Next Reality Features
News: Google Brings Augmented Reality to the Mainstream by Adding AR Content to Search
If Google hasn't already demonstrated that it is serious about augmented reality, then it made it abundantly clear at the Google I/O keynote on Tuesday.
News: Updates to Upskill's Skylight Productivity Platform Make Building AR Apps Easy
Augmented reality software maker Upskill has released the latest version of their Skylight platform, adding a number of new tools to ease implementation and improve functionality for enterprises, including a new application builder.
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: Snapchat Launches In-App Store with 'World's First AR Superstar' Hot Dog Toy & Other Swag
It used to be that the best kind of swag was T-shirts and hats from your favorite music artists, but now the symbol of casual insider cool falls to the tech companies, and Snapchat has just joined the ranks of branded apparel purveyors.
News: Finally, Someone Is Fixing the Major Issues with Texture Compression
We live in a computer world full of file formats. Whether we are talking about images, videos, or text documents, there are dozens of file types for each, and there are new ones added every year to applications. Keeping in mind that many of these formats were created before the internet was widely available (at least, in infant form), the primary reason for this glut of often complex choices is competition.
News: Magic Leap Seems to Be Partnering with Alibaba on a Shopping App
We've seen how mixed and augmented reality can offer better shopping experiences for consumers, and even how Magic Leap wants to make advertising a non-intrusive experience. So it's no surprise that Magic Leap seems to have partnered up with Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba—one of their largest investors—to create an augmented reality shopping app.
Market Reality: Augmented & Virtual Reality Represent Leading Growth Segment in Entertainment & Media
A report by PwC highlights that immersive experiences in augmented and virtual reality represent the fastest growing segment of the entertainment and media industry over the next six years. News from two companies working in the industry, Fox and NetDragon, underscore the growth forecast.
News: ThirdEye Aims for Crowded Enterprise Market with X1 Smart Glasses & App Store
A few months ago, we gave you a small peek at a new entrant in the race to deliver augmented reality smartglasses to the masses, and now the device is finally ready for the public. ThirdEye Gen is now accepting preorders for its X1 Smart Glasses, which will also provide users with an AR-centric app store.
Apple AR: 'Ancients AR' Game from Immersion VR Is Battleship on Steroids
Sending fleets of ships into battle as an ancient Nordic god? Sign me up.
News: Blippar Bounces Back with Web-Based AR Platform
After one of Britain's "Brothers Bling" bought Blippar out of bankruptcy, the mobile augmented reality company is getting back to business with the addition of web-based AR capabilities to its platform.
NR30: The Mobile AR Leaders of 2018
This time last year, we got our first taste of what mobile app developers could do in augmented reality with Apple's ARKit. Most people had never heard of Animojis. Google's AR platform was still Tango. Snapchat introduced its World Lens AR experiences. Most mobile AR experiences existing in the wild were marker-based offerings from the likes of Blippar and Zappar or generic Pokémon GO knock-offs.
News: BBC Brings Ancient Artifacts into Your Living Room with Augmented Reality App for iOS & Android
According to Indiana Jones, certain things belong in museums, but, thanks to augmented reality, you can now see some of the ancient treasures of the world in your own home via the Civilisations AR app from the BBC.
News: Apple Invades Grammys with iPhone X Animoji Karaoke for Childish Gambino & Migos
On Sunday, the annual Grammy Awards delivered its usual mix of fashion, live performances, and music industry magic, but this time with one important difference: Animojis.
News: Warner Bros. Patents AR/VR Design for Full-Immersion Movie Theater Experience
Forget 3D movies. Warner Bros.' newest patent shows off designs for a mixed reality movie-going experience that will leave other theater-going experiences in the dust ... all in the comfort of your own home.
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: HoloSuit Proof of Concept Uses Full Body Motion to Control the HoloLens
Here at NextReality, we talk a lot about the many different ways of controlling holograms in the HoloLens and other augmented and mixed reality devices; New and creative ways are coming more and more every day. Most recently is something called the HoloSuit. In the 25-second clip below, you can see a woman moving the arm of a jacket which in turn moves a 3D model of Darth Vader on the screen. It's a simple idea with big potential.
Market Reality: Lenovo's Star Wars AR Headset vs. iPhone X Launch Day, Niantic Acquires Evertoon & More
When the Super Bowl airs, every other TV network puts on reruns because no one wants to face that juggernaut for ratings. The launch of a new iPhone is the Super Bowl of the tech world, with the launch of the iPhone X being the biggest one yet.
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.
Market Reality: Snapchat's World Lenses Are Just the Tip of the AR Advertising Iceberg
Snapchat is mostly credited as the first AR social network, and, like most social media companies, its revenue model is nested largely within advertising. As such, the company now has a new avenue for branded content.
News: Arvizio Cross-Platform AR Tool Lets HoloLens & Magic Leap One Users View 3D Models Together
We are in the midst of a mini-boom for communications tools designed for augmented reality headsets, with the introduction of Avatar Chat and Mimesys for Magic Leap One and Spatial for the HoloLens within the last few months.
Building Next Reality: The Terms You Need to Know to Work in ARKit
In the first part of this series, we looked at the surface detection that is provided by the ARKit. We looked at how it worked and covered some of the tools that could help us determine what is not working; when it doesn't. Now let's take this to the next step.
News: Vuzix Blade Augmented Reality Smartglasses Add Real-Time Language Translation via Zoi Meet App
Next to map data overlays, one of the most often discussed concepts for apps that could propel augmented reality smartglasses into the mainstream is a real-time language translation app.
News: Google Unboxes ARCore for Samsung Galaxy Note 9, Tab S4, & Latest Devices from Sony & Nokia
As Android device partners ship new products, Google has been diligent in its efforts to ensure that users can enjoy ARCore apps once they boot up their new toys.
News: Google Preparing AR Walking Navigation via Testing Through Local Guides
The augmented reality walking navigation mode for Google Maps appears to be closer to an upcoming release for the general public.
News: Scope AR Merges Its AR Workflow & Remote Assistance Functions into One App
Enterprise augmented reality software maker Scope AR is bringing the powers of its two productivity apps together like the Wonder Twins into the form of a single app.
News: YouTube Unleashes First AR Makeup Try-On Tool with Mac Cosmetics
While Modiface, YouCam, and others have been playing in the virtual make-up marketing pool for a while, here comes Google ready to splash down with a cannonball.
News: Unity Inches Forward with AR Development Tools in Latest Release
As one of the leading 3D engines for augmented reality development, a new release of Unity is a significant event that carries the potential to facilitate huge leaps forward in AR content creation.
News: Unreal Engine Update Brings Support for Latest Augmented Reality Toolkits from Magic Leap, Apple, & Google
On Thursday, Epic Games released Unreal Engine 4.20, which finally includes support for the latest iterations of ARKit and ARCore, as well as Magic Leap One early access.
News: The Ancients AR Puts Mystical Sea Battles in Your Living Room in Augmented Reality
While mobile gaming, in the 10 years since the App Store launched, has matured to console-level quality, premium augmented reality games built with ARKit (or ARCore) have been scarce.
News: Google Continues AR Duel Versus Apple with AR Stickers for Pixel 2
Clearly, the next big battlefield for tech gamesmanship between Apple and Google will be augmented reality.
News: Lumus Looks to Sweden's Tobii for New Smartglasses Eye Tracking Solution
On Thursday, at the Augmented World Expo, Stockholm, Sweden-based eye tracking company Tobii announced that the augmented reality display company Lumus will integrate its eye tracking technology into the Lumus DK50 AR development kit.
News: Mind Map AR Moving from Tango to ARCore
When Google announced its ARCore augmented reality toolkit for Android as its answer to Apple's ARKit for iPhones and iPads, the question from many observers was, "What about Tango?"
News: Mojo Vision Raises $50M to Replace Smartphones & Devices with 'Invisible Computing' AR
On Thursday, Mojo Vision, a startup comprised of former engineers from Apple, Amazon, Google, and other Silicon Valley mainstays, emerged from stealth backed by $50 million in funding for a hands-free augmented reality platform that runs without smartphones, tablets, or other devices.
News: Google Arts & Culture Offers 'Pocket Gallery' Augmented Reality Museum Featuring Picasso, Van Gogh, & More
After debuting its virtual Pocket Gallery last year with the works of Johannes Vermeer, Google Arts & Culture has released a sequel that brings even more artists into your home via augmented reality.
News: Footage of Mario Kart AR Ride at Super Nintendo World Hits the Web
Even the biggest fan of Mario Kart may have reservations about traveling to Super Nintendo World in Japan in the middle of a worldwide pandemic to experience the augmented reality-enhanced roller coaster ride that recreates the game in real life.
News: 7-Eleven Puts Augmented Reality in the Game to Attract Football Fans
Not content to let NFL's official pizza sponsor corner the market for feeding football fans, 7-Eleven has taken a page out of Pizza Hut's playbook with a promotional augmented reality game.
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.
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: Intel Makes Augmented Reality Production More Accessible with Affordable New RealSense Standalone Depth Camera
For developers and makers getting started with augmented reality, Intel is lowering the barrier to entry for its RealSense line of sensors.
News: This Augmented Reality Black Friday Ad from Footwear Retailer DSW Is Like a Scene from 'Black Mirror'
If you're looking into buying shoes from DSW on Black Friday, then you can save an extra 20% — but only if you smile more.