The beginning of autumn has delivered a number of new augmented reality developments, and we’re on top of it. This week, NASA launched several major new initiatives that involve AR as an essential piece of the puzzle. Also, Magic Leap’s history turned a major new corner, while one mainstream retailer move could hint at an early advantage in the growing smartglasses wars. Speaking of smartglasses, this week we offered a comprehensive breakdown of the leading players, how they stack up against each other, and which ones are right for certain users. Finally, the folks at Vuzix gave the world a… more
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Although the enterprise use cases for the Microsoft HoloLens 2 continue to impress, the arts community just can’t stay away from the best augmented reality headset on the market. The latest example comes from a new exhibit that highlights one of Earth’s most powerful but vulnerable sea creatures: orca whales. • Don’t Miss: Microsoft’s HoloLens Morphs Paris Museum Model of Mont-Saint-Michel into Masterpiece of AR The exhibit, which is called “Critical Distance,” is being hosted by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. The team behind the new immersive… more
The emergence of Facebook’s collaboration with Ray-Ban to launch Stories smartglasses has finally put an exclamation point on a new category of smartglasses: the pre-augmented reality wearable segment. And while the Facebook device isn’t particularly groundbreaking in terms of features already explored by other wearables, it does distinguish itself in a few important ways. But how, with an array of smartglasses options now available to mainstream consumers, can you choose the right pair of smartglasses? Glad you asked. • Don’t Miss: Snap Unveils Gucci Edition of Spectacles 3, Film Shot via… more
The team at NASA is in full mission preparation mode as they prepare to send a new team to the moon for the first time in decades via the Artemis program in 2024. But one of the key points of interest in that upcoming mission is the fact that NASA will also be sending the first woman to the moon. In conjunction with that mission, the space agency has launched an augmented reality experience to build interest and understanding around the historic event. • Don’t Miss: You Can Land & Drive NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover in AR with the Smithsonian Channel’s New App The main platform NASA is… more
If you’re a normal, non-corporate video conferencing user, you may not have heard of BlueJeans, but in the corporate world, the software has long been a major staple when it comes to remote meetings. Now the company is finally catching up with the rapidly unfolding wearable augmented reality device segment by adding Google Glass to the mix. • Don’t Miss: Google Extends Support for Google Meet to Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2 Starting in 2022, Glass Enterprise Edition 2 users will have the option of using a native version of the BlueJeans meeting software. Like other enterprise AR… more
Away from the hype around Facebook’s smartglasses, the high-end fascination with the Microsoft HoloLens, and the unending rumors about Apple’s AR wearable is the small but powerful darling of the enterprise AR world—Vuzix. Well, now we’re getting an inside look at where the wearable magic happens at the Vuzix factory based in unlikely confines upstate New York. • Don’t Miss: Vuzix Confirms New, Smaller Smartglasses Model with Fashion-Friendly Design The tour is guided by none other than Vuzix CEO Paul Travers (a member of the NR30), who takes us deep into the component-laced caverns of the… more
As NASA nears the launch of another mission to the Moon in 2024, and a subsequent mission to Mars in the 2030s, augmented reality is increasingly being woven into the normal space operations to test various capabilities. The latest example comes via the current International Space Station (ISS) crew, several of whom are using the Microsoft HoloLens to carry out vital procedures. • Don’t Miss: Microsoft’s Live HoloLens 2 Apollo 11 Demo Didn’t Take Flight, but You Can See It Thanks to Unreal Engine’s Video Currently, crew members are engaged in the T2 Augmented Reality (T2AR) project, which… more
As we move toward the end of the year, the wheels of the augmented reality space continue to shift in major ways. Facebook is currently facing yet another round of public and governmental scrutiny over its smartglasses product, but we propose a different scenario that might have helped the social media giant avoid its current marketing issues. Also, as the Oculus Quest 2 gets more attention for its passthrough feature, we just got a peek at what AR gaming might look like on the platform. Over at Google, the inexorable march toward mainstreaming AR continues with a major new addition to its… more
If the importance of augmented reality and VR hardware to Facebook’s future wasn’t already clear enough, a shake-up in the executive ranks at the company has made it as clear as smartglasses lenses. Late Wednesday, Facebook chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer, who CEO Mark Zuckerberg affectionately refers to as “Shrep,” announced that he will transition out of his role to serve as the company’s first senior fellow in a part-time capacity. Don’t Miss: Facebook Reality Labs Chief Teases AR Coming to Oculus Quest Gaming, Delves into Future Smartglasses Hardware Taking his place will be… more
It’s always fun to get an unexpected glimpse of the future, especially when that peek is so close you can actually feel the excitement of the new emerging dynamic. Such is the case thanks to a new Oculus Quest 2 commercial designed to promote a new aspect of the VR dance game Beat Saber. • Don’t Miss: Facebook’s Oculus Quest Turned into Augmented Reality Guitar Hero Experience via This Developer App The video is designed to promote the new Beat Saber music pack for the game from popular singer Billie Eilish. However, what the highly choreographed video also does is deliver a tantalizing… more