LEDs have slowly become the standard for DIY lighting projects because they consume less power and last way longer than regular light bulbs do. Light-emitting diodes have no filament, meaning they generate their light solely by the movement of electrons in a semiconductor mate ...more
Biking at night is dangerous. Seriously. If you've ever taken a night ride, you've probably experience a few close encounters with a set of headlights. Which is why you use bike lights—to make yourself more visible. Problem is, unlike modern car lights, bike lights don't turn ...more
I know what you're thinking. Why spend time talking about another flashlight application when there are literally thousands of them scattered throughout Google Play? As it turns out, there is a void in the realm of flashlight Android apps. Flashing lights, strobe lights, cop l ...more
A report by PwC highlights that immersive experiences in augmented and virtual reality represent the fastest growing segment of the entertainment and media industry over the next six years. News from two companies working in the industry, Fox and NetDragon, underscore the grow ...more
A common misconception is that all car batteries die. This, in fact, isn't true—the majority of "dead" car batteries just don't contain enough juice to power a car, but they can still provide enough watts to keep emergency fans and lighting running, which is great when a power ...more
A market research report, posted on February 27, 2017, forecasts that the image recognition market will grow to nearly $40 billion worldwide by 2021. The market, which includes augmented reality applications, hardware, and technology, generated an estimated $15.95 billion in 2 ...more
On October 17, 1943, a story in the New York Herald Tribune read "Many laymen — husbands, wives, parents, brothers, sisters, friends — beg Dr. Keefer for penicillin," according to the American Chemical Society. Dr. Chester Keefer of Boston was responsible for rationing the new ...more
Every Friday, Next Reality reviews the latest headlines from the financial side of augmented and mixed reality. This Market Reality column covers funding announcements, mergers and acquisitions, market analysis, and the like. This week's column is led by two companies cashing ...more
Growing populations and higher temperatures put pressure on world food supplies. Naturally occurring soil bacteria may save crops in drought-stressed areas, put more land into crop production, and produce more food. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra ...more
Android is all about customization. That's why it's entirely appropriate that Spark for Android's newest update adds a ton of customization options for your out-of-control email alerts. Now, you can add lights, sounds, and vibrations to notifications, and you can even set spec ...more
Apple's successor to the iPhone X is a beautifully made smartphone with much of the same characteristics, including a 5.8-inch OLED screen, two storage choices, and Face ID. But many features set the iPhone XS apart from its predecessor, as well as the other 2018 lineup of iPh ...more
To say we're a nation of coffee-lovers is putting it mildly. Americans consume 400 million cups of joe in one day alone, but how well do we actually know our morning BFF? We know it comes from a bean, and that more coffee drinks exist than there are ways to skin a pig, but wha ...more
Most alarms just make noise to wake you up, and it can be a bit jarring coming off of a deep sleep to suddenly being woken up by a blaring sound. On the flip side, if you're a heavy sleeper, this might not even be enough stimuli to snap you out of your 8-hour coma. While ther ...more
LED throwies are cheery glow-dots you can make in seconds from simple components and stick to any ferro-magnetic surface. But that's just the beginning — here's how to hack and modify them. First make a basic LED throwie, and chain them up into big throwie "bugs." Then learn ...more
Video: Add LED lights to avoid speed detection while driving.
While the tech industries giants and eager startups chase the dream of widespread consumer augmented reality, enterprise AR is living the dream today. Now, riding on the strength of present-day return on investment over future potential, enterprise AR platform maker Scope AR ...more
Update February 25: The Nokia 9 PureView was announced at Mobile World Congress! Read all of the official specs and details at our full rundown of Nokia's latest flagship. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the Nokia 9 PureView is the flagship device most Nokia fans have b ...more
Unsurprisingly, Google wants to be the caretaker for augmented reality on the web, and its latest move in this endeavor is a 3D model viewer prototype called Article that's designed to work across all web browsers. On traditional desktop PCs and mobile browsers, Article can e ...more
The future of forests looks dreary in the face of a warming climate, but scientists are exploring the relationship between soil microbes and the ability of trees to move to higher altitudes, a key component of their survival. With the rate of ice melting and sea level rise ha ...more
While the numbers may not always seem to agree, the message remains the same: augmented reality is a growth segment. This week's edition of Market Reality starts with two new reports outlining the expected good fortunes for the industry and concludes with an example of a compa ...more
We spend over 30 percent of our lifetimes sleeping—yet it never seems like enough, does it? Distractions ranging from work issues to personal relationships keep our minds racing well after they should be shutting down for the night, and the onset of smartphones has only added ...more
A relay is an electrical component that works like a light switch, where it's turned on or off with an electrical signal. By connecting a relay to a Wi-Fi connected microcontroller like an ESP8266, you can build a connected switch that can be controlled from the web browser of ...more
When a new version of iOS comes out, everybody gets caught up in the craze of finding features and playing around with new functionality. But this generally leads to a lack of coverage on the finer aspects of the update—things like bugs, minor tweaks, and pain points that user ...more
The Pixel 5's beautifully slim and symmetric bezels don't leave much room for extra hardware like a notification LED. But with the Ambient Display feature and an inventive app, you can turn the display cutout for the front-facing camera into an animated notification indicator. ...more
There's a 2800mAh battery powering the Samsung Galaxy S5, but even it's no match for the constant day-to-day torture you put it through. Taking photos, watching videos, and playing games can make your fully charged S5 powerless in no time. While there are some features built- ...more
It's time to make some more room at the augmented reality cosmetics counter. This week, social media giant Pinterest unveiled "Try On," a virtual make-up visualization tool running on its Lens visual search tool. Don't Miss: Pinterest Is Comparing Their Lens Update to Cher's ...more
In case you thought the long and unfortunate story of ODG was over, hold on, there's one last chapter to tell. As we reported in January, ODG's remaining patent assets were put up for auction, but the buyer was never revealed. However, we now have a pretty good idea of where ...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
After announcing another massive round of funding to the tune of $502 million, Magic Leap is adding another powerful weapon to its creative arsenal: John Gaeta, the man who helped develop the iconic Bullet Time effect for The Matrix series of films. Gaeta made the announcemen ...more
Plants all around us capture sunlight every day and convert it to energy, making them a model of solar energy production. And while the energy they make may serve the needs of a plant, the process isn't efficient enough to generate power on a larger scale. So, scientists from ...more
Augmented reality startup Nreal was a hit at this month's CES event, with some even calling the device a worthy challenger to the Magic Leap One. However, the company's path to success in the US may not be as smooth as it first seemed, as gaming giant Epic Games has lodged a ...more
The concept and structure of Christmas hasn't changed much since its inception. In its infancy, Christians recruited Roman pagans by associating Christmas with the Saturnalia, an ancient Roman festival in honor of the deity Saturn (also held in December). The pagans had long w ...more
Wherever there are people, the party is sure to follow. Well, a party of microbes, at least. That is what scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have found after a 30-day microbial observation of the inflatable lunar/Mars analog habitat (IMAH). What is an "analog habi ...more
Water makes up about 60% of your body weight. Whether you like it plain, flavored, bubbly, or in beverages or food, we all need water daily to avoid dehydration and stay healthy. For communities in need of clean drinking water, new research using bacteria may offer a simplifie ...more
The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest living system on the planet. Yet more than 90% of the reef is bleaching because of the loss of a tiny algae that lives within the coral. After three serious bleaching events in 1998, 2002, and 2016, the Great Barrier Reef is ...more
Arsenic occurs naturally in the environment, but it is also one of the most commonly found heavy metals in wastewater, deposited there by inappropriate disposal and arsenical pesticides, for example. Whether by nature or contamination, an estimated 200 million people worldwid ...more
Although their effectiveness is waning, antibiotics remain a front-line defense against many infections. However, new science reveals using the wrong antibiotic for an infection could makes things much worse. It is common knowledge that overuse of antibiotics has led to the g ...more
Bacteriotherapy sounds a lot more amenable of a term than "fecal transplant," yet they're both treatments that use bacteria itself to cure or treat infections. Fecal transplants, specifically, are an up-and-coming treatment option for a potentially deadly and difficult-to-trea ...more
While you can't turn art into a formula, the film industry has managed to come stupidly close. While many storytelling principles still stand across mediums, successfully crafting a compelling, immersive narrative in virtual reality requires a brand new rulebook. Through trial ...more
Heavy Water & Light Ice Experiment. What happens? Ice floating over vegetable oil but it decreases in baby oil. While the ice melts, water is reduced in both liquids. Implemented gas grows and melt water falls. Then the boundary between the melted water and oil shows a beauti ...more
For the month of April, Android maintained it's edge over Apple's iOS platform, 52.5% versus 41.4%, with Blackberry, Microsoft, and Symbian rounding out the top five (2.5%, 3.3%, and 0.2%, respectively). Due to the vast number of OEMs that manufacture Android smartphones, Appl ...more
My first encounter with a phablet was late last year with the AT&T version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, having never touched or even seen its highly-acclaimed and pioneering predecessor. Initially, I was a bit overwhelmed by the enormous screen and taken aback by the dated st ...more
Remember the young Parker who taught us how to make fun things like the ghost trap from Ghostbusters and the cheap severed leg effect? Well, he's definitely grown since then, and in his latest video he takes a more practical approach to DIY with a cheap and easy soft box for y ...more
This year's NFL playoffs have been nothing short of spectacular. With Super Bowl XLVIII coming up on Sunday, February 2nd, people are already gearing up for another classic showdown between the NFC and AFC, and this time it's the Seattle Seahawks versus the Denver Broncos. Of ...more
After months of waiting, it looks like HMD has finally answered the call. Nokia's parent company is finally releasing a true flagship phone — one that isn't just an enhanced version of a previous phone and actually brings something new to the table. That phone is the Nokia 9 P ...more
Ant-Man isn't one of the most famous Marvel superheroes. In fact, with the news of his individual movie came great doubt that the comic book legends could succeed in telling the tiny story of an oddball hero on the big screen. Yet with its humor and unique story, Ant-Man has b ...more
I loved my Lite-Brite as a kid. There was just something about using those little multicolored pegs to make my own designs, and it's not exactly a secret that kids love anything that lights up (LED sneakers, anyone?). So how do you combine the old-school fun of Lite-Brite with ...more
Roughly five million years ago, humans split off from chimpanzees, who had in turn split off from gorillas five million years earlier. There is much more diversity in chimp DNA than in human DNA, so probably a small band of human ancestors wandered off from a much larger grou ...more
You can carve a pumpkin that smokes, has an LED display, or even one with the President's face on it, but if you want your jack-o'-lantern to really stand out—make it sing the Ghostbusters theme. Video: . The team over at Minion City made these animatronic pumpkins with their ...more
The rapid advance of Lens Studio as a platform for easily developing augmented reality experiences is just one indicator that immersive computing is becoming the norm. But one layer above the technology tools are the users, the real stars of any platform. Without passionate u ...more
Individually addressable LEDs, also commonly called "NeoPixels" after the popular Adafruit product, are a bright and colorful way to get started with basic Python programming. With an inexpensive ESP8266 or ESP32 microcontroller, it's easy to get started programming your own h ...more
There's something extremely satisfying about hunting down your online adversaries and knocking them out with a well-placed shot, which probably explains why shooting games are still one some of the most popular time killers for iOS and Android. Shooting games for mobile come ...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
It seems like each day new rumors and leaks come out for Huawei's upcoming P series devices. Everything from its name change to its specs has been leaked, sometimes with contradicting rumors. One of the biggest leaks is the inclusion of triple rear cameras, a first for smartph ...more
Windborne microbes shifting in the snows of the great ice sheet of Greenland may be able to neutralize some of the industrial contaminants oozing out of the melting ice. Greenland is a long way off, and we tend to dismiss what happens there as not impacting us here — out of s ...more
By connecting the dots between theory and real-life effect, two new studies offer more proof that neonicotinoid insecticides are causing extensive damage to honeybee colonies. Research studies have linked neonicotinoid insecticides to damage to honeybee colonies, while agricu ...more
Google's former Self-Driving Car project, now graduated from Alphabet's X division as Waymo, has found a collaborator and potential new partner in Honda. This is an interesting turn of events given traditional automakers' reluctance to work with driverless-car startups over th ...more
Motorola is a shell of its former self. In 2010, it had just released the Motorola Droid, a phone so popular it led to all Android phones being called "Droids" by non-techies. But there have been some rough years between then and now, and Motorola's latest "flagship" doesn't l ...more
The new iOS 14 for iPhone arrived Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2020, alongside iPadOS 14, and there are a lot of features to uncover. Improved widgets. Better home screen customization. Exciting Messages improvements. New abilities in Camera and Photos. There's so much here that it'll ...more
While the rest of the world is scrambling to figure out how to adopt augmented reality and VR tools for remote meetings, one company is building its war chest to serve the growing space of corporate clients who need this kind of immersive computing training. Los Angeles-based ...more