We solicit your honest response. Truly. We are a nascent community establishing boundaries. On the one hand, this is a how-to video. Revelatory, step by step, procedural. On the other hand...is it appropriate to our site? Would it be any better if the subject were a man? For ...more
Steampunk is a tremendously interesting phenomenon because of its reliance on science fiction, and fiction in general. Steampunk can arguably be broken down into two categories: the fiction, and the aesthetic. Sometimes these categories cross over, but they're often more disti ...more
Occasionally, a not-so-great movie also does something so right that you have to forgive some of its sins and give it a little love. Such is the case with the latest film from Keanu Reeves, Replicas, which takes a HoloLens-style device and gives us a look at how future researc ...more
Being born with a sweet tooth and Japanese blood, my desire for dessert-style sushi is practically written into my DNA. At once delicious and adorable, these one-bite delights are the perfect way to conclude a meal. They're also a killer snack. Featured below are: 1) the Banan ...more
Who doesn't love The Lego Movie? With a theme song that shouts the film's awesomeness, becoming one of its brick-bodied, eternally happy characters is everyone's dream. If you've ever relied on scissors and tape to craft your Halloween costume, get ready: creating a costume b ...more
Creating your own emblem is a great way to show off your creative skills and show those stock-emblem clowns what's really up. And in the new Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Treyarch decided to revamp the emblem editor, so now you can make more colorful and elaborate emblems. In th ...more
Small containers are useful for many things. They're good for storing snacks if you have children, as well as holding coins or odds and ends. But those regular store-bought containers are lame—who wants to keep their stuff in a Tupperware dish or old butter container? If you' ...more
Two brands with affinities for augmented reality, Marvel and the NBA, joined forces to inject some AR superpowers into Monday night's matchup of the Golden State Warriors and New Orleans Pelicans. While ESPN carried the traditional broadcast of the game, ESPN2 delivered a spe ...more
I've been using the Galaxy Note 10+ as my daily driver for a while now. I love it, but as with any phone, it loses its pizzazz after a while. But since it's an Android phone, there's always a way to add fresh features and functionality to the UI. The five customization ideas ...more
Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that augmented reality (or, AR for short) will "change everything." But what, exactly, is augmented reality? Generally, augmented reality refers to the process of presenting virtual objects and imagery — usually through a wearable lens or external ...more
This week, Next Reality published its annual feature on the leaders in the augmented reality industry, the Next Reality 30. So it's no coincidence that the companies represented in the top four spots of the NR30 also made business headlines in AR this week. While Magic Leap i ...more
Accompanying Snapchat's core features, like editing snaps and applying filters to them, is Bitmojis. These are small avatars that you create in your own likeness and use all throughout Snapchat. Formerly, there were two "styles" that you could pick from to make your Bitmoji: B ...more
Thrift stores! As a Steampunk, they can be your best friend, but it's easy to make a tragic mistake. This hands-on guide will help you navigate the murky waters of successful thrifting in order to find the hidden gems that will make your Steampunk outfit complete! Thrift Stor ...more
The entire wireless industry is working overtime to convince the world that 5G, and the higher prices associated with the faster speeds it affords, will not only be worth it but will deliver never-before-seen wonders. But few companies have produced such a stunningly well-done ...more
Owners of Google Pixel devices now have a plethora of imaginary friends to play with thanks to the Playground augmented reality app. The app, a rebrand of the AR Stickers app, launched as an exclusive app for the Google Pixel 3 and 3XL handsets in October. On Wednesday, Googl ...more
If you're looking into buying shoes from DSW on Black Friday, then you can save an extra 20% — but only if you smile more. An augmented reality mobile web ad campaign created for the retailer by PadSquad asks customers to smile for the camera. According to a PadSquad spokespe ...more
Master director Steven Spielberg's virtual reality epic Ready Player One is coming to theaters in just a few weeks, but you can get an early look at some of the best parts the latest trailer, "Come With Me," which was revealed on Thursday. But while the film is supposed to be ...more
Most of the animated characters and animals we've seen in augmented reality are still fairly basic in terms of visual fidelity. And because many are still impressed by simply seeing 3D figures properly scaled and tracked alongside real-world objects, this approach has worked . ...more
It seems like everyone wants to be flying without wings these days, and some big players in the autonomous car industry want a piece of that airborne action. Google co-founder Larry Page just invested in flying car startup Kitty Hawk, while Uber is adamant that its own-brand o ...more
Frosty the Snowman is a fairy tale they say, but this microscopic snowman is very real and just broke the record for the world's smallest snowman. (Though, it's not Guinness-official yet.) Created by the Western University Nanofabrication Facility in London, Ontario, this tin ...more
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a man by the name of George Lucas wrote an amazing trilogy about a new world and the power of the Force… and then subsequently ruined the franchise 22 years after the original release date. Fast forward to 2015, where nerds and geeks ...more
The team at Magic Leap just got a millennial-style boost with the announcement that financial news network Cheddar is coming to the Magic Leap One. Cheddar CEO Jon Steinberg revealed the news in a surprise tweet early Tuesday morning. Don't Miss: Hands-On with Magic Leap's A ...more
Nowadays, with the convenience of online shopping, brick-and-mortar retailers and malls have to work harder to draw shoppers to stores. This year, many of them are turning to augmented reality for assistance. Mall mainstay Swarovski has partnered with AR developer Perfect Cor ...more
Robots are always really cool, if you ask me. Sometimes they're made out of Legos, and that's even cooler. The Papercube, previously called the Legomaschine, is a fully automated Lego "factory" created by students in the Management, Information, and Technology program at Germ ...more
A crick is a sudden, spasmodic pain and stiffness in the neck caused by tight muscles that can absolutely ruin your entire day. It can last for more than one day and can be triggered by the smallest movement of the neck, such as a simple pandiculation, aka a yawn-stretch. Alth ...more
There comes a time in relationships when two people decide to move in together, and when this happens, you learn two things: Your perfect, wonderful, adorable significant other is a disgusting, messy pig. Your significant other thinks the same about you. So how do you make s ...more
2011's The Artist was the first silent film to win an Academy Award since 1927. It was old school versus new school, and it won in unprecedented fashion. You don't have to be a hipster to appreciate silent films, and when it comes to Halloween, being a silent film actor makes ...more
We don't spend much time thinking about bicycles today, do we? Sure, they're a "green" alternative to driving everywhere in cars, but the vast majority of America has dismissed them as simply being too much work, or more importantly—too slow. That wasn't always the case, thoug ...more
Many people find Steampunk problematic for a whole host of reasons, not least of which is the glorification of an era of Western history that featured institutionalized slavery, racism, sexism, elitism, and many more -isms. Today, Steampunks frequently get accused of subtly o ...more
The holiday season is creeping up fast, and if you're shopping for a Steampunk, it could be almost impossible to find anything for them unless you know exactly where to look. Luckily for you, some of us have done all of the work you'll need. Whether you're Steampunk shopping f ...more
Hey, you, still stuck at home? Cheer up, today is the first day of spring. Yes, really. And since you're probably locked in on TV, we're guessing you need a break from some of the less than sunshiney news reports rolling in. Well, no worries, because there's actually some good ...more
Unless you've been hiding under a (moon) rock for the past month, you already know that Saturday, July 20 is the 50th anniversary of NASA's Apollo 11 lunar landing. And while it has been 50 years since man first visited the moon, no human has set foot on its surface since 197 ...more
If you salivate at the idea of waking up to the Jarvis-powered smart window from the opening minutes of Marvel's Iron Man, then connected home appliance maker CareOS is here to make your playboy billionaire philanthropist dreams come true. At CES 2019, the company unveiled th ...more
When I booted up my second Sega Forever title, I wasn't sure what to expect. Sonic 1 was fun, but the controls weren't great. Touch screen controls can be excellent when the game is designed for them, but retrofitting a game designed for a physical controller to be played on a ...more
Whether you call them chickpeas, garbanzo beans, or Egyptian peas, these little morsels are one of my favorite snacks—when properly seasoned, that is. Being mild in flavor on their own, they're incredibly versatile and fun to experiment with. (They're also incredibly healthy.) ...more
Halloween is a night to dress up as any character you'd like—but for women, that typically means wearing something skimpy or downright absurd. From "sexy" policewomen to nearly undressed fairy tale princesses, we're surrounded by costumes that leave little to the imagination. ...more
Hello again, faithful readers. For today's lesson, we will be learning the correct way to restring and tune an electric guitar. I almost wasn't going to post this because it is so basic. But, as with many basic tasks, there are a lot of people who know how to do it, but can't ...more
The year 2020 was a pivotal span of time during which the word "virtual" took on a brand new meaning. Instead of referring to VR or augmented reality, the term was hijacked to describe meeting across long distances through a variety of software tools, most often through video. ...more
When Treasury Wine Estates released 19 Crimes Snoop Cali Red this summer, named for its new partner in wine, rapper Snoop Dogg, it already came with the brand's signature AR-enhanced label. Now, with an assist from creative studio Tactic and the web-based AR platform from 8th ...more
Messages is arguably the most important app on your iPhone, which is why it's always exciting when Apple pushes out new features for it. With the iOS 14 update, there a few critical changes as well as interface improvements and customization options that make the experience ev ...more
Arduino is a language that's easy to learn and supported on many incredibly low-cost devices, two of which are the $2 Digispark and a $3 ESP8266-based board. We can program these devices in Arduino to hijack the Wi-Fi data connection of any unlocked macOS computer in seconds, ...more
The last time we heard from Meta, the makers of the Meta 2 augmented reality headset, things looked pretty bleak. Now, as several new facts have come to light, we have confirmation regarding the beleaguered company's fate: Meta is done. As we reported back in September, the c ...more
We've shown you the best augmented reality headsets, and now it's time to show you the rest. These are the AR headsets you've probably never heard of or even seen. The AR headsets that, in some cases, have a shot at the big time, and may one day reach widespread adoption, and ...more
If you don't want to dress up as a vampire, witch, werewolf, or zombie again this Halloween, step things up a notch and go viral. There have been a ton of funny memes and absurd news since last October, so the only hard part is settling on the right one for inspiration for you ...more
Barbecue season: it's the perfect time to play with fire, produce your best burger ever (until next year, that is), and find even more ways to make beer a part of your daily life. However, even a grilling badass occasionally gets stumped by minor BBQ problems. No worries: We'v ...more
With a November 2013 release, Disney's Frozen just missed Halloween. That means that everyone had to wait an entire year to dress up as their favorite princess or snowman — and that time has finally come. One costume that's sure to be a hit is Olaf, childhood snowman of Princ ...more
When the Google Maps web app got a massive redesign earlier this year, I was pretty excited to try it out, but it was a fairly disappointing update for me. The slower load times, confusing street view, and bicyclist neglect are just a few of the reasons I don't enjoy it over t ...more
Many of the beauty products you buy at drug and department stores are loaded with potentially toxic ingredients like parabens, while their active ingredients are made of things like glycolic, lactic, malic, and alpha hydroxy acids and retinoids, which are all derived from food ...more
A friend of mine has a crazy amount of Reddit karma and gold, and yesterday he let me in on his secret. This person, who will remain unnamed for obvious reasons, created a Python script called Reddit Karma Crawler that finds rising posts before they get too popular. Every goo ...more
I grew up in a household where bacon was considered its own necessary food group. My mom saved the bacon fat in a jar and reused it in other dishes, which my friends considered vile, unless they were also from immigrant families or the American South, where saving bacon fat ha ...more
I've had a handlebar mustache for about five years now, and I've learned a lot over those years about how to grow and care for it. I will now share all of that information with you! Hopefully this will encourage you to grow one for Movember! The first thing I want to address r ...more
Snapchat's first foray into augmented reality started with the selfie camera and face-tracking technology, with the app's AR capabilities expanding from there. More recently, Snapchat creators have gained full-body tracking via Lens Studio, which begat virtual costumes such a ...more
If you consider yourself an emoji master, you'll have to retrain yourself once you install iOS 14.5 on your iPhone. Why? Because there are 217 new ones available to incorporate into your sometimes cryptic emoji messages. With iOS 14.5 (and iPadOS 14.5), released on April 26, ...more
A modern iPhone is capable of running sophisticated, exquisitely-rendered games that rival titles on current-generation consoles. However, there is some value in classic video game titles, whether you grew up playing games on the Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System, and ...more
Have you ever used an open wifi, which after you connect displays a website to enter your credentials to get internet? That website is called captive portal and widely used in airports, hotels, universities etc. Have you ever wondered what would happen if someone would set up ...more
Apple's iOS 15.4 update for iPhone is out after 46 days of beta testing, and it has some exciting features you won't want to miss. Here's everything you need to know about the new software. The iOS 15.4 software has been available to developers since Jan. 27, 2022, and public ...more
On an iPhone, it's easy to blur or cross out faces and sensitive information found in your images — just use Apple's Markup tool for all your obfuscation needs. Things aren't as simple when it comes to videos. There are no built-in iOS features to blur, redact, or otherwise ob ...more
As a company, Facebook is not shy about talking up its AR smartglasses plans. The latest missive comes from two executives in charge of developing AR software and hardware. As far as we know, Amazon doesn't have plans to make AR smartglasses yet (and audio-only smartglasses d ...more
Snap introduced some fantastic new augmented reality abilities in version 3.4 of Lens Studio, the company's tool that allows anyone to create AR lenses for the Snapchat app. The newest features include improved hand tracking and full-body segmentation. The Lens Studio communi ...more
Phone specs get better and better each year, and multiplayer mobile games are right there with them. Instead of playing solo, jump into some real-time gameplay with co-op and player vs. player modes, and battle friends, family, and strangers from around the world. But which mu ...more