Whether you're on the john or sitting quietly on the bus to work, there's always time for a little video. And thanks to my favorite high school procrastination site, I'm going to be turning that little into a lot. StumbleUpon recently acquired a sleek new Android app that wan ...more
Katie wanted to make a difference in the world, and thanks to the ACUVUE 1-DAY Contest, and Disney Channel star and singer, Bridgit Mendler, her dream became a reality. Watch ACUVUE's video below and check out our tips on how you too can begin the transformation and motivate o ...more
There are very few legends in this world. When it comes to beatboxing, Doug E Fresh is the O.G. legend. Below is an old school video of Fresh with Slick Rick performing 'La Di Da Di' in New York. At 3:52 Fresh goes off the hook, so be patient. There are very few legends in th ...more
The latest Star Wars movie, Solo: A Star Wars Story, has grossed almost $350 million worldwide during its first month in theaters. This is a good opportunity to discuss how hackers can use media hype (in this case, Hollywood movie hype) to disarm an unsuspecting Windows user i ...more
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
Most augmented reality experiences are purely visual, with spatial audio gaining in popularity to make visual experiences more realistic. However, leveraging the sense of touch may be the next frontier for AR experiences. This week, researchers at the School of Engineering an ...more
Many native New Yorkers, like myself, get a chance to visit the famed Statue of Liberty during school trips when they're a child in grade school. And if you're not lucky enough to be born in the city, you have to make a special trip to the monument as a tourist. Alas, many ca ...more
If Google hasn't already demonstrated that it is serious about augmented reality, then it made it abundantly clear at the Google I/O keynote on Tuesday. After opening remarks from Google CEO Sundar Pinchai, which included a preview of AR navigation included in the Google I/O ...more
In order to save money, a few compromises had to be made when switching to Google Fi on an iPhone. No more Wi-Fi calling, no automatic network-switching, no hotspots outside the US, and no more visual voicemail. I've found that last one particularly frustrating — but not anymo ...more
Now that the NCAA Basketball Tournament is underway, 7-Eleven has decided to launch an augmented reality experience to remind basketball fans where they can quench their thirst throughout March Madness. Available until April 10 in the 7-Eleven app for iOS and Android, the pai ...more
While AT&T is gradually showing off the powers of its 5G technology in the US via the Magic Leap One, another major wireless company is doing the same in the UK using the world of fashion. At this month's London Fashion Week, UK wireless company Three teamed up with designers ...more
Whether it's an ex you can't stand, that annoyingly political friend of a friend, or good old fashioned trolls, the block feature on Facebook can be a great way to de-stress your feed. It will keep people from contacting you, and it will also prevent them from viewing your pro ...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
The mainstreaming of augmented reality won't happen overnight, but it's becoming increasingly clear that traditional media is leading the charge in the effort to introduce the public to immersive computing. A recent example came from none other than USA Today via its 321 Launc ...more
Department store chain Target is the latest retailer to offer an augmented reality cosmetics app for customers to virtually try on lipstick. For its Beauty Studio web app, Target uses the YouCam platform offered by Perfect Corp. Available through Target.com via any desktop we ...more
Mobile gamers who grew up on J.K. Rowling's fantasy epic have yet another reason to rejoice, as Jam City's Harry Potter: Hogwart Mystery is slated to touch down on both iOS and Android on April 25. But if you can't bear the wait, there's a little hack you can do to give the ga ...more
Less than a week after iOS 11.3 was released to the public, iOS 11.4 beta dropped for developers on April 2, then became available for public beta testers the following day. If you're an iPhone user, there doesn't seem to be much to love about iOS 11.4 just yet, since its most ...more
At Apple's education event in Chicago on Tuesday, augmented reality stood at the head of the class among the tech giant's new offerings for the classroom. The company showcased a number of ARKit-enabled apps that promise to make learning more immersive. For example, the AR mo ...more
If you're a golf fan who can't attend the Arnold Palmer Invitational in person, you can still follow the next stop on the apparent Tiger Woods comeback tour in augmented reality with an iPhone or iPad. The PGA Tour AR, available now on the App Store for ARKit-compatible devic ...more
Netflix currently lets parents block content based on maturity rating, but it isn't a perfect system. Not all titles rated PG-13 are equal, for instance. That's why it's good news that Netflix is adding more controls for parents, by allowing account holders to bar individual m ...more
If you're a Harry Potter fan who has ever wanted to have your own Hogwarts adventure, you're in luck — Jam City is close to releasing "Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery," a mobile game that allows you to attend the magical school yourself. In fact, it's so close you can pre-regis ...more
This month, the power of artificial intelligence will be coming to more augmented reality developers as a leader in the game and 3D software development space and a major force behind the current school of cloud-based AI have officially announced a new partnership. In a post ...more
Old school media stalwart Sports Illustrated is billing this year's Swimsuit Issue as the "Most Immersive Experience Ever," and it certainly lives up to that statement, as the magazine has added augmented reality and virtual reality experiences to this year's version via Snapc ...more
Thanks to Face Maker, a new app for the iPhone X, children everywhere can now avoid the trauma of face painting. Okay, maybe that needs some context. When I was in kindergarten, I had my face painted as part of an arts and crafts day at school. When my dad saw the results, he ...more
A recent TED Talk makes a strong case for the healthcare industry to adopt augmented reality as a means to expanding access to surgical care across the globe. During her presentation held in New Orleans in Nov. 2017, Nadine Hachach-Haram, surgeon and co-founder of Proximie, a ...more
Thanks to Metaverse, it has never been this easy to create your own AR game. The platform gives users a web-based tool for building interactive AR experiences, with no coding knowledge necessary. Via a link or QR code, users can then share their project with others, who can v ...more
Typos are a constant annoyance that we all deal with thanks to the cramped touchscreen keyboards on smartphones. For many, nothing beats the feel of a good old physical keyboard when it comes to typing fast with minimal errors. Fortunately, WhatsApp has an awesome feature whic ...more
Anyone who knows me well is aware that I am a cyberpunk junkie. The conflict between lowlifes, corporations, and the government, flavored with dystopian future, high technology, transhumanism, artificial intelligence, and noir storytelling, just does something for me. Since I ...more
Group chats can get out of control. One minute you're in the middle of a thoughtful debate, the next minute everybody is sending gratuitous stickers and emojis like nobody's business. If you're at work or school, this can obviously get a little frustrating as your notification ...more
Numerous examples exist of doctors and surgeons using HoloLens to plan surgeries. The device has even been used to view reference images during a procedure and stream it to a remote audience. Until recently, it has not been used to augment the surgeon's view of the patient dur ...more
At Facebook's first Communities Summit, admins from top Facebook groups assembled to discuss tools to better manage and optimize their members. Here, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that these changes fuel the company's shifting focus from connecting the world to unitin ...more
Could the technology that powers games like Pokémon GO be used for surgery in the near future? Researchers at the University of Maryland think so. Amitabh Varshney, a computer science professor and director of the Augmentarium facility at the University of Maryland, along wit ...more
While all of my previous Have You Seen This? posts have all focused on individual HoloLens apps in the Windows Store, this time I'll be sharing a couple at once. These holographic applications are really simple in scope, so there is not a lot to say about them, yet they are in ...more
Leave it to some lazy college kids to attempt to figure out a way to brew a pot of coffee without leaving the couch. Actually, this project wasn't lazy at all—quite the opposite, in fact. Created by Ohio State University students Carter Hurd and David Frank during HackOHI/O 2 ...more
Different times call for different ringtone volumes. When you're at work or school, you need your phone to be quiet so it doesn't make a disturbance—but when you're at home or out and about, the volume should be turned back up so you don't miss any important notifications. So ...more
Microsoft's HoloLens has many applications in the business world, both large and small, but what about gaming? Initial demos gave the impression that we could expect amazing first person shooters, platformers, and even Minecraft. Yet, as Newsweek noticed, the HoloLens was nowh ...more
When your iPhone can't be found, Find My iPhone is a true lifesaver. When you use the feature, you can ping your iPhone and even see its current location on a real-time map. But what happens when your iPhone runs out of battery? Find My iPhone can't locate a dead iPhone, can i ...more
It doesn't matter how cool or groundbreaking a particular technology is, if it doesn't offer the promise of big returns on investments, you'll have trouble drawing interest from both Silicon Valley and Wall Street. That's why we're increasingly seeing existing augmented realit ...more
While restaurants and classrooms have enacted policies banning cell phones, one father has had enough of his kids' obsessive phone habits. Dr. Tim Farnum is now seeking to ban the sale of smartphones to children under 13. Yes, you read that right. Farnum was inspired to propo ...more
Who would have thought that musical.ly would be the first social media app with a highly successful original show? Musical.ly is a social media platform that allows users to make 15-second videos of themselves lip-synching to popular music and audio bites. If you didn't know ...more
Breaking off a piece of that Kit Kat bar gets a lot more difficult when the whole thing weighs 13 pounds. Ann Reardon, a food scientist and dietitian with an ironic obsession for unhealthy desserts, started the very successful blog How To Cook That back in 2011 to showcase he ...more
Google's Chromecast is quite literally one of my favorite inventions of the past five years, allowing me to kick back, relax, and enjoy the various forms of streaming entertainment it has up for grabs. Don't Miss: How to Use Your Chromecast Without Wi-Fi But as awesome as it ...more
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 the last few years, the HoloLens has become a popular tool for use in medical procedures and training. But recently, the Magic Leap One has gained momentum in the space as well when it comes to medical use cases. The latest medical app for the Magic Leap One, the CHARM (sh ...more
After a rough run of news, smartglasses maker North still has the confidence of investors, as evidenced by its latest round of funding. Speaking of smartglasses, Google will continue to court businesses over consumers, as the tech giant announced its next-generation of Glass ...more
Location-based gaming company Niantic knows its business model is inextricably tied to the outdoors, so it is in its best interest to help preserve that environment to give players a place to play. So, for the second straight year, Niantic will encourage Pokémon GO to assist ...more
If you use the mobile Slack app, whether for work, school, or play, you know that the background color in discussions for channels, threads, and direct messages is white and that most of the text is black. Unlike with the sidebar, there's no way to customize the colors that ap ...more
Beloved toy maker Lego is returning to the realm of augmented reality, this time with an experience that explores supernatural fun. This week, the company unveiled its Hidden Side line of augmented reality playsets, which include an ordinary looking school, house, bus, and gr ...more
If you subscribe to notifications for Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz's Twitter feed, you'd think everyone in the world already has a Magic Leap One. Alas, that is not the case, but those not within the geographic areas of Magic Leap's LiftOff service now have a loophole through w ...more
As summer is upon us, new musical Snapchat lenses are as well. This week has entries from Maroon 5, Simon and Garfunkel, and Snow Tha Product with entertaining visuals to match. As kids start to leave school for the summer, expect the lens scene to be kicked up a notch with an ...more
While you were slaving away at work or school or whatever you were so busy doing over the last seven days, people have been hard at work creating a variety of new Snapchat lenses for your enjoyment. These lenses are hot off the presses, and I'm honestly really impressed with t ...more
We already showed you the dark side of augmented reality in the form of a virtual girlfriend from Japan, but now the same country has given us something a lot less creepy that could be the future of virtual pop stars everywhere. Produced by Niigata-based studio Gugenka, HoloM ...more
It would be difficult to discuss the business of augmented reality without acknowledging the annual tech meat market of CES. The biggest stories of CES came courtesy of Vuzix, which debuted its consumer-centric Blade smartglasses, and Meta Company, which struck a deal with De ...more
Google, Facebook, and Huawei have made an investment in nurturing the future of augmented and virtual reality through $6 million in contributions to the opening of a new center at the University of Washington. The UW Reality Lab at the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science ...more
Augmented reality hardware maker Vuzix came to the rescue of a vision-impaired student in Pennsylvania today by delivering a pair of Vuzix M300 Smart Glasses to enhance her eyesight. Alyssa Baxter, a student at Portage Area Junior-Senior High School in Pennsylvania, was born ...more
When the Super Bowl airs, every other TV network puts on reruns because no one wants to face that juggernaut for ratings. The launch of a new iPhone is the Super Bowl of the tech world, with the launch of the iPhone X being the biggest one yet. So it's either unfortunate timi ...more
A survey by ABI Research revealed that only 25 percent of businesses have implemented augmented reality technology in some form or fashion. However, with 75 percent of companies expressing interest in augmented reality tools, the bandwagon could start to get crowded soon. Thi ...more
Sports gaming company ePlay Digital, Inc. is looking to capitalize on the fall launch of iOS 11 and ARKit with an augmented reality fantasy sports app. With ePlay GO, the company is borrowing a few pages out of Pokémon Go's playbook, with players finding virtual avatars of at ...more
If you are fond of going live or watching live videos on Facebook, then you've probably experienced a number of viewers commenting. Sometimes these comments are good. Sometimes ... well, sometimes we could all go without them. If you want to stop a specific viewer from commen ...more
A new Google Search update lets job-seekers streamline their search process. Searches like 'jobs near me' are now designed to show relevant opportunities from multiple sites. Previously, searches like that mostly brought up links to various recruitment sites that would have t ...more