Next Reality Features

News: Windows Mixed Reality Arrives with Fall Creators Update & Headsets

Today, anyone with a compatible PC can download the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and experience Windows Mixed Reality.

Apple AR: Watch This Phone Levitate Before Your Eyes

Sometimes the demos for Apple's ARKit are so good that it almost looks like magic. A recent demo, in particular, shows exactly what kind of magic tricks you can perform using the ARKit.

News: Epic Games Gifting 500 Magic Leap Headsets to Developers via Grant Program

With $100 million in grant funding already available to developers via its MegaGrants program, Epic Games is sweetening the pot with some gear for Magic Leap developers.

Apple AR: Museum of Flight Gives Tours Inside the First Boeing 737

Education opportunity is a big part of what makes Apple's ARKit so exciting. The Museum of Flight in Seattle is taking full advantage of that with their new platform prototype.

News: Epson Boosts Display Specs, Adds Optional Android Controller in Moverio BT-40 Series Smartglasses

The average business person likely recognizes Epson for its printers or even its projectors, not the futuristic AR wearables.

Market Reality: Nreal Light Goes Hollywood, Coronavirus Disrupts AR Industry, & Apple Takes on Snapchat

Smartglasses startup Nreal enjoyed some highs and endured some lows this week, as the company landed a product placement with Kevin Bacon but then faced production issues related to the coronavirus outbreak.

News: Bizarre AR Experiment Serves Tweets for Everything Your iPhone Can See

A development duo has concocted an iPhone app that displays related tweets based on objects recognized by the device's camera.

News: What Apple's Record Wearables Earnings Could Mean for Its AR Smartglasses Future

This week's Apple earnings offered a report of solid performance and guarded optimism about future iPhone sales, which may be impacted later this year by issues around the current coronavirus epidemic in China.

News: Facebook's Brain Control Interface Research Could Eventually Produce Thought-Controlled AR Wearables

Who's ready to let future Facebook augmented reality smartglasses read their brain? Well, ready or not, the tech giant is making progress in the area of brain control interfaces (BCI) by funding research.

News: Niantic Begins Accepting Nominations for PokéStops in Pokémon GO

Augmented reality gaming developer Niantic has decided to give its players the opportunity to make their mark on Pokémon GO with a PokéStop nomination system.

Apple AR: Demo Gives a Glimpse at a New Way of Sharing Art

Most people say art is meant to be seen. Museums are a good way to do that, but they aren't always accessible to everyone. Those who miss out on the chance to see fantastic pieces of art at museums might now be able to get close to them thanks to Apple's ARKit.

Market Reality: Fastdata.io, Ultrahaptics Secure Funding for Contributions to AR

This week in Market Reality, we see two companies capitalizing on technologies that contribute to augmented reality platforms. In addition, industry mainstays Vuzix and DAQRI have business news of their own to report.

News: Ugly Lies the Bone Mixes Virtual Reality with a Live Stage Play

We've already seen how VR can have some therapeutic benefits, but not the dramatized version. A play called Ugly Lies the Bone emotionally examines how war veterans can heal (or at least treat) their PTSD using virtual reality.

Market Reality: Apple & Samsung Partner with Snap, HoloLens 2 at the Museum, & Inside the Varjo Reality Cloud

While Snap may eventually compete with Apple and Samsung in selling smartglasses to consumers, today it is helping them achieve their business objectives via augmented reality.

Market Reality: Perfect Corp. & EchoPixel Close Series A Rounds on Interactive Apps

Investors are ready to throw their money at augmented and virtual use cases that demonstrate a business purpose and a return on investment.

News: Tango's Reach Is Being Limited by New Zenfone Exclusive to Verizon

Verizon will be exclusively selling the ASUS ZenFone AR, which supports Tango (Google's mobile AR platform) and Daydream VR.

News: Google Turns Annual Android Partner Walk at MWC into Showcase for ARCore

Last week at Mobile World Congress 2019, Google put an augmented reality twist on its annual Android Partner Walk via its ARCore toolkit.

News: Snapchat Sponsored Lenses Are Now More Helpful to Advertisers Through Context Cards

Snapchat's popular AR lenses just got a lot more useful for businesses, as the company has now opened its Context Cards platform to sponsored content.

News: Vuzix Blade Teams with Facial Recognition Company to Provide Law Enforcement Solution

Perhaps it's a coincidence that the Vuzix Blade smartglasses look like the sunglasses that a police officer would wear, but a new partnership with an AI software company makes the wearable a perfect fit for law enforcement.

News: 8th Wall Expands Web AR Offerings with Cloud Editor + Hosting for One-Stop Development

Silicon Valley-based startup 8th Wall has spent much of the last few years building a reputation for enabling AR experiences that are platform agnostic via web browsers and mobile apps. Now, 8th Wall is promising to give developers the freedom to build and host AR experiences from anywhere via a simple web browser.

Market Reality: Google Pushes Web AR, Lil Nas X Goes Immersive, Coinbase & Ray-Ban Snapchat into AR Marketing

This week, Google showed off some wild new and innovative AR experiences that showcase the WebXR protocol for browser-based AR content, while 8th Wall applied its own web-based AR platform in service of Captain Morgan.

News: NBCUniversal Teases Augmented Reality-Powered Shopping via TV

Consumers who haven't already delved into the interactive wonders of augmented reality are about to be pushed into the immersive waters by market forces.

Market Reality: Magic Leap Prescription Lenses Arrive, Niantic Challenges Devs with Real World, & Blippar Goes Under

Mixed reviews of Magic Leap One aside, it would be hard to deny that Magic Leap has had a big year. And the AR unicorn isn't coasting to the finish line, with a number of new apps dropping and prescription frames finally arriving to bring relief to those who wear eyeglasses.

News: Facebook Puts a Spell on Portal Devices & Mobile Apps with Harry Potter AR Experience

Augmented reality technology is often likened to magic powers, so it is fitting that a new AR experience featuring the Harry Potter franchise uses the newest AR tricks from Facebook and its Spark AR platform.

Market Reality: Lenovo Misses the Mark, Vuzix Targets Security Market, & 8th Wall & Blippar Capitalize Web-Based AR

During the recent Augmented World Expo (AWE), we had a chance to try out the Lenovo ThinkReality A6 AR headset. Unfortunately, the experience was all downhill from there.

News: Magic Leap Deepens Funding from Telecom Industry with $280 Million from Japan's NTT Docomo

Magic Leap's business strategy for bringing augmented reality to the mainstream has become even clearer via its latest funding round.

Market Reality: Niantic & WaveOptics Locate More Funding for AR, Cheddar Spreads to Magic Leap, & Tesla Files AR Patent

Investors continue to bet on augmented reality, both for short-term returns and long-term plays. This week, Niantic reportedly picked up another round of funding from Samsung and others, based on the success of PokémonGO and the prospects for future revenue. Likewise, investors see value in WaveOptics, whose waveguide displays could make consumer smaller AR smartglasses possible within the next year.

Market Reality: Apple, Snap, & Google Execs Talk AR, Form Takes AR to the Pool, & Octi Pivots to AR Social Networking

Some of the leading big tech companies are still working in the lab on actual products, but at least some of their leadership did have some thoughts to share on the future direction of the technology this week.

News: ReplayAR App Preserves Hollywood's Most Beloved Movie Theater Using Augmented Reality

The pandemic has forced a number of public-facing businesses to either temporarily close or permanently cease operations, with one of the biggest victims of this trend being the movie theater business.

Market Reality: Facebook Seeks AR Talent, Snapchat Diversifies Its AR Content, & Magic Leap Scores More Telecom Funding

As much funding as Magic Leap has secured, another round of funding will still catch headlines. However, the latest funding solidifies the company's strategy for succeeding in the consumer segment of AR.

News: Google's MobileNets Bring New Visual Recognition Models to Smartphones

Google might be taking the lead on artificial intelligence in smartphones with their latest announcement, MobileNets. MobileNets is a series of TensorFlow vision models built for mobile devices, described by Google as "mobile-first."

News: VRLA Expo Prepares to Host Mixed Reality Easter Egg Hunt

The Easter Bunny is about to get his first experience with mixed reality. Virtual Reality Los Angeles (VRLA) will host its third annual expo in April, and this year's attendees will get to experience a fun Easter egg hunt sponsored by AfterNow and VRLA, in partnership with mixed reality king, the Microsoft HoloLens.

News: It's Raining Cats & Mudkips as Dynamic Weather Arrives for Pokémon GO

Now, when the weather outside is frightful, Pokémon GO players can expect it to be just as unpleasant in augmented reality.

Dev Report: Occipital Brings Apple Metal Support to Bridge Engine as It Leaves Beta

Following San Francisco-based Occipital's successful Structure Sensor Kickstarter campaign, the release of its Bridge AR/VR headset, as well as a string of technology and company acquisitions, the company has built a rather strong name for itself in the AR community. And now, with the first public release of its Bridge Engine on Thursday, the company continues to expand the features its platform has to offer, with hopes of bringing in more developers to utilize it.

Market Reality: North Plans Smartglasses Pop-Up Stores, Adobe Buys Allegorithmic, & Candy Ventures Snags Blippar Assets

The era of smartglasses designed for consumers has officially begun, as shipments of North Focals began arriving at its stores this week. And the company now has plans to expand its retail footprint.

News: This iPhone & Android App Lets You Celebrate 50th Anniv. Of Moon Landing by Taking the Trip in Augmented Reality

With all the talk about returning to the moon via SpaceX, NASA, and international agencies, some have forgotten some of the magic surrounding the original Apollo 11 mission.

News: Watch the Unite '16 Los Angeles Keynote from Unity

Today in Los Angeles, Unity will be at the Loews Hollywood Hotel to host Unite '16, its annual developer conference. Unite is Unity's platform for showing the development community its upcoming direction and roadmap for augmented and virtual reality, game development, 3D technology, and more.

Market Reality: Snap Inches Toward Smartglasses with Spectacles 3, Meta Patent Suit Ends, YouTube Launches AR Makeup

This week, Snapchat parent Snap came closer to fulfilling its smartglasses destiny by adding new 3D content capabilities to its third-generation Spectacles. At the same time, the now defunct Meta Company continued its fall from grace, as a judge ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the patent infringement case against the Meta 1 and Meta 2 headsets.

Market Reality: Magic Leap One Availability Expands via Third-Party Service, Snapchat Sings Shoppable AR Tune

If you subscribe to notifications for Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz's Twitter feed, you'd think everyone in the world already has a Magic Leap One. Alas, that is not the case, but those not within the geographic areas of Magic Leap's LiftOff service now have a loophole through which they, too, can join the "Magicverse."

Market Reality: Apple, Snapchat, Magic Leap, & Unity Demonstrate Why They Make Up Top 4 of the NR30

This week, Next Reality published its annual feature on the leaders in the augmented reality industry, the Next Reality 30. So it's no coincidence that the companies represented in the top four spots of the NR30 also made business headlines in AR this week.