Just another WordPress site

The tech world was taken by surprise this week with the unexpected unveiling of Snap’s augmented reality Spectacles smartglasses. So far, the reaction has been incredibly positive, partly due to the fact that Snap has been underpromising the delivery of AR smartglasses for several years, making it seem like they were far off in the future for the company. Therefore, the device’s sudden debut felt more like a gift rather than an aspirational reach. • Don’t Miss: Snap Spectacles Finally Evolve into Full AR Smartglasses with Standalone Immersive Superpowers But now that the device is out in… more

The big day for Snap that resulted in the debut of brand new augmented reality Spectacles smartglasses is turning into a big week. On Friday, just as the company was still basking in the generally positive reception to its latest version of Spectacles, news dropped that Snap has acquired wave guide maker WaveOptics. • Don’t Miss: Snap Spectacles Finally Evolve into Full AR Smartglasses with Standalone Immersive Superpowers The deal not only gives Snap a huge leg up on its competition in terms of producing AR smartglasses in the future, but it also signals in no uncertain terms just how… more

The biggest win in the race for consumer augmented reality smartglasses to date belongs not to Apple, Facebook, or Google, but Snapchat’s parent company, Snap. In an Apple-style “one more thing” moment during the Snap Partner Summit keynote on Thursday, CEO Evan Spiegel revealed the next generation of Spectacles, which have finally evolved into standalone smartglasses capable of displaying AR content. • Don’t Miss: Next Snap Spectacles Expected to Include AR Displays, Report Says With dual waveguide displays, two RGB cameras, four microphones, and two stereo speakers, the smartglasses weigh… more

For most mainstream users, LiDAR sensors for precision depth sensing remain the exclusive domain of Apple iPhones and iPads, but Google is helping Android device makers close the depth gap on the software side via its ARCore toolkit. After introducing new AR features for Search and Maps and previewing the mind-blowing Project Starline 3D video conferencing concept during its I/O keynote presentation on Tuesday, Google unceremoniously announced ARCore 1.24, which brings two new AR capabilities, Raw Depth API and Recording and Playback API, with the former enabling more realistic AR experiences… more

During the Tuesday launch of Google I/O, the company’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, pulled off a Steve Jobsian “one more thing” move near the end of his keynote address that was simply stunning. It’s called Project Starline, and it’s a (for now) internal project working to make remote video meetings a lot more immersive. • Don’t Miss: Google Adds Sports Athletes to AR Search, Includes Virtual Street Signs in Live View AR in Google Maps The system uses high-resolution cameras, custom-built depth sensors, and what Google describes as a “breakthrough light field display” to deliver what appear to be 3D… more

Facebook Reality Labs just experienced its first major executive exit since the pandemic began. Hugo Barra has announced that he’s stepping down from his position as vice president of VR at Facebook. Barra’s move comes as a bit of a surprise as Facebook and its Oculus brand have been on a bit of a winning streak with the success of the Oculus Quest 2 (which features passthrough augmented reality features) and increased consumer interest in VR during pandemic lockdowns in 2020. • Don’t Miss: Facebook Searching for More Troops to Work at Oculus on AR Product Design & Marketing Previously… more

Sure, Microsoft has mostly marketed its HoloLens headsets towards enterprises and developers, but we learned this week that, like every other tech giant, the company is working on a consumer-grade AR wearable. Speaking of consumer smartglasses, Apple made another strategic investment this week that has implications for Apple’s AR future. While Apple is putting the pieces in place for its future AR products, Niantic is making the next steps towards the future of AR apps, advancing its AR cloud platform into private beta with a new name. For AR and TV, the future may be closer than we expected… more

Since its launch two years ago, the HoloLens 2 has been the best AR headset available, and nothing has come close to touching it since. So, at first blush, new features arriving for the device via an update to the Windows Holographic operating system might seem a bit…tame. Don’t Miss: 10 Remote Collaboration Apps for HoloLens, Magic Leap, & Mobile That Can Substitute for in-Person Meetings The top change arriving via version 21H1 is the transition to the Chromium-based Microsoft Edge as the default browser. Yawn? Not so fast. This means better support for WebXR experiences, which is… more

The story of the HoloLens has been a mix of work and play. But while many developers have devoted time to creating gaming and entertainment apps for the HoloLens 1, with the HoloLens 2, Microsoft has been encouraging everyone to focus more on the enterprise side of things. But there’s apparently still hope for those looking to harness the powers of the HoloLens for mainstream consumer uses, as HoloLens co-creator Alex Kipman has just commented on the development of a consumer version. • Don’t Miss: Microsoft Mixed Reality Developer Shows Off the Full Power of Hand Tracking & Occlusion via… more

In recent years, the tech innovation space has been dominated by the US and Asia, with Europe weighing in, but still being mostly lauded for its art history and architecture. Now, Europhiles with a tech bent can enjoy a unique touch of the future while delving into Europe’s past thanks to a new exhibition that uses augmented reality and the Microsoft HoloLens as the key to unlocking an immersive trip to the past. • Don’t Miss: Japan-Based Developer Unleashes Giant AR Gundam Robot on the Public via HoloLens 2 The M Leuven museum has launched “Between Heaven and Earth – Experience The Last… more