Market Reality: TikTok Enters AR Battle, Facebook Crypto Mystery, Candyman in AR, Avon Immersive, Snap Spectacles Evolve

TikTok Enters AR Battle, Facebook Crypto Mystery, Candyman in AR, Avon Immersive, Snap Spectacles Evolve

The year leading into fall is turning out to be packed with a flurry of augmented reality activity. Most notably, TikTok is adding another major weapon to its AR arsenal. Also on deck are the powers of Hollywood horror in the form of an innovative approach to AR marketing that uses sounds.

Speaking of transforming into another version of yourself, makeup industry giant Avon has doubled down on its AR bet by pairing with a major pioneer in the virtual try-on space. We also covered new releases from the world of Snap Spectacles, and a new tool from Google that could absolutely blow open the doors to the AR cloud for those who are visually impaired.

Also, be sure to check out our new job alerts below for the latest positions opening up at the leading AR companies.

TikTok Is Gearing Up to Challenge the Major AR Players in the US

The Chinese short-form social media giant known as TikTok is getting into an increasingly crowded and competitive space: augmented reality effects tools.

Hints that the company is engaged in the effort first surfaced about a week ago. The new platform is called TikTok Effect House.

Keep reading to see what TikTok is doing to compete with the likes of Snap and Facebook in the AR platform race...

Candyman Returns, but This Time in Augmented Reality

The practice of using sound to trigger augmented reality interactions hasn't been widely used, but a new experience is so impressive that it could kick off more use of the dynamic.

In a new promotion for the upcoming film Candyman, Universal Pictures has launched a web-based AR experience that lets you engage in one of the film franchise's signature horror moments.

Read on to find out how you can experience a bit of horror history in your own home using a clever web-based AR tool...

Image via Universal Pictures

Avon Just Placed a Huge Bet on the Future of AR-Powered Makeup Try-Ons

The beauty industry has increasingly relied on the powers of augmented reality to drive sales in recent years, and now that virtual "everything" is on trend due to the pandemic, yet another big player is entering the fray.

Makeup giant Avon will now partner with Perfect Corp., one of the pioneering AR software makers in the realm of virtual makeup try-ons.

Fix your face and drill down deeper to find out what this means for the makeup industry, especially some key competitive players in the space...

JOB ALERTS: Snap is looking for a Data Scientist in its Los Angeles office. Facebook is looking for a Product Design Prototyper for its Reality Labs team in New York. The team at Beat Saber is looking for a Social Media Manager, an Integrated Marketing Manager, and a Head of Integrated Marketing.

The Name for Facebook's Smartglasses May Draw Some Side-Eye from Crypto Pros

The initiative known as Project Aria has been the focus of curiosity around Facebook's augmented reality plans ever since Mark Zuckerberg revealed the device around this time last year.

Now more details about the device have emerged to flesh out more about how it works.

Continue reading to find out what detail is the most surprising, given Facebook's history...

Image via FCC

Spectacles Game Lets You Care & Feed a Virtual Pet in AR

While the rest of Big Tech is still moving relatively slowly on augmented reality smartglasses, Snap continues to supercharge its own experimental AR wearable called Spectacles.

The latest demonstration comes from a small game production studio called WabiSabi.

Read on to see how the game studio used Lens Studio to create and deploy the experience...

Image via Snap

Google Project Guideline Points the Way Forward into AR for the Blind

One of the primary assumptions in the world of VR and augmented reality is that the user has the ability to "see" virtual objects and the real-world structures around them. But what if the user doesn't have perfect eyesight, or any eyesight at all?

A new project from Google could eventually pave the way for the blind to participate more actively in the growing virtual worlds of AR.

Keep reading to learn how Google is opening up the metaverse to the visually impaired...

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.

Just updated your iPhone? You'll find new emoji, enhanced security, podcast transcripts, Apple Cash virtual numbers, and other useful features. There are even new additions hidden within Safari. Find out what's new and changed on your iPhone with the iOS 17.4 update.

Cover image via Perfect Corp.

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