Next Reality Features
Have You Seen This?: Holo Space Invaders Hits the Windows Store for HoloLens
For those familiar with my old YouTube series, New in the Store, you will be excited to know that I am starting something very similar here on NextReality that's a bit more broad in scope. Have You Seen This? will take a look at HoloLens applications that are new in the Windows Store, as well as some that may not have gotten the attention they deserve.
News: Apple Recruitment Video Features Augmented Reality Clues at the Center of Call for New Team Members
Whenever a new Apple event invite arrives, the entire tech industry begins tearing the invite's graphics apart in a bid to decipher what the company may be planning on releasing in the coming weeks.
News: Snap's Spectacles 3 Officially Go on Sale Internationally Online & at Retail
Following up on the initial tease over three months ago, Snap Inc. is finally letting the public get its hands on its new Spectacles 3 wearable device.
Market Reality: In the Race for Consumer Smartglasses, the Future Is Coming into Focus
The next frontier for AR hardware is the consumer headset, and tech companies of varying size and tenure are working hard to strike the right mix between comfort, cool factor, and cost. How these companies handle the hype and flow of information vary wildly.
News: Bentley Concept Car Gets Its Own Augmented Reality App, but the Price of Admission Is Steep, Sort Of
When it comes to building luxury cars, Bentley certainly knows what it's doing. However, when it comes to building an AR app, Bentley is looking less Continental GT and more Geo Metro.
Apple AR: Now You Can Give Your Sweetheart an AR Valentine's Day Card
Those looking for a creative way to loose a metaphorical Cupid's arrow at the figurative heart of the object of their affection can now add augmented reality greeting cards to their quiver.
News: Hollywood Exhibit Uses HoloLens to Transport Fans into the Worlds of 'Back to the Future' & Halo
The potential of augmented reality is often shown in science fiction movies, but a new exhibit marries the genre with very real-world AR technology, to great effect.
News: Twitter Hijacks Tim Cook's Pokémon Go Tweet with iPhone Battery Complaints
To commemorate the rollout of the AR+ update for Pokémon Go, Apple CEO Tim Cook took to Twitter to promote and celebrate the moment his company's ARKit platform made possible.
News: Augmented Reality Haunts Meitu Apps in the Name of 'Insidious: The Last Key'
Scary movies seem to be a natural fit for augmented reality experiences, with the latest example coming from the Insidious film franchise.
News: Apple Working with Valve on AR Smartglasses, Report Says
Rumors are what Apple dreams are made, so most of the time it's best to ignore the juicy ones -- but some Apple rumors demand a least a little attention.
News: Niantic's Ingress Roots Get a Reboot with the Real World Platform
Ingress, the godfather of location based-AR games developed by Pokémon GO creator Niantic Labs, is getting a new lease on life via Ingress Prime, a reboot of the game built on the Niantic Real World Platform.
News: Audi Drives into AR Ahead of SpaceX Moon Landing Mission
Amazingly, SpaceX founder Elon Musk just launched a Tesla into space, bound for Mars. But just because you're not a billionaire with drone rockets at your disposal, that doesn't mean you can't participate in the automobile-infused future of space here on Earth.
News: Bob Iger Says AR, Not VR, Is the Way of the Future for Disney Parks
Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger has out and out rejected Virtual Reality (VR) as a component of any Disney Theme park. While Knott's Berry Farm, why-hasn't-this-chain-shut-down-yet Sea World (seriously, RIP Tillikum), and Six Flags have all invested in VR to help spice up their parks in this theme park depression period, Iger has "ordered his team not to even think about it." Iger instead is very much onboard the Augmented Reality (AR) train.
Hands-On: This Is How Magic Leap's Voice Control Works via the New Lumin OS Update
This week's Magic Leap Lumin OS update contained a number of goodies, including iris authentication, and a way to stream to Twitch from the device.
News: Adobe Integrates with HoloLens for Personalized Marketing
At Adobe Summit 2017 this week, Adobe announced they are looking to occupy a new space in the market by combining their analytic capabilities with augmented reality. Teaming up with Microsoft, the company has combined Adobe Sensei software with the HoloLens, reports GeekWire. Together, the tech and software create a new tool for retailers to track their consumers' habits.
News: Insomniac Games Releases Seedling — the First Paid Augmented Reality Game for Magic Leap One
One the leading game developers for the PlayStation 4 and Oculus Rift platforms, Insomniac Games, is finally releasing its first major augmented reality title: Seedling for the Magic Leap One.
News: Facebook Will Have AR Integrated with Oculus in 10 Years
Facebook announced at its F8 Developer's Conference on April 12th that, in addition to the VR-ready Oculus Rift we have today, it plans to bring Augmented Reality (AR) into the fold of their social machine.
News: Google Lens Gets Smarter with Text Selection, Style Recommendations, & Real-Time Search
During Tuesday's keynote at the I/O developer conference, Google unveiled new capabilities for its Lens visual search engine and expanded the availability of the platform in smartphone camera apps.
News: Snap Teams with Sotheby's to Launch Historic AR Lens Hailing the Art of Christo & the Arc De Triomphe in Paris
One of the most iconic architectural landmarks on the planet, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, will become a part of augmented reality history thanks to a new project from Snap.
News: No, Bose, Those Aren't AR Glasses You're Hyping, but Nice Try
On Friday, audio giant Bose emerged as the latest, and perhaps the most surprising company to announce that it's planning to release augmented reality smartglasses.
News: Looking Glass Teams with Reggie Watts to Auction Holographic NFT Art, Paving Way for Popularizing AR Art You Can Hold
The moment many of the crypto savvy insiders in augmented reality and VR have been waiting for is here: we're finally getting our first big auction of NFT art that exists purely as a hologram.
News: Snapchat Powers Up Its Game & Development Capabilities with PlayCanvas Acquisition
With its recent acquisition of 3D gaming engine PlayCanvas, Snapchat parent Snap, Inc. appears to be preparing a challenge to the existing players in the world of game development, particularly in terms of augmented and virtual reality gaming.
News: Magic Leap Takes Nreal to Court Over Trade Secrets Theft
In a legal brief entered on Monday, Florida-based startup Magic Leap has filed suit against the founder of Nreal, a former employee of Magic Leap, claiming that the company's Nreal Light smartglasses were built using Magic Leap's intellectual property.
Apple AR: EyeSphere Makes Museum Exhibits More Accessible with New Demo
There are some pretty incredible museum exhibits out there all over the world, but with a limited budget and travel options, it's hard to hit all of the museums we might want to. Luckily, there is Apple's ARKit.
Market Reality: Facebook Confirms Smartglasses & AR Cloud Platform as Unity Expands Its AR Capabilities
Facebook had a pretty big week in terms of augmented reality, with much of its news coming from the Oculus 6 keynote presentation. But Mark Zuckerberg's social media company found other areas of impact outside of Oculus 6 as well.
News: Edgybees Extend Drone Prix AR Game to Epson Moverio Smartglasses
Earlier this month, Edgybees was the first game developer out of the gate with an augmented reality racing game for DJI drones called Drone Prix AR. Now, as the month closes, they are crossing the finish line with the first gaming app for Epson Moverio BT-300 Drone Edition smartglasses.
News: Sportscasters Can Bring the Game into the Studio with Vizrt's Viz Engine 4
Norway-based production tools company Vizrt is putting the real into augmented reality with its broadcast AR solution that's designed to keep sports fans (and other audiences) watching.
News: Wilder vs. Fury Boxing Rematch Will Feature an AR Experience & Sponsorship via a UFC Legend
As augmented reality continues its collision course with mainstream adoption, the technology will now have a role in one of the most anticipated boxing matches of the year.
Market Reality: Boeing HorizonX Takes Flight with AR Investment
Welcome to the maiden voyage of our new Market Reality column. Each Friday, NextReality will give you a roundup of news briefs from the financial end of the augmented and mixed reality industry. We'll cover funding news, market analysis, and more.
News: GDC Survey Says Developers Are Bullish on HoloLens, Slow to Mobile AR Versus VR
A new survey of game developers paints a somewhat less than rosy future for augmented reality gaming, but there's still some hope for its long-term prospects.
Apple AR: Developer Shows Us the Possible Future of Map Apps
Map apps, while incredibly helpful in our technology-centric world, can often be a source of frustration. No maps app is perfect, and things can get confusing fairly quickly when trying to navigate GPS mapping. iOS developer Andrew Hart has experimented with a new way of mobile mapping using Apple's ARKit that could make finding your way so much easier.
News: University of Maryland Demonstrates the Future of Medical Procedures with Augmented Reality
Could the technology that powers games like Pokémon GO be used for surgery in the near future? Researchers at the University of Maryland think so.
News: Rony Abovitz Responds—Says 2017 Is Going to Be 'An Exciting Year' for Magic Leap
In response to the flurry of doubtful headlines about Magic Leap today, set off by an unflattering article from The Information, Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz released a short blog post quickly detailing what to expect from the company over the next year. The gist comes down to this: big things are happening in 2017.
News: HoloLens & Actiongram Direct Reggie Watts Holograms for Mixed Reality Video
Move over, Spike Jonze; Microsoft has published a mixed reality music video featuring holograms of Reggie Watts filmed through a HoloLens.
News: Magic Leap Updates Create App, Reveals Behind the Scenes Development at Magic Leap Studios
Among all the new Magic Leap app announcements made at the recent L.E.A.P. conference, an update to one of the company's major in-house apps went mostly unnoticed: Create 1.1.
News: Consumer Smartglasses Powered by Intel Could Arrive This Year, Report Says
Intel Corp.'s augmented reality division could ship consumer-focused smartglasses before the end of the year, according to reports.
News: Savannah College of Art & Design Publishes First College Catalog with AR Capabilities
When it published its 2016-2017 catalog last year, Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) became the first college to leverage augmented reality technology for a college catalog.
Brief Reality: Acura, L'Oréal Latest Brands to Buy into Augmented Reality
When it comes to differentiating from the competition, brands are continuing to leverage augmented reality to give consumers to the point that there are few "firsts" left to achieve in the marketplace. While L'Oreal jumps on the augmented reality bandwagon for cosmetics, Acura finds a new way to make augmented reality a spectacle in the automotive industry.
News: Lenovo's New Tango-Powered Phab2 Pro Marks the Rise of a New Wave of Mixed Reality
Augmented reality began on smartphones but technical limitations have prevented further development. Google's Tango (formerly Project Tango) aimed to change all that, and with Lenovo's help, they now have their first device.
News: Caltech Researchers Use HoloLens to Give Directions & Object Identification to the Visually Impaired
When computers have vision but people don't, why not have the former help the latter? That's the gist behind the Cognitive Augmented Reality Assistant (CARA), a new HoloLens app developed by the California Institute of Technology.