Market Reality: Magic Leap Sues Nreal, Airbus Sells HoloLens Apps, & Harry Potter Takes on AR Gaming

Magic Leap Sues Nreal, Airbus Sells HoloLens Apps, & Harry Potter Takes on AR Gaming

The enterprise sector is where the money is for augmented reality at the moment, and remote assistance apps are the go-to app for many enterprise customers. We took a look at the leading apps and platforms from this category, from the top contenders to the underdogs with unique features.

Airbus joined the enterprise AR software sector this week, as it announced that it would make the HoloLens apps it has developed available to its customers. And Nreal, one of the companies taking an early shot at consumer-grade smartglasses, hit a bump on its road to launch in the form of a lawsuit from Magic Leap.

Finally, we took a look at two of the more-significant AR apps to hit the market over the past week, namely Niantic's Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and CNN's revamped app for Magic Leap One.

Remote Video Apps Rule the Enterprise Sector of AR

Despite some marvelous innovations in the enterprise space, the bread and butter of enterprise AR apps consist of hands-free workflow guidance and remote assistance.

In fact, most companies that offer a workflow guidance solution also provide a compatible remote assistance app. On the other hand, there are also a number of software companies that concentrate solely on the remote AR apps.

Due to the wide proliferation of the remote AR apps, it's a worthwhile exercise to take a look at the major players and the also-rans. We did just that, and you can read further to see how 15 remote assistance apps and platforms measure up...

REALITY BITES: Food-focused AR startup Kabaq has decided to rebrand as QReal. According to founder Alper Guler, the new name comes with an expansion of their market reach to more industries, such as fashion and automotive.

Magic Leap Alleges Nreal Trade Secret Theft

In a legal brief entered on Monday, Florida-based startup Magic Leap has filed suit against the founder of Nreal, a former employee of Magic Leap, claiming that the company's Nreal Light smartglasses were built using Magic Leap's intellectual property.

The documents, which were filed with U.S. District Court, Northern District of California in San Francisco, state that Magic Leap alleges that Chi Xu used his time at Magic Leap to funnel trade secrets to his own startup and accelerate the development of its competing product.

Continue reading for the details of the suit from Magic Leap's filing and why this legal drama sounds rather familiar, then read further to learn more about the defendant...

REALITY BITES: Fast Company had the opportunity to interview Donald Glover about his musical alter ego Childish Gambino's Pharos AR app. Among the topics covered are the decision to opt for Unity's 3D engine to build the app.

Airbus Partners with Microsoft to Offer HoloLens Apps to Customers

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus is so impressed with the boost in productivity it has gained from Microsoft's HoloLens, the company will begin offering augmented reality software to its customers.

On Monday at the Paris Air Show, Airbus announced that it will begin selling off-the-shelf applications, including training, remote collaboration, and maintenance solutions, that the company has built through its own experience with the AR headset.

Keep reading to learn what prompted Airbus to go from augmented reality customer to augmented reality software provider...

Image via Airbus

Harry Potter Wizards Unite Arrives in the Muggle World

Can lightning strike twice? Niantic is betting that it can with its latest augmented reality game based on a best-selling multimedia franchise.

Enter Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, which is now finally available for free on the App Store and Google Play with in-app purchases ranging from $0.99 to $99.99. The long-awaited location-based augmented reality game not only has Pokémon GO's developer at the helm (with three additional years under its belt and lessons learned from Pokémon GO's launch), but also comparable intellectual property of the Wizarding World at its back. And the game arrives just in time for the summer solstice, the longest day of the year and the perfect date for a game that demands outdoor play.

So how does the spiritual successor to Pokémon GO stack up? We spent the better part of an afternoon casting spells, chasing demons, and battling sorcerers to find out. Read on to see what we thought...

REALITY BITES: Speaking of Niantic, the company announced this week that it has acquired AR game developer Sensible Object. The Sensible Object team will continue to support its existing apps through the end of the year, at which point the team will begin to focus on working on Niantic projects as from its London office.

Hands-On with CNN's Magic Leap News Video App

Magic Leap has done a great job of aggressively releasing new apps, software updates, and major franchise tie-ins. But aside from all the creative and entertainment apps, what's it like to use one of the apps the company hopes you'll use every day?

One of those apps is the CNN news app, and it recently got a refresh that's worth delving into. Read on for our impressions...

Image by Adario Strange/Next Reality

Every Friday, Next Reality reviews the latest headlines from the financial side of augmented and mixed reality. This weekly Market Reality column covers funding announcements, mergers and acquisitions, market analysis, and the like. Check out previous editions of Market Reality for more news you may have missed.

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Cover image via Airbus

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