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Android's Google Play Games app has let you track your feats and accomplishments in the games you play for quite a while now, but for some, the immersion experience might be broken after you finish dominating a game only to see your regular-ass name from your Google account on ...more

Looking for last-minute Christmas gifts? Give the gift of mobile gaming! Electronic Arts (EA) and Gameloft are having their annual holiday sales just in time for Christmas. If you've got a gamer on your shopping list with an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, a mobile game will make ...more

At Google's I/O developer conference keynote on Tuesday, ARCore may have been absent, but Google did preview a potentially trailblazing augmented reality feature for Google Maps. Google's vice president of product for AR, VR, and vision-based products, Aparna Chennapragada, p ...more

It's open season on Zoom, the video conferencing platform that has grown in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic but has come under fire due to privacy issues. First, Google has opened up Meet, its video conferencing services for G-Suite subscribers, as a free service for ...more

Since starting as a simple messenger with self-destructing pictures, Snapchat has grown into a full-fledged social media platform. As features were added, new permissions were requested, and we're all probably guilty of just tapping "OK" to try out the latest and greatest. But ...more

ARGs have taken the concept of video games to some odd and wonderful real-world places. Socks, Inc. might not be the first ARG, and LittleBigPlanet might have defined the sock-puppet-based game archetype, but it is the first game to combine ARG and sock puppet elements into on ...more

Possibly the most popular feature in iOS 14, home screen widgets are here to stay. Apple created a ton for its own apps, and third-party developers keep building ones for their own apps. But home screen widgets go beyond that since you can make a widget for practically anythin ...more

The year in augmented reality 2019 started with the kind of doom and gloom that usually signals the end of something. Driven in large part by the story we broke in January about the fall of Meta, along with similar flameouts by ODG and Blippar, the virtual shrapnel of AR ventu ...more

The biggest update to arrive since iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 just came out, and it's packed with new features and changes for your iPhone or iPad. From new Apple Intelligence capabilities to Game Center improvements and new calling tools, there's a lot going on in iOS 18.1 and iPad ...more

After improving hand-tracking and adding multi-user sharing features in the last Lumin OS update, Magic Leap has upped the ante yet again. In the Lumin OS 0.95 update (accompanied by SDK 0.21), Magic Leap introduced tracking for eight key poses from varying positions, as well ...more

Two characters from the popular sci-fi animated comedy Rick and Morty have already made their way into augmented reality courtesy of ARKit experiments. Now, it's possible to become one of them on the iPhone X. Developer Michael Bramiage has created an Animoji-style version of ...more

One of the disadvantages of the digital world is that you can't pick it up and touch it. While that can feel like less of a problem in virtual reality, where you're already holding controllers, mixed reality environments—like the one you'd experience in Microsoft's HoloLens—su ...more

The release of Avatar Chat for Magic Leap One and Spatial for HoloLens during the fourth quarter of 2018 appeared to revolutionize video calling via augmented reality. But a new startup called Mimesys, which is showing off its software at CES this week in Las Vegas, has upped ...more

Unlike the realm of virtual reality, augmented reality is less about losing yourself in some fantasy environment, and more about getting things done in the real world. So while we've seen some great games that capture the imagination on devices like the Magic Leap One and the ...more

Mystery is a tricky thing. Used correctly, it can give onlookers the impression that wondrous and perhaps valuable things are afoot. However, once the veil of suspension of disbelief is removed in any significant way, that same mystery can quickly turn into not just skepticism ...more

The Tokyo Game Show (TGS) is the biggest video game expo in the most game crazy country on Earth. It is kind of a big deal. As such, their "indie" game showcase/contest Sense of Wonder Night (SOWN) is a major opportunity for developers of all shapes and sizes to showcase their ...more

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. Chief among the new features arriving with Lumin OS version 0.98.10 a ...more

Why do you need augmented reality? Because enterprise, they say. And while that's certainly true for several disciplines, there's still that mainstream use case hanging out there waiting for users to discover beyond the realm of enterprise and gaming. After much thought — and ...more

Google Maps lets you set home and work locations for quick access to navigation. In fact, these two locations are so central to the Maps experience that if you don't have both saved, the app can be a little naggy about it. But if you work from home, there's just one address to ...more

You're caught up on "Squid Games," and you've rewatched "Seinfeld" for the umpteenth time. You're looking forward to the next season of "Stranger Things," but it isn't out yet. Why not play Stranger Things on Netflix instead? In addition to watching movies and binging TV seri ...more

Google and Apple are working to enable augmented reality content for the web, but startup 8th Wall has managed to launch a web AR platform that works on mobile browsers now. On Tuesday, the company launched 8th Wall Web, a platform that adapts the company's own environmental- ...more

The worlds of augmented reality and virtual reality are closely linked in many ways. That means it's smart for AR insiders to keep a close on new developments in VR. If you have been paying attention, you know that Oculus CTO John Carmack is one one of the most important think ...more

Some may find it annoying to get YouTube notifications randomly throughout the day. Every time a YouTube channel uploads a video, every time someone replies to your comments. But at the same time, you don't want to turn off those notifications so you don't miss out. Well thank ...more

Want to keep an eye on your home while on vacation? Terrorize your family pet while at work? A homespun telepresence robot might be just the ticket! Luckily, thanks to shrinking hardware costs and the efforts of renowned hardware hacker Johnny Chung Lee, building a physical av ...more

LEGO technic builder Sariel presents a mighty impressive weekend project: a motorized LEGO hand that emulates actual human movement. This feat of plastic engineering runs on a combination of electric motors and pneumatic valves. Says Sariel, "The most complex part of the arm ...more

The era of AT&T and Magic Leap has quietly entered a new phase that ramps up the mainstreaming of the cutting edge augmented reality device. This week, the wireless giant began offering the Magic Leap One for sale directly on its website, a move that aligns with its recent de ...more

The business world is currently figuring out how to deal with the coronavirus crisis, with many offices opting to work remotely for at least the next few weeks as a safety precaution. Predictably, this has thrown remote meeting software back into the spotlight, especially augm ...more

With Avatar, Facebook's personalized stickers for use on its social and messaging platforms, those who aren't on Facebook or have otherwise dumped the social network may feel left out. Whatever your reasons for shunning Facebook may be, there are other ways, each with its dis ...more

A funny thing happened on the way to the release of the virtual reality epic Ready Player One — augmented reality grabbed a major piece of the spotlight. Specifically, Microsoft's HoloLens. It all started last week when the film's director, Steven Spielberg, was quoted in an ...more

Tower defense games have covered a lot of creative ground over the last five years. They've gone from simple desktop amusements to a staple of the indie game scene, having been integreated into nearly every other type of game and released on every platform. They have taken pla ...more

While Sony as a company is well-known in the United States, it smartphones are not. For years, Sony has stuck with a boxy design with sharp edges and large bezels — however, they're finally getting with the trends. As a result, the Xperia XZ2 Premium offers a rare combo: A sup ...more

While Leap Motion and Microsoft are looking to capture natural human motion with cameras, Enflux figured out how to do it with a shirt and pants that feel completely natural. Video: . Everyone's trying to figure out the best way to interact with virtual environments now that s ...more

Like many things associated with Magic Leap, the start of the company's first annual L.E.A.P. conference got off to a unique start. Taking the stage on Wednesday morning in Los Angeles, the company's CEO, Rony Abovitz, gave a brief introductory speech welcoming the crowd and o ...more

With the release of Apple's ARKit comes endless possibilities for education and learning. One of those possibilities is an AR rotating model of our solar system in your room, another is using AR to instantly know the nutritional value of food items. YouTube user napkinmoments ...more

You may notice the bonus bar in the upper righthand corner of your screen. This bonus is meant to give you coins on top of what you're already getting from the game. You DO NOT need to click on the stars and coins, etc that pop up unless you want to get this extra bonus. They ...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

In iOS, the Control Center is an easy way to toggle settings such as Wi-Fi, Do Not Disturb, and Low Power Mode. Its Android counterpart is called "Quick Settings," which provides much of the same functionality with a few bonuses. If you're curious about how this toggle menu wo ...more

On Thursday, yet another piece of the Magic Leap puzzle fell into place at Twilio's Signal developer and customer conference in San Francisco. During one of the stage presentations, Twilio co-founder and CEO, Jeff Lawson, walked on staging wearing the Magic Leap One to introd ...more

Just in time for the release of Pixar's highly anticipated sequel, AR Emoji based on characters from The Incredibles 2 have arrived for Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+. Originally announced at the launch of Samsung's latest flagship devices, Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, Violet, Dash ...more

Video games are one of the best non-medical things that have ever happened to sick children. They are stimulating, entertaining and require very little physical strength to play, which makes them perfect for those suffering physical maladies. In 2003, the ambitious and creati ...more

Can lightning strike twice? Niantic is betting that it can with its latest augmented reality game based on the best-selling multimedia franchise Harry Potter. If the developer's name is unfamiliar, then perhaps Ingress, the company's first mobile game, which not only earned a ...more

In the wake of reports of slow iPhone X sales and a possible early end to its shelf life, Apple CEO Tim Cook is on a public goodwill tour of sorts, espousing the virtues of Apple AR. While iPhone X may have underwhelmed the AR community, it has since carved a niche (if not a ...more

Fashion Photography goes 3D. And why not? I'm digging it. By Brazilian photographer Jacques Dequeker for the Ellus jeans campaign.

Sure, Blippar was first to market with an AR navigation app for iPhones (and iPads) compatible with ARKit, but does it know how to party? Hotstepper does. Released on Tuesday on Apple's App Store, Hotstepper boasts a novel approach to navigation, employing an eponymous avatar ...more

As the premiere app for chatting and video calls, it only makes sense for Skype to provide a dark theme to help prevent eye strain and minimize battery drain. Not only that, it has to also keep pace with popular messaging apps like Facebook Messenger that also have the feature ...more