Augmented Reality

Now that some of the best-known beauty brands are leveraging augmented reality to market and sell products, the rest of the market is beginning to catch up — fast. The latest competitor to add AR to its arsenal is direct sales makeup company Younique. This month, the company ...more

In recent years, augmented reality has increasingly helped to take art off museum walls and bring it (virtually) into people's homes and communities, offering new perspectives on classic pieces and modern creations alike. On Tuesday, Apple announced [AR]T, a new project desig ...more

Sports technology company Form is testing the waters for augmented reality wearables with a product aimed at a very specific user group. On Tuesday, the company unveiled Form Swim Goggles, a $200 pair of goggles outfitted with a see-through display designed to feed activity d ...more

The recent industry whispers in augmented reality are mostly about Apple and its rumored fashion-friendly smartglasses, but one company isn't waiting for the iPhone heavyweight to enter the fray. On Monday, a representative for Vuzix shared part of a recent investor presentat ...more

Already a powerhouse for its graphic design tools, Adobe is making a run at the 3D content creation realm dominated by Unity and Epic Games by acquiring software maker Allegorithmic. The move, announced on Wednesday, will allow Adobe to add Allegorthmic's Substance tools for ...more

Nearly a year to the day after the unveiling Magic Leap One, Magic Leap has dropped another update to the Lumin OS that runs the device. Lumin OS version 0.94 is available now as an over-the-air update or via download on the Creator Portal for Magic Leap One users. The bulk ...more

When computers have vision but people don't, why not have the former help the latter? That's the gist behind the Cognitive Augmented Reality Assistant (CARA), a new HoloLens app developed by the California Institute of Technology. Assisted by the depth sensing capabilities of ...more

Augmented reality experiences for consumers, for the most part, are relegated to mobile devices at present, but creation and development of those experiences is still a province of desktop computers. Hold my beer, says Torch 3D, Inc. On Monday, the company introduced a new T ...more

Computer vision company Blippar has already dabbled with outdoor AR navigation, but now it wants to make it easier for people to make their way through indoor spaces with augmented reality. On Thursday, the company introduced its Indoor Visual Positioning platform for AR navi ...more

Luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz has joined the growing list of automakers adopting augmented reality to provide an assist to its manufacturing operations, in this case, via the Microsoft HoloLens. The company employs more than 100 HoloLens devices in its Mercedes-Benz Global T ...more

It finally happened. Magic Leap has given the world its first glimpse at its debut device, the Magic Leap One Creator Edition. At 9 a.m. ET, the company flipped the switch on a huge website update that splashed the homepage with images of what is now confirmed to be an augmen ...more

Transparent display maker Lumus has reached a deal to license its augmented reality optical engine models to Quanta Computers for mass production of displays for consumer smartglasses. Under the deal, Quanta will manufacture and market AR headsets featuring optical technology ...more

Meta Company has filed its response to allegations that the user interface for their augmented reality headsets infringe on six patents owned by a mostly-unknown company. Last month, Meta's legal team asked the court to dismiss the patent infringement claims levied by Genedic ...more

Osterhout Design Group just announced the upcoming release of the newest addition to their smartglasses lineup, the R-7HL, short for R-7 Hazardous Location. ODG worked directly with customers who work in extreme environments to come up with a durable solution that fits their n ...more

Fighting fires has always been a dangerous and noble venture, even with the proliferation of aerial firefighting. But things are looking to get a lot safer for firefighters with the help of the Boeing and mixed reality. Boeing, now with 100 years of experience under its belt ...more

Thanks to Snapchat, we're all familiar with face swapping and augmentation thanks to some clever, fun technology. But that's just the beginning, because this kind of augmented reality can do so much more. We spoke to Peter Busch, VP of Business Development at Faceware Technol ...more

Disneyland may be the happiest place on Earth, but there are definitely a few flaws that only small kids could overlook. The lines are extravagantly long, everything is overpriced, and there are tons of grumpy people and crazy children running around as if they just found out ...more

The beginning of autumn has delivered a number of new augmented reality developments, and we're on top of it. This week, NASA launched several major new initiatives that involve AR as an essential piece of the puzzle. Also, Magic Leap's history turned a major new corner, whil ...more

The year is still off to a roaring start, with augmented reality at the center of nearly everything, from enterprise solutions, to entertainment, to safety. In the realm of streaming, the Marvel universe got another dose of augmented reality marketing help thanks to Disney Pl ...more

Sure, Microsoft has mostly marketed its HoloLens headsets towards enterprises and developers, but we learned this week that, like every other tech giant, the company is working on a consumer-grade AR wearable. Speaking of consumer smartglasses, Apple made another strategic inv ...more

The close of the second quarter of 2021 brought about a flurry of merger and acquisition and financing activity in the augmented reality industry, headlined by the acquisition of Ubiquity6 and JigSpace's new multimillion-dollar funding round. The week in AR news also saw acti ...more

While Snap may eventually compete with Apple and Samsung in selling smartglasses to consumers, today it is helping them achieve their business objectives via augmented reality. That's not all that's new with Snap. the company has also brokered a major content deal with Univer ...more

The recent announcement that Facebook will begin inserting advertisements into its VR experience on its Oculus Quest headset has set the VR and augmented reality industry into a frenzy. At first glance, the first thing many will point to is the recent history of Facebook and ...more

At their event in San Francisco today, Microsoft announced that they have begun accepting pre-orders for Windows Mixed Reality headsets from Acer, Dell, Lenovo, and HP, with the devices arriving on Oct. 17 along with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update. Video: . In addition, t ...more

According The Venture Reality Fund, the introductions of Facebook's camera platform and Apple's ARKit catalyzed increased activity among companies developing consumer applications. The firm's quarterly report on the augmented reality landscape concluded that the strongest act ...more

The mystery surrounding the release of the next version of the HoloLens has been swirling for months, but at least some of that mystery may removed in the coming weeks. In an invite sent out on Wednesday, Microsoft is inviting members of the media to an event at this year's M ...more

Apple continues to build its augmented reality hardware and software team in stealth mode. The latest addition comes via the hiring of a former DAQRI user experience designer and VR app developer. First reported by Variety, Sterling Crispin joined Apple in May as a prototypin ...more

Move over, Spike Jonze; Microsoft has published a mixed reality music video featuring holograms of Reggie Watts filmed through a HoloLens. With HoloLens, the user in the video places various holograms of the musician and trippy visual effects on location. The images run the s ...more

A patent application for waveguide-based smart glasses submitted by way of their subsidiary Oculus sheds light on Facebook's plans to escalate their augmented reality efforts. According to the filing submitted to the US Patent and Trademark Office in Feb. 2016, the near-eye d ...more

After introducing and launching Reality Composer alongside iOS 13 and ARKit 3 last year, Apple is making it easier for developers to create apps with it. This week, the company released a new tool for macOS called Reality Converter that enables developers to convert common 3D ...more

Droids are apparently very popular in the world of Apple's ARKit developers. We've seen robot battle games, a realistic robot commander walking the streets, and happy dancing robots. But so far there hasn't been a robot that you actually can't see. At least not without a spec ...more

When people work out, they want to get the absolute most out of their routine. Going on a run is great exercise, but finding an optimal route that works best for you can be difficult. Luckily, Apple's ARKit has the capability to make it much easier to get the most out of your ...more

Augmented and virtual reality motion tracking leader Leap Motion, Inc. announced that it has secured $50 million in Series C funding to fund expansion into new territories and industries. The Series C round further solidifies Leap Motion's standing as a cornerstone of augment ...more

If there's one augmented reality app idea that should have gone up in smoke, it's probably Tokédex, an app that brings cannabis to the world of AR. As you might guess, the app for iPhones and iPads utilizes ARKit to visualize vape and edible products right in front of you. (F ...more

With smartglasses designed for navigating drones and an AR drone racing game to its credit, Epson has just added another credit to its pioneering efforts in the AR-meets-drones space with the launch of a drone simulator app. Developed by Y Media Labs with input from DJI and E ...more

After the spectacular rise and fall (and rebirth) of Glass, Google is taking another run at augmented reality smartglasses. Citing documents from companies involved in the project, WinFuture reports that Quanta will serve as the contract manufacturer for the wireless headset, ...more

The Tesla-riding Starman that was launched into space via Elon Musk's SpaceX last week will miss its Mars target and is instead headed toward a lonely asteroid belt in the void of space. But if you missed the initial launch and would like to get a taste of what Starman is seei ...more

New York-based virtual content startup Sketchfab is usually at the forefront of the latest developments in augmented reality, so it's no surprise that the company has locked in yet another major platform. Magic Leap has announced that Sketchfab is its first WebXR partner (a f ...more

Apple is giving iPhone owners even more options to express themselves via Animojis with a wide range of customization options for their personal Memojis. During the opening keynote of the annual Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, Apple revealed all of the updates c ...more

Things are getting more and more interdimensional thanks to Apple's ARKit. We've previously seen some portals work at play with Rainforest Garage and the Interdimensional Portal by Nedd. These demos have only made developers more curious as to what they can do with ARKit porta ...more

One of Apple's most touted (but seldom seen on social media) apps, Clips, got an update on Wednesday. The new update adds to the app's previous movie-inspired environments that use the iPhone's TrueDepth camera system to allow a user to put themselves inside a 360-degree imme ...more

With big-name tech companies like Apple and Facebook gearing up to push out their own smartglasses in the coming years, engineering conglomerate Bosch has been working on the optical components that could help the competition catch up. This week, the Bosch Sensortech division ...more

Now that iOS 13 is in the wild, developers are starting to show off the magical augmented reality powers ARKit 3 can deliver. One shining example comes via the new Meisai AR Filter app, developed by Japan's Kitasenju Design, which is capable of producing visual illusions that ...more

Next to Game of Thrones, Harry Potter is one of the most beloved franchises in entertainment today, and now we have another peek at its dive into augmented reality. This week, Warner Bros. released the third trailer for its upcoming AR game Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. The n ...more

Although Apple's Animoji game is strong, as recently exampled by its Ariana Grande collaboration, Google isn't slacking either, unleashing a far more immersive music experience for smartphone users. Released on Friday, the new Childish Gambino augmented reality Playmoji chara ...more

One the main gripes against cutting-edge augmented reality headsets like the Magic Leap One and the HoloLens is the price — they're pretty expensive compared to most consumer devices. Well, now some of that pain has been relieved for those looking to pick up a Magic Leap One a ...more

Applicants looking to attend Magic Leap's first annual L.E.A.P. conference next month in Los Angeles have begun receiving their confirmation invitations, and now we have more detail about some of what will happen at the event. In a message sent out by Magic Leap on Friday, th ...more

Apple's lead marketing tool for the iPhone X, 3D Animoji that you control with your facial and head movements, are once again in the spotlight in a new commercial the company posted on its Korean YouTube account this week. In conjunction with the release of a new single from ...more

When it comes to augmented reality apps, visually immersive experiences are plentiful, but audio experiences are somewhat underrepresented. A new app for iPhones and iPads seeks to shift the AR paradigm toward the latter. Now available via the App Store, the Fields app create ...more

It's certain that the release of Apple's ARKit is going to be game changing for businesses. This demo video was created by YouTube user hdsenevi who used the ARKit to create a simple bar chart. The chart has adjustable settings, allowing the user to make each bar larger or sm ...more

The recent pitfalls and media fallout hitting Facebook hasn't stopped the social media giant from looking to the future. On Friday, the company revealed the acquisition of visual search startup GrokStyle, whose tool allows users to point their smartphone camera at objects lik ...more

This is one of the coolest applications of Apple's ARKit that we've seen so far. The 3D software product studio gradientspace has created a Minecraft 3D scanner using ARKit. The scanner lets you Minecraft your real world. While it's unclear exactly how the application works, ...more

The debut of Microsoft's HoloLens 2 went off without a hitch, and now it's time to figure out if you want to hop aboard the updated augmented reality train. Just after the reveal of the HoloLens 2, Microsoft posted a pre-order page that features two major options. Don't Miss ...more

We're still weeks away from a probably HoloLens 2 release, but Microsoft's immersive computing team is still hard at work on other aspects of its "mixed reality" ecosystem. Earlier this week, Microsoft published a new extension for Unity and the Mixed Reality Tookit that enab ...more

Gaming with augmented reality just keeps getting cooler and cooler. Nitrome is no amateur at games. The company has hundreds of mobile and browser games. A few years back, the company came up with the idea that they referred to as "project surface." Essentially, the idea was ...more

This year's CES seems particularly obesessed with VR, but augmented reality is offering a few surprises as well. One of those surprises arrived on Monday in the form of China's Rokid Glass. The consumer-focused AR smartglasses look like a pair of thick fashionista glasses (by ...more

Over the last few years, the only thing teased by Magic Leap more than the Magic Leap One itself has been the company's flagship gaming title Dr. Grordbort's Invaders. The game, developed by New Zealand studio Weta Workshop, finally got its debut last week during the L.E.A.P. ...more

Lost among the latest laptops, smart assistants, VR headsets, and Motorola-branded gadgets that it brought to CES 2018, Lenovo has also introduced a new pair of augmented reality smartglasses. While Lenovo could be credited with the first true consumer AR headset by way of th ...more

At the Google I/O keynote presentation today, Clay Bavor, Vice President of Virtual Reality for Google, shared a number of new initiatives in virtual and augmented reality. This included new services for the Tango platform called visual positioning service, or VPS. The Tango ...more

Epic Games released Unreal Engine 4.21, bringing a number of new features, bug fixes, and improvements for augmented reality development, including deeper support for Magic Leap One and the addition of support for the Windows Mixed Reality platform and headsets. Initially inc ...more