Next Reality News
News: Looking Glass Factory Reveals 3D Conversion Platform That Can Turn Any Photo into a Hologram
Now that 3D display maker Looking Glass Factory is closing in on $2.2 million raised in its crowdfunding campaign for the consumer-grade Looking Glass Portrait device, the company now has a 3D content generator to go with it.
News: A Brief History of Apple AR Smartglasses Rumors: New Update Says They're Coming This Year
To kick off 2021, the Apple rumor mill is spinning yet again. This time a familiar item is on the menu: an augmented reality device.
News: Inside the Future of Smartglasses: Vuzix CEO Paul Travers on What 2021 Holds for AR Wearables
We often discuss the augmented reality efforts coming from the biggest players in Silicon Valley like Google, Facebook, Apple, and others, but one name that keeps coming up when you really begin to dig into the AR space is Vuzix. Since the late '90s, the company has quietly but deliberately worked to build itself into a viable competitor in the enterprise space via its wearable display technology.
News: Magic Leap Made Me Cry, Probably for the Last Time. Here's Why That's the Good News
A lot of digital ink has been spilled heaping scorn on Magic Leap. Much of that media schadenfreude was due to what some believed were unmet promises versus some of the early hype around the product. Others just seemed to be rubbed the wrong way by the startup's Apple-esque secrecy and penchant for attempting to coin new terms and frameworks for things that were, mostly, already in play.
News: Here's How Anyone Can Create an AR Snow Globe Scene Using Adobe Aero & Some Holiday Imagination
Just because 2020 has been rough for most of the planet, there's no reason you can't enjoy a bit of holiday cheer as you prepare to say goodbye to this year using the power of augmented reality.
News: The New York Times Reinvents the Crossword Puzzle for Augmented Reality via Instagram
At first glance, it may not sound like there's much value in doing a crossword puzzle in augmented reality, but The New York Times has managed to revamp the pastime as an immersive game.
News: The 10 Biggest AR Investments of 2020
The economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been felt in practically every business sector. Now, as we look back at the top augmented reality investments of 2020, the AR industry has been no exception.
News: 8th Wall Powers Netflix AR Experience for George Clooney Film 'The Midnight Sky'
Help me, George Clooney. You're my only hope. If that mash-up of cultural references doesn't make sense, it will momentarily.
News: Spatial Launches Tele iPhone App for Casual, Avatar-Based Chats in Augmented Reality
The team over at Spatial isn't done innovating its way through augmented reality in 2020. Just days after adding a mobile option to its groundbreaking Spatial virtual collaboration product, the company is releasing Tele, a new app geared toward more casual, AR-powered video chats.
News: Snapchat Delivers Augmented Reality Gifts with New Holiday AR Lenses
You won't have to ask Santa for holiday-themed augmented reality experiences, because practically any social and shopping app that offers AR effects has them available now.
News: Welcome Baby Yoda into Your Personal Space with Google Search AR
Google, you have something that I want. You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of, but you do not. In a few moments, it will be mine...and it can be yours, too, dear readers.
News: NR30 Innovator in Augmented Reality Spotlight: Aidan Wolf
This year, as part of the Next Reality 30, in partnership with Snap, we're spotlighting an up-and-coming innovator in augmented reality. Specifically, we were searching for an independent developer or creator who embodies the bleeding edge spirit of AR and its ability to leverage machine learning. This year's honoree is Aidan Wolf.
News: Spatial Now Lets You Add Apple iPhone, iPad & Android Devices to Its Virtual Collaboration Experience in AR
The virtual collaboration tool known as Spatial has consistently been one of our favorites due to its ability to leverage high-end augmented reality headsets to more easily facilitate remote meetings.
NR30: Next Reality's 30 People to Watch in Augmented Reality for 2020
The year 2020 was a pivotal span of time during which the word "virtual" took on a brand new meaning. Instead of referring to VR or augmented reality, the term was hijacked to describe meeting across long distances through a variety of software tools, most often through video.
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.
News: Next Reality Snap Spectacles 3 Holiday Giveaway!
UPDATE: Entries are now closed. Thank you for participating! Next Reality is where we help you literally 'see' into the future of augmented reality, and to help with that mission we're offering three free pairs of Snap Spectacles 3 to three lucky readers who sign up for the Next Reality daily AR email newsletter.
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: Next Reality's 2020 Holiday Gift Guide: Augmented Reality Hardware, Gaming, Wearables & More
We're still awaiting the arrival of consumer-grade AR smartglasses from the likes of Apple and Facebook. But that doesn't mean there aren't AR products out there to try this holiday season.
News: Snap Showcases Storytelling Power of Spectacles 3 Wearable with Film by LA Artist Lauren Halsey
The latest generation of Spectacles aren't AR smartglasses per se, but Snap is intent on demonstrating that the wearables are capable of storytelling powered by augmented reality.
News: How You Can Put Street Art Legend KAWS & Even That Mysterious Alien Utah Monolith in Your Own Home via AR
Sure, you could leave a random monolith in Utah and get some notoriety for your street art. Or, you can let others put your art anywhere they'd like with augmented reality so they can appreciate it where they are.
News: Varjo Follows in Apple's Footsteps with LiDAR Depth Tracking in XR-3 Headset
Apple no longer has an exclusive province to LiDAR for the purposes of augmented reality. This week, headset maker Varjo unveiled its new VR-3 and XR-3 headsets, the latter of which includes LiDAR sensors and stereo RGB cameras to enable depth sensing and inside-out tracking of real-world environments for "pass-through" mixed reality experiences.
News: Looking Glass Responds to Sony's Holographic Display with Consumer-Friendly Looking Glass Portrait
In response to Sony unveiling its own holographic display back in October, Looking Glass Factory CEO Shawn Frayne quickly penned a letter welcoming the electronics mainstay to the field, with a post-script teasing the reveal of their own for December of 2020.
News: Universal Studios Japan Powers Up Mario Kart Ride at Super Nintendo World with AR Headsets
Next year, fans of Mario Kart will be able to experience the game in real life with the assistance of augmented reality.
News: Dreamworks Delivers A Furry AR Selfie Lens on Snapchat for Release of 'The Croods: A New Age'
The movie theater business is hurting due to the pandemic, but that hurdle is actually the perfect set of circumstances for movie studios to lean hard into augmented reality marketing.
News: Snapchat's Spotlight Confirms That the TikTok, Instagram Social Media War Is On — And AR Is the Next Battlefront
In the realm of social media, all roads lead to one destination: cracking the code of continuous partial attention dopamine hits. We learned this back in the days of Vine, before Twitter foolishly killed it. And I pointed my lens at the emerging trend back in 2016 when I highlighted Musical.ly for Mashable, just before it was snapped up by China's Bytedance for $1 billion and merged into what is now TikTok.
Opinion: Why Facebook Forcing Instagram AR Filters into a Unified Platform Is Bad for Our Smartglasses Future
Quietly, while the rest of the world was engaged in pandemic and political concerns, a few weeks ago Facebook casually upgraded its Spark AR platform with what it calls Unified Effect Publishing.
News: Google Gifts 5G Android Smartphones with 'The Mandalorian' AR App
With the new season of The Mandalorian underway, Google has launched a new AR app that enables some Star Wars fans to connect with virtual characters in between new episodes.
News: HBO Rolls Out 'His Dark Materials' AR Experience To Bring Characters to the Real World
In this year of everything going virtual and remote, it makes even more sense now that Hollywood is leaning heavily on augmented reality. In this case, it's HBO using AR to promote its highly-acclaimed original programming.
News: Nintendo Crafts AR Content for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
The Animal Crossing series has been a big hit for Nintendo, so in a bid to enhance the experience even more for users, the game is getting the augmented reality treatment.
News: Snoop Dogg's Cali Red Wine Pours Another Glass of AR via 8th Wall's WebAR
When Treasury Wine Estates released 19 Crimes Snoop Cali Red this summer, named for its new partner in wine, rapper Snoop Dogg, it already came with the brand's signature AR-enhanced label.
News: Amazon's New Augmented Reality App Highlights Dog Reality Stars from Prime Video Series 'The Pack'
Amazon has joined the ranks of film and TV studios using the power of augmented reality to engage fans looking to go behind passive screen viewing.
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: 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.
News: True Crime Reality TV Comes to Augmented Reality for Apple iPhone via CrimeDoor
The true crime genre has long been popular on television and more recently on podcasts with shows like Serial.
News: He Needed Smartglasses, So He Made a Pair — And You Can, Too
Last year this guy made his own smartwatch from scratch, so in 2020, naturally, he decided to give making smartglasses a try. And it worked!
News: Cadillac Shows Off Augmented Reality in 2021 Escalade
What was edge automobile technology just a few years ago is now clearly mainstream, as Cadillac just demonstrated via its new 2021 Escalade.
News: What Snap's Voca.ai Acquisition Could Mean for Snapchat & Spectacles — Virtual Voice Assistants Meet Augmented Reality
What does it mean when a software company obsessively focused on innovating the way we use our mobile devices to see and communicate with the world adds virtual voice agents? Possibly e-commerce magic, with a powerful layer of augmented reality.
News: Apple's LiDAR Scanner on New iPad Pro Provides Possible Peek at How Its Smartglasses Will See the World
Just as predicted (but perhaps with less fanfare than usual), Apple has made the move of adding a depth sensor to the rear camera of its latest edition of the iPad Pro.
News: Magic Leap Unveils First Look at Magicverse AR Cloud & New Meetings Capabilities in Lumin OS Update
With many office workers in the US being asked to work from home if their job allows, Magic Leap's customary updates for the Lumin OS and Lumin SDK brings some help to keep distributed workforces connected.
News: 10 Remote Collaboration Apps for HoloLens, Magic Leap, & Mobile That Can Substitute for in-Person Meetings
For enterprise augmented reality platform makers, remote assistance apps represent one of the greatest opportunities to show off the power of immersive computing. These apps enable experts to guide front-line workers or customers with AR prompts and other content in the field of view of their smartphones or smartglasses.