Next Reality Features

News: Google Working on AR Walking Navigation Mode for Maps

At Google's I/O developer conference keynote on Tuesday, ARCore may have been absent, but Google did preview a potentially trailblazing augmented reality feature for Google Maps.

News: Magic Leap's Unity Conference Presentation Uncovered Many New Details, Here's What We Found Out

During its presentation at Unite Berlin, Magic Leap gave attendees a crash course in developing experiences for Magic Leap One (ML1), we found out quite a bit more about how the device works and what we can expect to experience with the device.

News: Patent Applications Offer Closer Look at Magic Leap One & How It May Work

Eventually, even the most private company has to file its patents and unveil its tightly-held secrets, and Magic Leap is no exception.

News: Now the HoloLens Can Measure Your Heart Rate by Scanning Your Face

Researchers have developed a new method that harnesses the power of augmented reality to detect a patient's heart rate using a Microsoft HoloLens and computer vision.

News: Airbus Previews Military Sandbox App for HoloLens

As Microsoft works toward fulfilling its $480 million contract to supply modified HoloLens 2 headsets to the US Army, Airbus is preparing to supply advanced augmented reality apps for the device.

News: How Virtual & Mixed Reality Trick Your Brain

Our brains do a magnificent amount of work to process visual stimuli, but they aren't difficult to fool. Optical illusions can trick our minds into believing what we're seeing is real, even if it's not—and virtual and mixed reality technologies take advantage of this little loophole in our brain to help us accept the unreal.

News: Preview a 3D House in Mixed Reality Before It Gets Built

Would you like to know what your next house is going to look like? With the HoloLens, you can just plop a hologram down in an open outdoor area and find out.

News: The Future of the AR Cloud — a Thousand Walled Gardens Bloom

By far the most significant development for AR in the coming months and years — the development that will drive AR adoption — will be our reliance upon the AR cloud.

News: ARCore Closes Gap with ARKit via Image Recognition from Viro Media

Upon Google's release of ARCore in February, the platform wasn't only playing catch-up with Apple and ARKit in terms of downloads, but it also lagged in capabilities, as Apple already had vertical surface recognition and image recognition on the way with ARKit 1.5 for a March release.

News: The HoloLens Is Already Teaching Tomorrow's Doctors

The human body is amazingly complex, and seeing inside one poses a variety of challenges whether you're dealing with an actual human or some kind of facsimile. Mixed reality offers the ability to get the best of both worlds by creating a holographic teaching tool for human anatomy.

Hands-On: Hands-On with Google Maps Walking AR Navigation Experiment, a Peek into Our Smartglasses Future

While Google isn't ready to commit to a wide release of the AR walking navigation mode for Google Maps, the company has begun testing the feature with members of its Local Guides crowdsourcing community.

News: The HoloLens Lets You Watch TV in a Whole New Way

Are there any benefits to watching a movie in a holographic mixed reality headset, or should you just stick with your TV? It's not as cut and dried as you might think. While TVs have some advantages, so does the virtual screen of a Microsoft HoloLens.

News: DataMesh's HoloDesign Makes Redesigning Spaces Easy with a HoloLens

What does our future hold when augmented and mixed reality finally enter the mainstream? As developers, we are always looking for the ultimate solutions to the problems our users see. Welcome the innovative minds of DataMesh Consulting and their impressive HoloLens interior design solution called HoloDesign (previously "Decoration").

News: Apple's Third Generation of Animoji Adds Memoji Customization & Stickers to Messages

Apple is giving iPhone owners even more options to express themselves via Animojis with a wide range of customization options for their personal Memojis.

News: What Is the Difference Between Facebook Ray-Ban Stories, Snap Spectacles, & Amazon Echo Frames Smartglasses?

The emergence of Facebook's collaboration with Ray-Ban to launch Stories smartglasses has finally put an exclamation point on a new category of smartglasses: the pre-augmented reality wearable segment.

News: Microsoft Unveils Remote Assist & Layout, New HoloLens Apps Aimed at Workforce Productivity

On Monday, at its annual Build developer conference, Microsoft revealed two new apps for the HoloLens apps.

News: Apple AR Smartglasses Concept Shows the Virtual Desktop of the Future

The focus on augmented reality over at Apple is, so far, restricted to the iPhone and the iPad. But if some of the most reliable analysts in the business are to be believed, we'll probably see some kind of AR or VR wearable from the company later this year.

News: Startup Phiar Prepares Beta Launch of AR Driving Navigation App for iPhone

Google pushed a new kind of augmented reality walking navigation to the mainstream last year, and now startup Phiar is hoping users will use its AR app in the same way for driving navigation.

News: Microsoft Fuels Efficiency at Chevron with Remote Assist App for HoloLens

Four months after unveiling the latest productivity apps for the HoloLens, Microsoft now has a series of compelling real-world use case videos showing how the augmented reality device and its apps are helping oil giant Chevron.

News: Magic Leap Used to Bring AR to H&M & Star Wars Fashion Collaboration in Tokyo Developed by Warpin Media

There may be questions from some about the future of Magic Leap, but in Japan, The Force is with the augmented reality startup.

News: UC Berkeley Team Commands Drone Fleet with HoloLens

User interfaces for computers have evolved over the years, from the introduction of the keyboard and mouse on the personal computer, to touchscreens on mobile devices, to natural voice recognition. However, the same cannot be said for robots or drones—until now.

News: Google Update Adds Real-World Occlusion to ARCore with Depth API

Apple's ARKit has built a considerable lead in terms of features over Google's ARCore, but Google's latest update to ARCore adds a capability that makes the platform a bit more competitive with ARKit.

Apple AR: Demo Shows How Augmented Reality Will Make Advertising More Immersive

Companies are already clamoring to figure out strategies for integrating augmented reality into their advertising platforms. AR is going to become a huge asset to marketers, and Apple's ARKit is only going to help that along. Mixed reality producer Bilawal Singh Sidhu has given us a sneak peek of what the world of advertising could be with the ARKit.

News: Create Your Own Holograms at Home with the Volu iPhone App

With the release of Object Capture this fall, Apple is giving everyone with a Mac and a camera the means to create their own 3D objects.

News: Snap's Acquisition of 3D Mapping Startup Signals Move to Build AR Cloud

The concept of Metaverse, otherwise referred to as AR cloud, where a digital twin of the real world filled with virtual content anchored persistently for all to see, has been a sci-fi dream of futurists for years and an aim for most tech companies who are serious about AR.

Hands-On: Spotify Premium on Magic Leap One Is Futuristic, But Not Quite the iPod of AR

Back when I worked in the music industry, I never imagined there would be a day that I'd be able to sit in a room surrounded by virtual album covers while listening to beats, but that day is really here.

News: ThirdEye Gen X2 Smartglasses Take Aim at Military Applications with AR-Enhanced Weapons Sight

Following on the heels of the announcement that ThirdEye's Gen X2 MR glasses began shipping in September, ThirdEye has revealed it has developed an app that helps soldiers aim their weapons during battle situations.

News: MIT's Remote Touch Interface Lets You Pick Up & Move Objects Through the Internet

We can't be in two places at once, but with virtual touch interfaces we can theoretically use a machine to act as our second body in a remote location. Over at MIT, Daniel Leithinger and Sean Follmer, with the advisement of Hiroshi Ishii, created an interface that makes this possible.

News: How to Use the Magic Leap One in Outdoor Settings, It's Not Perfect, but It's Possible

From day one, my favorite thing about the Magic Leap One has been its portability. It's so well designed that it just screams to be taken out for a walk through the city. Alas, Magic Leap says the device is (currently) designed to be used indoors, preferably in settings containing few windows or black surfaces.

News: In a Major Hit to Apple, Rovio to Launch Angry Birds in AR for Magic Leap

Considering Rovio Entertainment quite literally owes its existence to Apple and the App Store, it may ruffle a few feathers that the company has opted to aim the augmented reality debut of its blockbuster Angry Birds franchise at Magic Leap instead.

News: Intel Opens AR Portal to Smithsonian's Burning Man Exhibit via Snapchat

Burning Man 2018 is underway, but Intel and the Smithsonian American Art Museum are giving those not in attendance the ability to view the art from the event through Snapchat.

News: Doctors Use 3D Holograms on the HoloLens to Aid in Collarbone Repair During Surgery

Late last year, two surgeons from the Instituto de Ortopedia e Traumatologia de Jaraguá do Sul in Brazil started using a combination of 3D printing and the Microsoft HoloLens to help plan spinal surgeries. And now, with the rest of their team, they've successfully performed a surgical procedure on their first international patient using their 3D impression planning and augmented reality process.

News: Golfshot Mobile App Chips in AR Mode for Measuring Shots on the Course

Although some look to golf for some quick off-the-grid time, the scenic hills and blue skies of your local putting green are not immune from the ever-expanding reach of augmented reality. A new update to the Golfshot mobile app brings new AR features to iPhones and iPads designed to help golfers determine shot distances during course play.

News: NBA Update Delivers Live Games & Player Comparison Stats in Magic Leap App

It's a magical time of year for basketball fans, with the NCAA Tournament in full swing and NBA frontrunners in the midst of their push to clinch spots in the playoffs.

News: Artists Transform Brooklyn Light Installation into Instagram AR Filter That Doubles as Dimensional Portal

What if you went to an art installation at one of the coolest venues in New York that you could then take with you anywhere in the world?

News: Microsoft Emerges from the Trenches with More Details Behind the Army Edition of HoloLens 2

When we got our first look at US Army soldiers testing Microsoft's modified HoloLens 2 last year, it still looked very much like the commercial edition, with some additional sensors attached.

News: Renault Uses Shazam AR to Harness the Latest Star Wars Movie Hype

French automaker Renault is tapping into the promotional machine for Solo: A Star Wars Movie by deploying an AR experience through Shazam that's triggered via synergistic advertising.

News: Snap Releases Lens Studio 4.0 with 3D Body Mesh & More, Upgrades Scan as Fashion Assistant

Throughout Thursday's virtual Snap Partner Summit, Snapchat's parent company made a profound statement: If you use Snapchat, you're a creator.

News: WayRay's Auto Techno Video Will Make You Want to Add AR to Your Driving Experience

When it comes to marketing, sexy sells, a point that has been lost on most augmented reality hardware makers focused mostly on the geek space. But a new promotional spot from AR-in-the-car accessory maker WayRay indicates that AR companies are beginning to see the virtual sizzle reel light.

News: Microsoft Mixed Reality Developer Shows Off the Full Power of Hand Tracking & Occlusion via the HoloLens 2

The experience of actually using the HoloLens 2 can be difficult to describe to anyone who hasn't had a chance to directly interact with the device in person and be blown away by its immersive capabilities.