynote of their Worldwide Developers Conference today in San Jose, Apple introduced the ARKit for the new iOS 11 that will bring augmented reality apps to millions of compatible iPhones and iPads.
News: 8th Wall Breaks Down Walls Between ARKit, ARCore & the Mobile Devices They Leave Behind
With Apple ready to unleash ARKit to millions of iPhones and iPads and ARCore on its way to supporting millions of Android devices, is there room in the world for a cross-platform mobile AR platform?
News: Gym? WTF Is a Pokémon GO Gym?
Collecting Pokémon in Pokémon GO is only half the fun. Once you've reached Level 5, it's time to get your Pokémon ready to do battle with other Pokémon. This is where Gyms come in.
News: Meta Reaches Settlement as Patent Infringement Claims Emerge
While Meta Company has agreed to a settlement in its lawsuit against a former employee and his company, they find the tables have now turned on them in the form of patent infringement allegations from another entity.
News: Mobile App Like Gives Music Video Auteurs Body-Morphing AR Effects
Usually, the camera adds 10 pounds, but with a new augmented reality effect in Like's mobile app, the camera can actually make you look slimmer.
News: Google Assembles Marvel's Surviving Avengers & Other AR Sticker Packs for All Pixel Devices via Playground Update
Owners of Google Pixel devices now have a plethora of imaginary friends to play with thanks to the Playground augmented reality app.
News: NBA AR App Launches on Android & Adds Portals to Playoffs
The NBA Finals is underway, and now basketball fans with iPhones and Android devices can get closer to the action for free than they ever could with expensive courtside tickets.
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.
News: HyperloopTT Uses Magic Leap to Show How Elon Musk's Futuristic Vision of Transport Will Work in the US
While Elon Musk is in Los Angeles showing off the future of personal transport via the Cybertruck, another, unaffiliated group is taking one of his most popular ideas to market, with augmented reality as a key part of the plan.
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.
NR50: Next Reality's 50 People to Watch: Timoni West
If you're a developer in the augmented and mixed reality space, there's a high probability that you're intimately familiar with the 3D application and game engine Unity. In May, at VisionSummit 2017, Microsoft announced that 91% of all HoloLens applications have been made with the software. But there's a section of Unity that you may not be familiar with, which has become very important to augmented, mixed, and virtual reality (known collectively as XR, for "extended reality") — Unity Labs.
News: Harry Potter Might Be Flying at You Soon with Universal's AR Goggles
A patent from Universal was filed today looking to improve the visual experience at Universal Studios Parks.
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: Epson's New Moverio Smartglasses Can Tether to Drones, PCs, & Mobile Devices Over HDMI or USB-C
The latest version in Epson's Moverio line of smartglasses looks to offer a headworn window into the world that prioritizes versatility as well as mobility.
News: Developer Conjures Virtual Haunted House with ARCore
If you're following the classic Halloween playbook closely, you've already got a costume or three picked out, you've binged-watched your favorite horror movies, and you've likely visited a haunted house. But it's 2017, so how about trying something new, like a haunted house that's not actually there?
News: Microsoft Uses HoloLens 2 to Demo Multi-Language Speaking Avatar That Looks Just Like You
It's always great to see a company pull off a bit of augmented reality magic, but what we see is not always what it's cracked up to be.
News: First Footage of Magic Leap's Music App with Sigur Rós Revealed
On Monday morning, secretive augmented reality startup Magic Leap revealed a collaboration with Icelandic music group Sigur Rós. But the story detailing the app didn't reveal anything more than a still image of the interactive Tónandi app, leaving most of us to use to our imaginations in terms of visualizing how it worked.
News: Detailed 3D Mining Maps & Future Reclamation Views Highlighted in Proof-of-Concept HoloLens App
LOOOK, a Seattle-based mixed reality and development studio, can now peer into the future with their new geotechnical engineering visualization application for Microsoft HoloLens.
NR30: The AR Software Development Leaders of 2018
One could argue that, at least for the moment, software development is more important to the augmented reality experience than hardware. Since a viable augmented reality headset has yet to emerge for the broader, mainstream consumer market, currently, the same devices that make texting and selfies possible are leading the charge to enable easy-to-use AR experiences.
News: National Geographic's Open-Air Planetarium Displays Augmented Reality Constellations Through Aryzon Viewers
On June 23, National Geographic will begin welcoming visitors to the world's first outdoor planetarium in Quebec, Canada, where an augmented reality experience overlaid on the night sky will replace the projection systems of traditional facilities.
News: VR Veteran Jaunt Develops Portable 3D Capture Service for Volumetric Augmented Reality Content
Better known among consumers for its virtual reality apps, Jaunt is now pivoting toward solutions for augmented reality developers.
News: Disney Research Creates Avatars That Can Strike a Pose to Match a Person's Movements in Augmented Reality
A new augmented reality framework from Disney Research could make it possible for fans to take selfies with an augmented reality Mickey Mouse, Darth Vader, or Iron Man that mimic the user's poses.
News: Latest Version of Unity Lays Foundation for Project MARS Augmented Reality Development Tool in 2019
While Unity is already the leading 3D engine for augmented reality content in terms of volume, the announcement of Project MARS, a new augmented reality authoring tool, at Unite Berlin in June promised to expand AR development to a whole new audience of designers and other non-coders this fall.
News: Google Flips the Switch on Web-Based Augmented Reality Experiences for ARCore
Developers can now publish augmented reality experiences that are viewable through the experimental version of Chrome and ARCore.
HoloLens Feature: Gesture Input
Gesture Input works hand-in-hand with Gaze Input. If you think of Gaze Input like a mouse cursor, Gesture Input is how you "click" in HoloLens—which Microsoft calls "tapping." It's kind of like a touchpad, only in 3D.
News: Pokémon GO Will Be So Much Better with a Mixed Reality Headset
Pokémon GO has had an incredible impact on gamers in a way we've never seen before, but you can only do so much in augmented reality on a smartphone. It's clear we're headed for more immersive experiences, but the Amsterdam-based development studio Capitola VR already created a proof-of-concept version of the game that works on the Microsoft HoloLens.
News: 8th Wall Escalates Race for Volumetric Video Content with Microsoft Mixed Reality Capture Support
As demonstrated by holographic experiences for the Microsoft HoloLens and the Magic Leap One, volumetric video capture is a key component of enabling the more realistic augmented reality experiences of the future.