Augmented Reality

It appears that the floodgates of consumer-grade augmented reality smartglasses from China are now open, with Mad Gaze being the latest company to rush its product through. The Hong Kong-based wearables maker posted a trio of new videos on Thursday featuring its Glow new smar ...more

It's always great to see a company pull off a bit of augmented reality magic, but what we see is not always what it's cracked up to be. Thankfully, as one of the few who has actually used the Microsoft HoloLens 2, I'm fairly certain that this latest demonstration is an accura ...more

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 CN ...more

While the story of augmented reality headset maker Osterhout Design Group has come to an end, the epilogue of its demise continues. After ODG's intellectual property, including patents and trademarks, went up for sale via Hilco Bankstream last month, Heritage Global Partners ...more

The spirit of Google's Tango augmented reality platform lives on at Vivo, a China-based company that has developed its own 3D sensor for mobile devices. Presented during this week's Mobile World Congress in Shanghai, the smartphone maker revealed its new the time-of-flight (T ...more

Netflix is branching out into the comic book business, and it's summoning augmented reality via Facebook to make the first issue more magical. The debut issue of The Magic Order hit comic book store shelves today with four variant covers. Inside each issue is a QR code specif ...more

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. Developed by Dr. Christophe Hurter, a professor at French Civil Aviation University, and Microsoft researcher ...more

Intel Corp.'s augmented reality division could ship consumer-focused smartglasses before the end of the year, according to reports. On Thursday, citing anonymous sources, Bloomberg reported that contract manufacturer Quanta Computer Inc. is producing the AR headset. Known int ...more

Last week, we told you about one of the first pairs of augmented reality smartglasses to get Amazon Alexa functionality, and now we're finally getting a look at how it works. On Friday, as the CES tech conference in Las Vegas wrapped up, Vuzix posted a demonstration video of ...more

Apple demonstrated their continued interest and investment into the awesome world of augmented reality during their Sept. 12 event, highlighting a few new AR games that will appear on iPhones thanks to ARKit. But that's not all you can expect — as long as you have an iPhone wi ...more

Thanks to augmented reality, fashion companies can let customers try on cosmetics, clothes, more cosmetics, and sunglasses from the comfort of their homes and through the non-judgmental eyes of their smartphone camera. Now, watches enter the augmented reality fitting room, co ...more

Augmented reality has an incredible way of integrating things into our world that we can typically only see in movies like ghosts in a haunted house or Sharknados. However, a new experiment made with Apple's ARKit has changed the game in realistic augmented reality characters. ...more

Augmented reality has produced some incredible innovations that have revolutionized modern technology. From helping with live surgery to changing the game in marketing and businesses. But without a doubt, the most important thing that augmented reality and ARKit has ever broug ...more

In a recent series of tweets, investor and entrepreneur (and NR50 member) Amitt Mahajan summarized the challenges and opportunities for iOS developers looking to leverage Apple's ARKit for augmented reality experiences. "ARKit apps still have the same problem as every other m ...more

Independent game developer PlayFusion announced today a partnership with NEXON Korea Corporation, resulting in a Series A preferred share round to fund development of their entertainment platform. PlayFusion's platform applies augmented reality, Internet of Things (IoT), and a ...more

At present, consumer-facing augmented reality is a mobile world, and Snapchat is making money on it through advertising partnerships. The future, however, is in wearables, and that future is getting closer. While Magic Leap is lining up content for the launch of Magic Leap On ...more

The Augmented World Expo is winding down in Santa Clara, where Qualcomm, Vuzix, and Meta Company were among the companies making big announcements. But some of tech's biggest players still made news outside of AWE. Apple is looking for talent with augmented reality experience ...more

With an eye toward future iPhone X-focused augmented reality functions, Apple's new investment in one of its components vendors will increase production capacity for the technology behind its TrueDepth camera, but could also apply to its future AR ambitions. On the software s ...more

As more companies begin adopting augmented reality in the workplace, providers like Vuzix reap the benefits. After revealing increased sales in the second quarter financial results, the smart glasses maker announced a partnership with Blackberry that strengthens their enterpr ...more

Facebook had a pretty big week in terms of augmented reality, with much of its news coming from the Oculus 6 keynote presentation. But Mark Zuckerberg's social media company found other areas of impact outside of Oculus 6 as well. Meanwhile, Unity also had its own keynote pre ...more

The annual Augmented World Expo (AWE) typically packs the front page of Next Reality with new products and services from companies in the augmented reality industry. However, this year, some of the biggest business news came from outside the conference, as ownership of two of ...more

On Sunday, Microsoft did what everyone expected the company to do by unveiling the long awaited HoloLens 2. Its main competitor in the AR headset space, Magic Leap, responded with a flurry of announcements, including a new partnership with South Korea's SK Telecom and a new a ...more

Outside of early military applications, augmented reality is a relatively new technology. It stands to reason that the next company to make a splash in AR would be a startup, and Techstars wants to help. Nonetheless, there are also more established companies working in AR, an ...more

Consumers are chomping at the bit for augmented reality smartglasses from Cupertino's finest, but one market analyst is saying not so fast, Apple fans. Meanwhile, automotive AR is gaining speed, with the latest milestone coming courtesy of a major investment in waveguides by C ...more

Investors aren't keen to throw money at a new technology sector without at least some hope of a significant return on their investment in the future. That's why a recent run of activity within the augmented reality business space has stoked some new optimism among the financia ...more

The latest installment in the Alien movie franchise, Alien: Covenant, came out many months ago, and the fan day dedicated to the franchise, Alien Day, April 26, is long past. But for many Alien fans, Alien Day is every day. For those loyal members of the xenomorph-worshipping ...more

On Monday, toy maker Merge virtually blasted its way into CES 2018 with a new tech-meets-toys innovation in the form of an augmented reality gun controller for use with smartphone-powered first-person shooter apps. The 6DoF Blaster (6DoF refers to "six degrees of freedom"), a ...more

After establishing itself as a leader among media companies in augmented reality in journalism over the course of 2018, The New York Times pulled back from the technology this year. But this week, the media giant finally returned to the AR space to produce a story on air poll ...more

While some widely praised immersive computing initiatives at Google are shutting down, over at Epic Games things are just ramping up, and it involves quite a bit of cash available to indie augmented reality developers and startups alike. At this week's Game Developers Confere ...more

As demonstrated by holographic experiences for the Microsoft HoloLens and the Magic Leap One, volumetric video capture is a key component of enabling the more realistic augmented reality experiences of the future. But the augmented reality industry is accelerating the technol ...more

Norway-based production tools company Vizrt is putting the real into augmented reality with its broadcast AR solution that's designed to keep sports fans (and other audiences) watching. A couple of weeks ago, Chris Black, the head of content and communications at Vizrt, demoe ...more

So far, consumer augmented reality headsets haven't found mainstream success. That's primarily because no manufacturer has managed to hit the sweet spot between slim form factor, performance, and affordability. So when you hear that a Norwegian company called Ludenso is offer ...more

After announcing at Google I/O 2019 that augmented reality content would come to Search, Google revealed how it would make that happen with the latest round of updates to ARCore. Scene Viewer, the company's web-based AR format, enables developers to embed gITF 3D models into ...more

It appears we're in the midst of an augmented reality art boom, because in the same month that the famed Christie's auction house launched its mobile AR app, leading art gallery and art seller Saatchi Art has also announced its entry into the AR space. Presented as an update ...more

Forget what you know about controlling augmented reality experiences. "Scroll" lets you interact with augmented reality using a much more subtle approach: A ring. It looks like an ordinary ring on your finger. It's black, sleek, and attractive, which is a huge plus. Scroll re ...more

Automotive augmented reality company WayRay has set its destination for a $1 billion valuation with an estimated time of arrival of 2019, and it has just passed a major milestone towards that goal. On Tuesday, the company announced that it has closed an $80 million Series C r ...more

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. The Musée des Plans-Reliefs, a museum dedicated to 3D military maps dating back to ...more

When it comes to the athletic footwear retail game, it's just not enough to just sell shoes anymore. Count Puma as the latest brand to pump up the customer experience in its stores with augmented reality, as the brand recently celebrated the opening of its flagship New York C ...more

Now that we finally have vertical plane recognition in ARKit (at least on a developer level until the spring iOS 11.3 release), the real promise of mobile augmented reality is beginning to come into focus on iOS. But a new report indicates that a major near future advancement ...more

Augmented reality software developer Edgybees has launched Drone Prix. The new mobile app immerses DJI drones and their pilots in more than 30 augmented reality obstacle courses. Available in the App Store and Play Store, Drone Prix enable pilots to hone their flight skills n ...more

Google is going all in with Childish Gambino as its musical champion for augmented reality, as the duo has now dropped its second AR collaboration of the year. After Google launched his Playmoji for Pixel's Playground app earlier this year, Gambino, the musical alter ego of e ...more

While augmented reality made more of a cameo appearance during Samsung's official grand unveiling of the Galaxy S10 line-up on Wednesday, it's the company's move into 5G connectivity that has huge implications for AR. After the 2018 edition of Samsung Unpacked cast augmented ...more

While it has been slower to arrive than a walker limping through thick Georgia mud, location-based augmented reality game Walking Dead: Our World finally has a confirmed launch date: July 12. Along with a release date, the game's publisher, Next Games, has provided a few more ...more

Prior to Apple's earnings report on Thursday, the storm clouds were gathering as Wall Street prepared for bad news in the wake of reports of slower iPhone sales. But it turns out that those fears were mostly unwarranted. Apple managed to increase iPhone revenue during the Dece ...more

There is an Indian story called the Legend of Paal Paysam, and while it doesn't seem like it at first, it has a lot to say about what motivated Paul Travers in the augmented reality space. The story is about a king that loved chess and the sage that he challenged. To motivate ...more

Last year's augmented reality investments roundup was impressive. And in 2018, the dollars flowing toward AR haven't decreased, as venture capitalists and strategic investors continue to aggressively fund AR startups at a rapid pace. And while the technology still has yet to ...more

The words of three of tech's most important executives in the last 48 hours are providing some valuable insight into the near term future of augmented reality and the cloud infrastructures that support it. Apple CEO Tim Cook, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Snap CEO Evan Spiege ...more

The long wait is over — the best augmented reality device on the planet is finally available. Update #2, Friday, 12:45 p.m. ET: Yesterday's Microsoft HoloLens 2 announcement was welcome news for many but still left some eager developers scratching their heads in confusion as ...more

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 ...more

Ever since Facebook announced its partnership with Luxxotica brand Ray-Ban to produce smartglasses, the augmented reality space has been on high alert awaiting more details. Unfortunately, those details have been scarce, until now. During a session at the Paris Viva Technolog ...more

Over the past few weeks, Google, Snap, and Facebook have all taken their turns to show off their new augmented reality technologies. This week, it was Apple's turn, with new AR features for iOS 15 along with new capabilities for developers. Meanwhile, Facebook's plans to laun ...more

As augmented reality gains popularity, the demand for delivering related services and generating content increases. This is demonstrated by a pair of investments from the past week, one in the expansion of a technology lab and another in the form of seed funding for a content ...more

Influenced by the growth of augmented and virtual reality technology as well as 3D computer vision, Ericcson Ventures invested in Matterport, whose hardware and software help companies create AR/VR experiences. In other AR market news, HoloLens supplier Himax Technologies is ...more

The business of enabling the development of augmented reality experiences appears to be as lucrative as AR app development itself. Apple is already reaping the rewards for its own AR toolkit, with more than 13 million installs of ARKit apps in the six months since its launch. ...more

The future of smartglasses for consumers seems ever dependent on Apple's entry into the market. Coincidentally, the exit of Apple's long-time design chief Jony Ive has shed some light on that eventual entrance. Meanwhile, as the enterprise sector of AR continues to expand, on ...more

Magic Leap's legal battle against Nreal has taken an intriguing turn this week, as Magic Leap set a date to discuss the matter with Nreal. But a new partnership struck by Nreal adds another wrinkle to the duel between the two AR wearable makers. Meanwhile, Magic Leap, YouTube ...more

4DViews, the volumetric capture company that films actors and performers in augmented and virtual reality for things like movies, TV series, and applications, has just released the app 4DViews: Raise Virtual to Reality, to demonstrate its technology for smartphones. The mobil ...more

Now that the iPhone XS is officially available for pre-order, Verizon and Apple are giving Snapchat users the opportunity to win the device through an augmented reality scavenger hunt rather than forking over $1,000 for one. Starting on Friday and ending Sept. 17, Snapchat us ...more

Mere weeks after rumors surfaced that Apple may be working on a headset capable of VR and augmented reality, it appears that Samsung is taking the same approach, but with an assist from Microsoft. Samsung is developing a wireless headset that will deliver both AR and VR exper ...more

Wargaming's World of Tanks — the popular multiplayer online war game — teamed up with The Tank Museum to create an augmented reality experience like no other. Alongside several German tanks that are part of the exhibit, visitors can use Microsoft HoloLens and Google Tango tech ...more