Making Furniture

A new technological movement without the technology itself is just an idea sitting and waiting. Once the technology is present in the equation, movement forward can begin. This is how many of us see the head-mounted displays (HMDs) and smartglasses that have recently entered t ...more

Fight me all you want, but it ain't a party without alcohol—whether it's a Halloween party, Christmas party, dinner party, or even a damn wedding. (If you think that people will stick around after dinner for a dry wedding, then you're sorely mistaken.) And while we'd all love ...more

In the realm of internet security, it's becoming clear that augmented reality is not immune to the increasing wave data breaches plaguing users. On Friday, furniture retailer Houzz, an early adopter of ARKit, revealed details of a data breach that occurred in December 2018. ...more

Augmented reality app developer Laan Labs has shared a preview of a beta app that achieves 3D scanning with just an iPhone and produces highly-detailed models for sharing with others. But it might be a while before we see it in the App Store. According to a tweet from the co ...more

Thanks to Apple's beta preview of iOS 11.3 released last week, app developers are already experimenting with the ARKit capabilities that will be available to regular users this spring. The highlight of ARKit 1.5 is vertical surface detection. The first iteration of ARKit was ...more

Earlier this year at WWDC, Apple made a big show of featuring augmented reality as a central part of iOS moving forward. But since then, other than comments from the company's CEO, Tim Cook, we haven't seen much direct promotion of augmented reality from the company. Until now ...more

Thanks to ARKit, homeowners and apartment dwellers can visualize just about every aspect of their abodes, from furniture and decor with the IKEA Place, Houzz, and Amazon apps to new countertops with Cambria's app and retractable awnings via Markilux. Now, that list of availab ...more

Walsh, a new community under construction on 7,200 acres of former ranch land near Fort Worth, Texas, will one day contain 15,000 homes. To sell prospective home buyers on the development before it is fully built, Republic Property Group is leaning on technology. A high-spee ...more

Chairish, Inc. is the latest furniture retailer to bring augmented reality into its mobile stores, adding features for users to visualize products in their homes. Today, the company added AR capabilities to their iOS apps for their brands Chairish, an online marketplace for v ...more

Lightning is scary and powerful, yet when harnessed correctly, it can become a beautiful pattern for hand-crafted wooden furniture. Muchd like Zeus in ancient mythology, Canadian Woodworks is harnessing the power and beauty of lightning, but they're doing it for aesthetic purp ...more

If you're looking to mix up your home décor with something a little bit outside the traditional cabinet box set, check out the amazing Wave cabinet from NYC-based, Chilean designer Sebastian Errazuriz. This revolutionary design will change the way you think about interior deco ...more

We've already seen plenty of shopping potential for mixed reality headsets, from holographic car showrooms to trying on clothes and picking out furniture. Very few of those ideas have been put into actual practice, but we're getting closer, and consulting firm Valorem is makin ...more

If you're a big fan of home improvement, then you've you've probably painted a wall or item in your day. Not only can it get expensive, it's also time consuming, and very often just plain boring. Waiting for paint to dry so that you can add another coat is, well…like waiting f ...more

However much you love your summer barbecue parties, you probably won't be going through your entire bag of charcoal briquettes anytime soon. So, take advantage of your charcoal excess by putting them to good use in other ways! Charcoal briquettes are great for removing excess ...more

The iPhone 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max have one huge thing that sets them apart from their iPhone 12 and 12 mini siblings: a lidar scanner. Thanks to this new technology, Measure, an Apple app that's just over two years old, has gotten even better. For ARKit-capable iPhone models, ...more

There are countless methods and cleaners aimed at eliminating stubborn stains from everything to clothing, carpet, and furniture. But completely removing every last trace of a stain doesn't require an arsenal of chemical cleaners and repeated cycles in the washing machine. Mos ...more

Apple Pay has been available to use in stores, as well as in select apps and websites, ever since its first appearance in iOS 8.1. Now, with iOS 12, there are currently 13 different iPhone models that support Apple Pay functionality without the use of an Apple Watch, and the l ...more

Following in the steps of Snapchat, Instagram, and YouCam, another popular photo app has gotten into the virtual try-on augmented reality game. On Thursday, BoxyCharm, a cosmetics subscription service, unveiled a partnership with app developer Lightricks that will bring cosme ...more

After some social media teasing, the Star Wars universe's Magic Leap debut has finally arrived. On Tuesday, Magic Leap announced the release of Star Wars: Project Prog, which is available for free via Magic Leap World. In addition, ILMxLAB, the immersive entertainment divisi ...more

Mobile app publishers are using augmented reality to solve everyday measurement problems from measuring the length or height of items to previewing furniture in the home. Now, it looks like checking luggage dimensions for carry-on eligibility is another volumetric problem inc ...more

With HoloLens and its enterprise-focused software offerings, Microsoft continues to make an impression on companies looking to adopt augmented reality, with Toyota Motor Corporation among the latest. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told the Nikkei Asian Review that Toyota is now ...more

Unlike VR, when you're talking about augmented reality, describing what an experience is like can be incredibly difficult — primarily because the experiences are even more contextual than relatively static virtual worlds that don't involve real-world settings. In AR, everythi ...more

One of the more obvious benefits that vertical surface detection will bring to iPhone and iPad apps with the spring 1.5 update to Apple's ARKit platform is the ability to hang virtual artwork that rests realistically on walls. In the meantime, developers wishing to emulate th ...more

In its continued pursuit to elevate retail technology, Amazon has been awarded a patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office for a digital mirror that lets customers virtually try on clothes with different backgrounds. According to US Patent No. 9858719 (as originally disc ...more

With today's augmented reality experiences, we can see and hear virtual content, but Ultrahaptics wants you to be able to feel those experiences, too. The company has partnered with Meta Company to pair its ultrasound-based haptic feedback system with the Meta 2 augmented rea ...more

Around this time in 2016, the predictions for the next year had reached something of a consensus: 2017 would be the year of augmented reality. But a funny thing happened on the way to the future — nothing much, really. At least not for the first half of the year. It seemed cl ...more

Furniture shopping is about to get a whole lot easier thanks to Apple's AR Kit and Ikea. In an exclusive with Bloomberg Businessweek, Tim Cook, Apple CEO said: We've talked to Ikea and they have 3D images of their furniture line. You're talking about changing the whole exper ...more

Amazon has been toying with the idea of opening physical retail stores for some time now, even opening old-fashioned bookstores in select locations and teasing cashier-less convenience stores. But the online retailer has some new ideas in the works, including implementing virt ...more

If you've ever built a piece of IKEA furniture, you're familiar with the confusion that some 2D instruction booklets can create. But neuroscience suggests that they're cognitively overloading, as our brains have to translate their basic flatness into physical reality and that' ...more

The HoloLens opens up new, digital locales within our physical world, so it was only natural for the HoloLens Challenge to ask developers to create a portal into one. One developer rose to the task and gave life to wall art, turning it into an interactive game called Future Bo ...more

bObsweep Standard and Pethair are made to easily transition between a variety of floor types, so they function efficiently in most spaces. Once in a while, bOb's workplace includes unique furniture that may cause slight difficulties but can be resolved with blindfold stickers ...more

What's not to love about a glass of wine? It tastes delicious. It takes the edge off your day. It helps you and your guests unwind and lets the conversation flow. All in all, it's a beautiful thing. What's not so beautiful is having someone knock over a giant glass of red and ...more

Why do we still need to plug in our phones to charge them? Wireless charging exists, and has for quite some time, but most manufacturers don't include it in their devices. When it comes to the Samsung Galaxy S4, you can buy a QI-compatible wireless charging kit, but between th ...more

Lidar, a technology first used by meteorologists and aerospace engineers and then adopted in self-driving vehicles, has slowly crept into consumer electronics over the last five years. If you have a Pro model iPhone or iPad, there's a good chance it has a lidar sensor, and you ...more

We're a few weeks away from the fireworks associated with New Year's celebrations, but that doesn't mean you can't start a little early — in augmented reality. The team at Weta Workshop, recently released a small immersive game called Boosters that they created for a little o ...more

Best known for its mobile phones and television sets, South Korea's LG has had a quieter presence in the US compared to the country's homegrown efforts. Now, the company is leveling up its augmented reality capabilities with 3D advertisements that spring from home televisions ...more

If online retail is war (and who says it isn't), then CGTrader is prepared to arm its allies with augmented reality ammunition. On Wednesday, at the Augmented World Expo (AWE) in Santa Clara, California, the 3D content provider unveiled ARsenal, an e-commerce software tool th ...more

Two years ago, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicked off the F8 Developers Conference keynote with augmented reality and the introduction of Facebook's AR camera platform, now known as Spark AR. Since then, Facebook has faced an avalanche of controversy on its appro ...more

Move over, cosmetics companies. The athletic footwear industry wants to be able to give their customers the opportunity to try on products in augmented reality as well. A new mobile app from augmented reality commerce company Wannaby, appropriately named Wanna Kicks, uses sma ...more

On Monday, with just days left before Christmas, Lowe's dropped a surprise augmented reality treat in everyone's lap: a brand new Magic Leap One app. With little fanfare or warning, the Lowe's Showroom app popped up in the Magic Leap World section on the Magic Leap One as a f ...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

While it may seem to some like investors are just throwing their money at augmented reality companies simply because the tech is heavily hyped, these money managers do actually want to see a return on their investments. That's probably at least part of the reason Sketchfab ha ...more

Clearly, the next big battlefield for tech gamesmanship between Apple and Google will be augmented reality. While the announcement of the new iPhones by Apple may have underwhelmed in the AR department, they did highlight their new ARCore platform and Core ML image recognitio ...more

If you find this update from Pinterest more than a little creepy, I agree. If you don't, then keep reading about how Pinterest's updated "Lens" feature is your next must-have tool! The worldwide catalog of ideas — shared by over 175 million users every month — just updated it ...more

What does our future hold when augmented and mixed reality finally enter the mainstream? As developers, we are always looking for the ultimate solutions to the problems our users see. Welcome the innovative minds of DataMesh Consulting and their impressive HoloLens interior de ...more

Just as predicted (but perhaps with less fanfare than usual), Apple has made the move of adding a depth sensor to the rear camera of its latest edition of the iPad Pro. What is surprising is the type of sensor it is, and that plot twist raises the level of intrigue for Apple' ...more

Friendship has always been a staple of Animal Crossing games, and Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp makes no exceptions. Check out this guide if you're interested in how to maximize time with your furry friends. While building friendships has always been at the core of Animal Cros ...more

When a firm like Techstars believes that augmented reality is an attractive industry to invest in, there's a high probability that it's right. As an accelerator and investor, TechStars has raised nearly $4 billion dollars in funding for more than 1,000 companies, with nearly ...more

Every year, football fans get excited about the next crop of blue chip prospects joining their teams, from five-star high school recruits graduating to college to first-round rookies drafted into the NFL. Those who follow the game more closely realize that, despite their prom ...more

Innovation Congress starts tomorrow, but its creator, Jason Keath, spoke to Next Reality today about the future of augmented reality. Innovation Congress is an event meant to discuss strategies for businesses to stay competitive in the future, with technology trends shifting ...more

Wireless charging is pretty much ubiquitous among modern iPhones and Android smartphones, but the technology has brought a lot of clutter with it. If you desire the convenience of wireless charging, you've guaranteed that a charging pad or dock will be ever-present on your en ...more

Keeping your home clean is an endless battle with time, motivation, and the easy availability of cleaning supplies. That's where the Hard Surface Floor Cleaning Robot Vacuum comes in. This magical device will save you time by automatically keeping your floors clean, never requ ...more

The Animal Crossing series has been a big hit for Nintendo, so in a bid to enhance the experience even more for users, the game is getting the augmented reality treatment. The latest update for Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp adds two new features for iOS and Android smartphone ...more

Considering Rovio Entertainment quite literally owes its existence to Apple and the App Store, it may ruffle a few feathers that the company has opted to aim the augmented reality debut of its blockbuster Angry Birds franchise at Magic Leap instead. Developed in partnership w ...more

Yesterday, I talked about what I think is the most immediately mainstream-friendly app on the Magic Leap One is (Screens), and now we'll touch upon the runner-up: Helio. In short, Helio is how Magic Leap One users can browse the web in augmented reality, something we've seen ...more

Will the predicted apocalyptic date—December 21st, 2012—really be the end of the world? In this ongoing five-part series, we examine what would happen if zombies, nuclear weapons, cyber wars, earthquakes, or aliens actually destroyed our planet—and how you might survive. End ...more

If there is a major blind spot in the AR space in 2019, it's the impact that blockchain technology will eventually have on the software distributed in AR clouds. For the uninitiated, the quickest way to describe blockchain technology is as a method of assigning unique attribu ...more

While Apple and Samsung have started integrating depth sensors into the iPad Pro and Galaxy smartphones, more advanced AR experiences are arriving for standard smartphone cameras on Android devices. Earlier this month, Niantic began rolling out updates for Pokémon GO that add ...more