Next Reality Features
News: Snap Now Lets You Build Lego in AR Remotely with Others, Reveals AR Tie-Up with Disney, Plus AR Business Tools
The surging activity in augmented reality in both the business and consumer sectors is being matched with a wealth of updates and partnerships from Snap Inc.
Hands-on: Google's Daydream View Feels Like a Hot & Stiff Pair of Sweatpants on Your Face
While visiting the Made by Google pop-up shop in New York City this morning, I had a chance to try out the new Daydream View virtual reality headset. First impressions are important, and Google's new mobile VR product makes a good one. The headset is made of a soft fabric that most evokes a beloved old college sweater that's well worn but properly cared for. The demo only featured the Slate (darker gray) model, though customers will ultimately be able to choose from either Slate, Snow, and Cr...
Market Reality: Magic Leap & Apple Stockpile Funds & Talent as Samsung Reveals AR-Focused Smartphone
This week, two companies preparing the most anticipated augmented reality devices for consumers were the subject of reports regarding strategic moves to put them in better positions to move those products forward.
News: Apple Just Hired an AR Specialist from NASA
Apple likes to play their cards close to the vest, don't they? The iconic company doesn't usually reveal much about their projects until it's time for an official announcement. But sometimes ... They can't stop a leak of information from happening, or they just leak the news themselves like Steve Jobs used to. That brings us to today's news. It appears the tech giant has hired an augmented reality specialist from NASA to join their AR team.
Market Reality: AR Goes to Court as Meta Infringement Case Unfolds & Epic Games Takes on Nreal for Trademark
Reading the augmented reality news lately has felt a bit like reading a John Grisham novel, as the business side of things has dripped with legal drama.
ARKit 101: How to Place 2D Images, Like a Painting or Photo, on a Wall in Augmented Reality
In a previous tutorial, we were able to measure vertical surfaces such as walls, books, and monitors using ARKit 1.5. With the advent of vertical plane anchors, we can now also attach objects onto these vertical walls.
News: Qualcomm & Accenture Upgrade Event Planning with AR App for Nreal Light & Mobile
One of the hallmarks of augmented reality's coming of age is that the technology is starting to find a home in business categories that are less obvious compared to typical AR enterprise use cases.
ARKit 101: How to Place Grass on the Ground Using Plane Detection
Ever notice how some augmented reality apps can pin specific 3D objects on the ground? Many AR games and apps can accurately plant various 3D characters and objects on the ground in such a way that, when we look down upon them, the objects appear to be entirely pinned to the ground in the real world. If we move our smartphone around and come back to those spots, they're still there.
How To: Improve Your Pokémon's Stats in Pokémon GO
In Pokémon GO, having an in-depth understanding of your Pokémon's stats and abilities is crucially important to becoming a better player. Not all Pokémon are created equal; as such, it's critical that you look at each of your Pokémon—even duplicates—with a keen eye.
News: Nike Begins Using Augmented Reality for Sneaker Fitting in Mobile App & in Retail Stores
After applying augmented reality as a solution for the sale and marketing of sneakers, Nike is taking the next step in its adoption of AR to improve the customer experience.
News: HoloLens Can Now Simulate Childbirth to Train Medical Students
Medical training technology company CAE Healthcare has given birth to the latest example of how augmented reality can help to build practical operating room skills for doctors and nurses. The company's newest product is called LucinaAR, which harnesses the power of the Microsoft HoloLens.
Have You Seen This?: Synesthesia Adds Trippy Sound Visualization to the HoloLens
If anyone has every told you that they see music they listen to, they have synesthesia. It's a fascinating neurological phenomenon where people experience crossed responses to stimuli, and no one knows exactly how common this is. A rough estimate claims that one in every 5,000 to 100,000 people is a synesthete, but it could be far more common or rare. Nobody really knows.
News: Microsoft's HoloLens Morphs Paris Museum Model of Mont-Saint-Michel into Masterpiece of AR
Amid the opulent and historic confines of Paris, Microsoft is now hosting an exhibit at a local museum that brings a historic map of a Normandy tourist destination to life in augmented reality.
News: Shazam Pours a Tall Glass of Augmented Reality Marketing for Shackleton Whisky
Apple's in-house music identification app Shazam has been quiet on the augmented reality front since officially joining Cupertino's finest last year, but a new promotion gives AR enthusiasts an occasion to raise a toast.
News: Microsoft's Azure Kinect Standalone Depth Sensor Powers Major Augmented Reality Improvements for $399
As the opening act to the grand unveiling of the long-awaited HoloLens 2 at Mobile World Congress Barcelona on Sunday, Microsoft showed off the standalone Azure Kinect time of flight sensor, which also happens to supply the improved human and environmental understanding capabilities of the next-generation augmented reality headset.
News: The Weather Channel Forecasts More Augmented Reality for Its Live Broadcasts with Unreal Engine
Just weeks after being acquired by comedian turned producer Byron Allen for $300 million, The Weather Channel has tapped augmented reality studio The Future Group to integrate immersive augmented reality experiences into its broadcast content.
News: The Weather Channel Uses Broadcast AR to Warn Residents in the Path of Hurricane Florence
If you've gone anywhere near a television in the US in the last 48 hours, you've probably seen some of the reports of Hurricane Florence and its devastating wind and rain making its way toward the Carolina coast.
News: Dalux Adapts Augmented Reality to Mobile for Construction Industry
HoloLens developers have created some useful solutions for visualizing building models and viewing construction plans overlaid on the job environment.
Apple AR: Real World Objects Disappear Thanks to Textures and ARKit
When we think of augmented reality, we usually think of it as adding things to our reality. A new demo has shown that using Apple's ARKit, we can not only add to reality but subtract from reality as well.
News: Apple Park Visitor Center Opens to Public with AR Tour of Entire Campus
After years of tantalizing drone video, and then brief glimpses from special guests sharing photos on social media, the Apple Park Visitor Center finally opened to the public on Friday, Nov. 17.
News: Meet the 8-Year-Old ARKit Developer Who Just Uploaded Her First Augmented Reality App to Apple's App Store
While you were busy browsing Instagram, composing tweets, or chasing Snapchat updates, an eight-year-old ARKit developer was hard at work on her first step toward taking over the tech world via augmented reality.
News: Microsoft HoloLens 2 Assists De'Longhi Japan Call Center Agents Using Augmented Reality Product Models
Less than a month after the worldwide launch of HoloLens 2, call center consultant BellSystem24 has already prepared an augmented reality solution for one of its clients.
ARKit 101: How to Measure the Ground Using ARKit
Have you noticed the many utility ARKit apps on the App Store that allow you to measure the sizes of horizontal planes in the world? Guess what? After this tutorial, you'll be able to do this yourself!
News: New App Lets Your Trace Drawings from Your Phone onto Paper
Get ready to draw like Leonardo da Vinci, or, at least, trace like him. A new augmented reality app, SketchAR, is the first mobile app that uses AR to allow users trace an image on real paper. The Lithuania-based company describes their product as "an application through which the user sees a virtual image on the surface of which they are planning to trace a sketch."
News: Lego Harnesses Apple's Latest Augmented Reality Abilities in Playgrounds App
The app that Lego demoed at this year's iPhone launch event is now available in the App Store, and it showcases several new capabilities available in ARKit 2.0.
News: Free & Open-Source JavaScript Solution for Augmented Reality Comes to Life on Mobile
AR.js is a new JavaScript solution that offers highly efficient augmented reality features to mobile developers. With HoloJS released back in December, there is a potential that the free AR.js, developed by Jerome Etienne, one of Next Reality's 50 people to watch in augmented and mixed reality, could work with the Microsoft HoloLens as well.
News: Resolution Games Ports Popular Fishing Game from VR to Augmented Reality
Having pushed more than two million downloads of its Bait! game for the Gear VR and Daydream platforms, VR developer Resolution Games is bringing the virtual fishing fun to augmented reality.
News: BMW Opens Augmented Reality Showroom for Plug-In Hybrids on the Web via 8th Wall
At its height, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many auto showrooms to close their doors. As the pandemic persists, many consumers are still hesitant to let their socially distanced guard down.
News: AT&T and NBA Launch Mobile AR Experience via Chicago Bulls App
The Chicago Bulls may not be very relevant in the current NBA standings, but they do lead the league in one other area.
News: Here's How the Weather Channel Is Using Augmented Reality to Make Us All Safer
The Weather Channel, by virtue of its name, has always been tasked with the difficult problem of making the weather interesting. As Mashable notes, they've turned to augmented reality for a solution and can now render a 3D storm in their studio, as well as help us understand how bad a storm might be with 3D forecasts.
News: Magic Leap Claims He Stole Augmented Reality Ideas as an Employee, but Who Is Chi Xu, the Founder of Nreal?
When I first found out about Nreal, back in the spring of 2018, the most interesting thing about the company's story was the founder's background. Chi Xu, the CEO and founder of Nreal, previously worked at Magic Leap as a software engineer.
News: The HoloLens Might Have a Small Field of View, but That's Actually a Good Thing
Microsoft's HoloLens is certainly a leap into the future of mixed reality interfaces, but it's not without drawbacks.
News: Manscaped's Brand Hype Grows into Augmented Reality via Snapchat Lens
If you're a man and subscribe to podcasts or YouTube channels that cater to masculine interests, then you've almost certainly encountered sponsorships from Manscaped. And that means I don't have to explain what the company is selling you (for the uninitiated, it's a company dedicated to helping you trim your body hair—most notably, your nether regions, in addition to other areas).
News: Google Researchers Develop Method for Capturing 'Relightable' Volumetric Video
As the demand for realistic volumetric video for AR experiences begins to grow (along with the available facilities and services for capturing it), researchers at Google have figured out how to improve upon the format.
News: Snapchat Turns Real World into AR Scavenger Hunt with Nearly Instant Object Recognition
While Snapchat is no stranger to location-based AR scavenger hunts, the app's new world-facing game adds some environmental understanding to the mix.
News: Nvidia Uncovers Breakthroughs with Dynamic Focus & Prescription Lenses for Augmented Reality Displays
The research team from Nvidia is returning to SIGGRAPH, an annual hotbed of innovation, with two new advancements in augmented reality displays.
News: Coca-Cola Opens a Can of Augmented Reality to Get Consumers into the Holiday Spirit
Halloween is barely in the rearview mirror, but Coca-Cola is ready to bypass Thanksgiving altogether to accelerate the arrival of Christmas, and the brand has enlisted augmented reality as an accomplice.
News: Google Wants Everyone to Try Scribble Art in Augmented Reality
As part of its ARCore push this week, Google has promoted Just a Line from one-time AR experiment to a full-fledged app.
News: Starbucks Brews Up Augmented Reality App to Enhance Roastery Experience
To create a destination for coffee connoisseurs, Starbucks has ordered up a venti cup of augmented reality to make the visit more interactive.
News: The Weather Channel Takes Broadcast AR to Next Level with Wildfires Report
The last time The Weather Channel showed off its broadcast augmented reality, the internet couldn't stop talking about how immersive the presentation looked, despite being shown on a 2D display.