Month: March 2021

The face tracking of cats and dogs are probably my favorite AR innovations that have come to Snapchat Lenses over the past few years. What can I say, I enjoy taking photos and videos of my shorkie Lucy and my cat Dorian with goofy effects anchored on their cute little mugs. So, this week, we’re highlighting five AR experiences you can share with your own furry friends, so I can get Lucy and Dorian some work. (Unfortunately, Dorian conveniently slept through most of the…Snapshoot.) Two notes before we jump in: First, any of these Lenses work with a cat or a dog, regardless of its title… more

Just as the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is set to start later this month, USA Today has decided to trot out an augmented reality mini-basketball game to promote its bracket competition. And while USA Today is prolific publisher of AR news content through its own app, this time, the media outlet took an assist from 8th Wall’s web-based AR platform for this particular AR experience. Don’t Miss: 7-Eleven Delivers Assist to BodyArmor Drink with Augmented Reality Promotion for NCAA Basketball Tournament Couchketball, which was built on the 8th Wall Web platform, takes place in the camera… more

The moment many of the crypto savvy insiders in augmented reality and VR have been waiting for is here: we’re finally getting our first big auction of NFT art that exists purely as a hologram. This week, an auction will be held to sell off a unique 3D presentation, accompanied by music, developed by none other than AR and VR enthusiast, and music star, Reggie Watts. • Don’t Miss: Hands-On with the Looking Glass Pro, An Easy Alternative to AR for Interacting With Virtual Content What makes this particular piece of art unique is that it will be displayed on the Looking Glass Portrait… more

The year is still off to a roaring start, with augmented reality at the center of nearly everything, from enterprise solutions, to entertainment, to safety. In the realm of streaming, the Marvel universe got another dose of augmented reality marketing help thanks to Disney Plus. On the startup founder front, one CEO is battling Covid-19 by helping to make sure AR headsets are virus-free, while another startup founder just secured a new patent that could prove contentious in coming years. Finally, Microsoft took the wraps off the next phase of its AR and VR strategy, which is still primarily… more

The process of trying out new augmented reality and virtual reality hardware is as personal as it gets. Bottom line, if you can’t directly try these immersive devices on, it’s difficult to really understand the benefits they can bring to your life and work. That’s why the Covid-19 pandemic has presented a particularly tricky challenge to the many AR/VR hardware makers around the world looking to mainstream their products in a new world in which nearly everyone has, understandably, become a bit of germaphobe. • Don’t Miss: Microsoft Debuts HoloLens 2 Industrial Edition for Pharmaceutical… more

Among the various components of the emerging augmented reality space, the most lucrative is the advertising market. The prospect of turning every object, every location, ever signpost in the real world into a discount code or virtual transaction interface is why AR will ultimately be more profitable than VR. But as the foundations of this new era are being laid, some are rushing to secure their space via technological and legal means. The latest is Seek, a Utah-based company that recently secured an AR patent that could fundamentally impact hundreds of companies in the years to come. • Don’t… more

In response to Apple’s implementation of LiDAR sensors in iPad Pro and iPhone 12 Pro models, Google is looking to leverage the dual-camera setups in recent flagship devices as depth-sensing components. In recent updates to Google’s ARCore, as well as the app that installs the AR toolkit on compatible Android devices, the company quietly added mentions of support for “dual camera stereo depth.” Don’t Miss: Google Brings Persistent Content Support to Cloud Anchors, Expands Augmented Faces to iOS The first devices to support this new capability will be the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4XL, which carry a… more

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for virtual and remote collaboration, and Microsoft has a solution that may serve as the catalyst for more such apps for augmented and virtual reality in the near future. During the keynote for the company’s virtual Ignite event on Tuesday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and technical fellow Alex Kipman unveiled Microsoft Mesh, a mixed reality platform that leverages the Azure cloud platform to facilitate shared collaborative experiences between remote participants via HoloLens 2 and other devices. Don’t Miss: 10 Remote Collaboration Apps for… more

The new WandaVision series is perhaps the hottest TV show on the Disney Plus streaming service since…well, its own The Mandalorian wrapped up its second season late last year. Now, after publishing AR experiences in partnership with Google to promote the latter, Disney has tapped the AR camera effects of Facebook Messenger to hype up the former as the season (and, perhaps, series) finale is set to drop on Friday. Don’t Miss: The Best Marvel Movie Scenes Featuring Augmented Reality Concepts That We Might Use in the Near Future The newly Marvel-powered app is available in the camera effects… more