Month: July 2021

After receiving $100 million in funding in 2018, smartglasses maker Rokid is going the crowdfunding route to finance its latest product. On Tuesday, Rokid launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund Rokid Air, AR smartglasses that serve as a virtual display by tethering not only to Android smartphones but also iPhones, iPads, desktop computers, and gaming consoles. Don’t Miss: News: China’s AR Showdown: How Rokid’s New Vision Compares to Nreal Weighing in at just 90 grams, the smartglasses include twin 4K displays and a BirdBath optical engine, which are capable of 43 degrees field of view (or… more

Billionaire Richard Branson did his part to advance space tourism this weekend by beating Elon Musk (SpaceX) and Jeff Bezos (Blue Origin) to become the first among them to travel into space. And while the pricey trips to copy Branson’s space flight via Virgin Galactic won’t open to the public until 2022, you can get a taste of the journey now in augmented reality. • Don’t Miss: ISS Astronauts Use Magic Leap One to Prepare for Next Mission During the height of the global pandemic in 2020, Virgin Galactic released an AR app designed to promote its space tourism venture, but most people had… 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, everything is about how “you” see things interacting with your real environment. Such is the case with what I’m calling the most important demonstration of Magic Leap technology to date in the form of an AI assistant called Mica.The experience was previewed on stage during Wednesday’s keynote event at the L.E.A.P. conference in Los Angeles by Magic Leap’s John Monos, vice president of human-centered AR and dDNA, and Andrew Rabinovich, the company’s head of AI.Don’t Miss: Everything Magic Leap Revealed During Its First Annual L.E.A.P. Conference Keynote EventTogether, the team described a world in which a Magic Leap user will be able to interact with intelligent assistants in the form of fully realized augmented reality…more

Unlike the realm of virtual reality, augmented reality is less about losing yourself in some fantasy environment, and more about getting things done in the real world. So while we’ve seen some great games that capture the imagination on devices like the Magic Leap One and the HoloLens, when it comes to real-world usage, the biggest developments coming for AR apps that are the more practical ones.Fittingly, we now have two apps available on the devices mentioned above that cater directly to the notion of using AR to work rather than play. In this case, that work involves communication.Don’t Miss: Magic Leap Roars into the Auto World via Kia Stinger App from RelayCarsMagic Leap’s Avatar Chat, teased during the L.E.A.P. convention, and released a couple of weeks ago in partnership with Twilio, allows any two Magic Leap One users to communicate in real time from remote locations using simplified avatars. On the other hand, New York-based startup Spatial just launched its remote…more

Brands are increasingly adopting augmented reality to promote their products and services, and they have multiple paths for bringing AR experience to their audiences. To promote its stage production, the Harry Potter franchise turned to Facebook to pull together an AR experience for its Portal devices and Facebook and Instagram apps. Doritos opted to go the web-based AR route with 8th Wall’s platform. Meanwhile, Major League Baseball decided to build its own app, with promotional consideration from T-Mobile, to increase engagement around the upcoming All-Star Game. And we take a dive into how… more

The most viral internet cat of the moment is a virtual kitty trapped in a billboard in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, Japan. But if you’ve been paying attention, you know that this is just the latest in a trend toward digital billboards that mimic a 3D effect to give passersby a sense that the experience is pushing itself in your reality. • Don’t Miss: Beeple’s NFT Startup Wenew Could Pave Way for Holographic Displays as Archival Asset The first big splash this dynamic make was actually in Seoul, South Korea, Japan’s neighbor to the west, just last year via a display appropriately called… more

The 2021 season of Major League Baseball (MLB) is in full swing, and now that vaccines are widespread in the US, major baseball stadiums are allowing fans back in at full capacity. But for those either without the time to attend or still comfortable observing developments from afar, there’s a new augmented reality option that lets fans immerse themselves in the season. • Don’t Miss: Marvel Heroes Invade ESPN’s NBA Broadcast of Warriors vs. Pelicans Game via AR The official MLB AR app was released this week for both Apple iOS iPhones and iPads as well as Android devices. Upon opening the… more

Digital artist Beeple’s $69 million NFT art auction at Christie’s has a second act called Wenew, and includes attempting to open the digital art floodgates to mainstream collectors and artists alike by using physical goods. Wenew is unique in that it is the first NFT platform to offer a physical artifact with every auction in the form of a museum-quality display containing either an image or looping video of the NFT. But beyond the blockchain technology story, this could also serve as the perfect platform to mainstream the new technology of holographic displays. • Don’t Miss: This Virtual… more

The Chromecast TV streaming lineup from Google is one of the more popular products in the category, primarily due to its low price tag and broad app support. With more than 430,000 reviews on the App Store, Chromecast has even found fans of those in the Apple ecosystem. The latest edition in the lineup, Chromecast with Google TV, elevates the platform from a casting dongle to a full-fledged smart TV device and Apple TV alternative. Although Chromecast’s obvious strength is in streaming video, its Ambient Mode is one of its low-key great side benefits. Ambient Mode (formerly known as Backdrop… more

The close of the second quarter of 2021 brought about a flurry of merger and acquisition and financing activity in the augmented reality industry, headlined by the acquisition of Ubiquity6 and JigSpace’s new multimillion-dollar funding round. The week in AR news also saw activity in partnerships, including Viber getting closer to Snapchat AR and the US Army making progress in testing its military-grade HoloLens 2 from Microsoft. Finally, a marketing promotion featuring Megan Thee Stallion for Cash app may serve as a muse for the presentation of future smartglasses to consumers… Discord… more