Next Reality Features
Exclusive: Judge in Meta Patent Lawsuit Sets Deadline for Default Judgment, Meta's Founder Moves to Save Startup
The saga of augmented reality startup Meta appeared to be at end, but there are new developments unfolding in real time that may either sink Meta deeper into trouble, or provide a tenuous lifeline for the beleaguered augmented reality company.
Market Reality: Magic Leap's Branding Comes into Focus, Google Backs AR Cloud, & L'Oreal Takes Over AR Beauty
Noted poet T.S. Elliot once wrote that "April is the cruelest month." But Magic Leap might argue that March is the most miserable, as the Ides of March brought more legal woes to augmented reality startup. Elsewhere, its closely-held branding secrets have been spilled by way of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
News: Augmented World Expo Sets the Example for What an AR Conference Should Be
I have spent a good portion of this year traveling between cities and various emergent technology conferences and events. Most of these events have been really good, but in terms of augmented and mixed reality, the Augmented World Expo, in its eighth year running, definitely stood above the rest.
News: Snap Simplifies Lens Studio with 'No-Code AR' Tools & New Templates, Invests $3.5 Million in AR Development
At the opening of its virtual Lens Fest, taking place Dec. 8-10 and open to the public, Snap is furthering its facilitation of AR development with new tools for Lens Studio version 3.3 and a planned investment into its AR creator community.
News: These Devs Are Making Awesome Voice-Activated Magic Spells for the HoloLens
LARPing, or live action role-playing, can look a little silly because it requires a lot of imagination to suspend reality. But mixed reality technology like the Microsoft HoloLens can change all of that with voice commands and special effects.
News: China Wireless Giant Oppo Debuts Mainstream-Friendly Smartphone-Tethered AR Smartglasses & Cloud App
One of China's largest smartphone makers, Oppo, just took the wraps off its new design for augmented reality smartglasses called AR Glass 2021.
Brief Reality: AR Hits the Conference Circuit
Every Tuesday, Next Reality will give readers a rundown of the augmented and mixed reality news briefs from the preceding week that we didn't cover already. This way, you'll never miss anything of importance in the Next Reality landscape, and will always know what's going on with new augmented and mixed reality tech and applications.
News: Apple Boosts Augmented Reality Team with Former Twitter Engineering Exec, Report Says
In hopes of strengthening its growing augmented reality team, Apple has reportedly hired Michael Abbott, an engineering and investment veteran with past ties to Twitter, Microsoft, Palm, and others.
Market Reality: Immersv Closes Funding Round While Lampix Completes Coin Offering
This week, two companies looking to capitalize on the growing augmented reality industry, raised funding from starkly different sources.
Market Reality: AT&T Invests in Magic Leap, Facebook & Snapchat Continue AR Duel
As it prepares to ship its first product by the end of the summer, Magic Leap has managed to impress yet another high-profile investor in telecommunications giant AT&T.
Market Reality: HoloLens 2 Lands at FCC, Samsung Adds Depth Cam to Galaxy Note 10+, & the Magic Leap Apps You Can't Miss
Developers and enterprise customers chomping at the bit to get their hands on HoloLens 2 may not have to wait much longer, as Microsoft passed one of the remaining hurdles needed to release their new tech into the wild.
Market Reality: Meta's Legal Woes Continue, Snapchat Beefs Up AR in Its App, & AT&T Expands Magic Leap Retail Rollout
To borrow from the canon of Game of Thrones, what is dead may never die. And while the Meta Company that we knew this time last year is no more, the patent infringement lawsuit filed against the company lives on.
News: Meta's New Enterprise User Video Shows Signs of Life at Cash-Strapped Augmented Reality Headset Maker
Despite funding difficulties that forced Meta to place employees on temporary leave in September, the augmented reality headset maker is reminding enterprise companies that it remains a viable option for visualizing and working with 3D design models.
Market Reality: Apple's Smartglasses Timeline Shifts, Continental Invests in Automotive HUDS, & Target Ships Web AR App
Consumers are chomping at the bit for augmented reality smartglasses from Cupertino's finest, but one market analyst is saying not so fast, Apple fans. Meanwhile, automotive AR is gaining speed, with the latest milestone coming courtesy of a major investment in waveguides by Continental. And although mobile AR apps have already arrived, retailer Target is taking a different approach. So why is Target tinkering with web-based AR? Answers below...
News: PepsiCo's Doritos Used to Push for Return to Live Concerts with Augmented Reality Experience
With fears over the COVID-19 pandemic subsiding, live concerts are returning. And Doritos wants to send music fans to a few of them via an augmented reality promotion.
News: Magic Leap Releases Series of Video Sessions from Inside the L.E.A.P. Conference
Magic Leap's recent L.E.A.P. conference was free to all who registered in time, but if you weren't able to make the trip to Hollywood, the company just released video of some of the sessions that took place over the course of two days.
News: Blippar's Mobile AR Business Collapses After Funding Falls Through
Mobile augmented reality pioneer Blippar has now completed its fall from hopeful AR startup to the immersive computing history books.
News: Startup Artie Aims to Give Smart Pills to Augmented Reality Characters
Hollywood has already proven that it's on board with augmented reality, with examples ranging from Avengers: Infinity War to Ralph Breaks the Internet. But one startup wants to make the augmented reality content that's being used to promote TV and film entertainment smarter.
News: Apple Harnesses the Power of the iPhone 12 Pro LiDAR Scanner for Its New 'For All Mankind' AR App
The realm of science fiction isn't all lasers and cute green toddlers, sometimes alternate science history is sci-fi, too, as exampled by the Apple TV Plus series For All Mankind.
News: Oculus Confirms Reports of Coming AR Glasses & Cloud — but Will You Really Trust Facebook to Map Inside Your House?
Facebook and its Oculus subsidiary have been open about their intentions to bring AR wearables into the mainstream for some time now.
Market Reality: Apple Funds Its AR Device Production Future, the Snapchat vs. Facebook War Heats Up & Airbnb Goes AR
With an eye toward future iPhone X-focused augmented reality functions, Apple's new investment in one of its components vendors will increase production capacity for the technology behind its TrueDepth camera, but could also apply to its future AR ambitions.
Market Reality: Google Updates ARCore & Cuts Glass, Star Wars AR in Japan, & Hands-On Magic Leap for Fashion & Voice
After facing reports of financial troubles over the past month, Magic Leap came out swinging this week with a big push for the enterprise segment of AR, including a repackaged Magic Leap 1, a suite of enterprise apps, and updates to Lumin OS and its supporting development ecosystem. Oh, and its AR headset managed to win a starring role in the marketing juggernaut for the forthcoming Star Wars movie.
News: Washington Post Opts for Fun Over Function with AR App for Winter Olympics
Although The New York Times may have won the race in terms of presenting coverage of the 2018 Winter Olympics through augmented reality first, The Washington Post is nevertheless working to compete in AR in a different way—via gaming.
News: Niantic Demos Real World Platform & Spatial Audio Features for Pokémon GO & Ingress at Tokyo Conference
In the waning days of October, at the Innovation Tokyo 2018 conference, attendees got their hands on some of the new augmented reality experiences that Niantic is working on through its Real World Platform.
News: ABC News Seeks Audience with Royal Wedding Onlookers via AR App
If you have yet to receive your invitation to next weekend's royal wedding in the UK, then you can still experience part of the pomp and circumstance in augmented reality courtesy of ABC News.
News: Google & Red Bull TV Premier 'The Last Ascent' with Synced AR Experience That Puts Nature in Your Home
In recent weeks, Google managed to capitalize on the hype surrounding the Star Wars streaming series The Mandalorian with an AR app that was not only exclusive to Android but also available only for 5G-equipped devices.
Market Reality: Facebook Adds AR to TV, Magic Leap Gets New App from Insomniac, & Five Nights at Freddy's Debuts in AR
It's the holiday season, and the tech industry is giving consumers several AR products and apps as gift-giving options.
Apple AR: Adventure Awaits iPhone Gamers in ARKit-Based RPG
Another day brings another Apple ARKit demo, this time for a first-person role playing game that inserts villagers, vendors, and villains into real world locations.
News: Marvel Teams with Snoop, Jaden Smith, Jamie Foxx, Black Eyed Peas & Others for AR Graphic Novel
While most of Hollywood and its celebrity class are enthralled by virtual reality, a new augmented reality experience featuring some of the music and film world's top talent is preparing for virtual liftoff.
News: BMW Releases Art Car Series of Famed Artists, Including Jeff Koons and Andy Warhol, in Augmented Reality
One app is continuing to make a name for itself as the go-to platform for celebrity art that transcends canvas and paint and moves in augmented reality.
News: ReplayAR Anchors Your Photos in Real-World Locations So You Can View Them in AR Later
Imagine sitting on your patio, scrolling through your phone's photos, reminiscing about the past. Now imagine being able to see those photos floating in the air, at the exact vantage point from where they were taken a year ago.
News: Google Launches Augmented Reality Filters on Meet App for Mobile
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Google has packed new functionality into Google Meet to compete with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other video conferencing platforms.
Hands-On: Launching Space Rockets in New York's Central Park via Magic Leap's Boosters App
We're a few weeks away from the fireworks associated with New Year's celebrations, but that doesn't mean you can't start a little early — in augmented reality.
News: Vuzix & CyberTimez to Help Vision-Impaired Vets Through the Wounded Warrior Program
CyberTimez and the Wounded Warrior Program, using the Vuzix M300 monocular smartglasses, are teaming up to help supply veterans with little to no sight. The overarching goal here is helping these injured service members to find a new level of independence in a sight driven world.
Market Reality: Samsung Intros AR Cloud, Niantic Real World Platform Makes Debut, Election Broadcasts Go AR
This week, at its developer's conference, Samsung took the wraps off a new tool from Wacom that bestows the S-Pen with AR powers, as well as its own entry to the AR cloud market called Project Whare.
Market Reality: HTC Vive Concept Smartglasses, Coronavirus Hits Apple, Holographic Celebs, & Snapchat Ground Effects
The coronavirus continues to disrupt the tech industry, including the augmented reality segment, with Apple and the iPhone the latest to feel the impact.
News: Meta Company's Funding Fallout Followed by Furloughs, Report Says
After a $20 million funding round fell through, augmented reality headset maker Meta Company has been forced to furlough (or place on temporary leave of absence) approximately 65% of its workforce for 30 days.
News: AR App Thyng Making Jump from Mobile to Magic Leap One
The first mobile augmented reality app out of the gate with support for Magic Leap One Creator Edition is Thyng, who is planning to release the headset version of the app later this year.
Dev Report: IBM & Unity Partner to Offer AI Tool That Could Make Augmented Reality Apps Smarter
This month, the power of artificial intelligence will be coming to more augmented reality developers as a leader in the game and 3D software development space and a major force behind the current school of cloud-based AI have officially announced a new partnership.
News: Niantic Previews the Future of AR Gaming with Codename: Urban Legends Demo
As if teasing its own smartglasses weren't enough, augmented reality gaming developer Niantic gave gamers a glimpse of how 5G speeds can revolutionize how they play mobile games in the near future.