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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

Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic is showing signs of winding down, nevertheless, Google will still hold its annual I/O developer conference as a virtual affair, with keynotes and sessions available as live streams and on-demand videos starting Tuesday, May 18 and concluding on Thursday, May 20. As a consolation prize, Google has a web-based AR treat for attendees and observers to bring a taste of the conference into their own home offices. Don’t Miss: Hands-On: Here’s How Augmented Reality in Google Search WorksThe Google I/O Photo Booth is a web app that is available for desktop and mobile browsers and adds animated brand mascots and Easter eggs from across Google’s ecosystem, including the Android’s Bugdroid, Chrome’s Offline Dino, Flutter’s Dash, and Firebase’s Sparky, to your camera view. Tommy Palladino/Next Reality Tommy Palladino/Next Reality After adding your virtual friends, you can then take a photo and add more props, including Google products, fashion accessories, snacks,…more

One fight for augmented reality branding that we thought had been settled has suddenly turned into a full-fledged legal battle—again. The combatants? Unreal Engine maker Epic Games versus the Chinese startup known as Nreal (aka Shenzhen Tairuo, formerly known as Hangzhou Tairuo, and parent company named Beijing Unicorn Technology). The stakes? Who gets to use the name “real” in reference to augmented reality products. • Don’t Miss: Hands-On with the Nreal Light, Smartphone-Powered Augmented Reality Immersion Next Reality was the first to report on this fight back in 2019, when Epic Games filed a lawsuit against Nreal to stop it from using the Nreal name. Epic’s specific claim was: “‘NREAL’ and ‘UNREAL’ are highly similar from a visual perspective. The only difference in spelling—that the Applicant’s Mark lacks a single vowel contained in Opposer’s UNREAL Marks—does not sufficiently distinguish the appearance of the Applicant’s Mark from that of Opposer’s UNREAL Marks,” read the filing…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

The experience of actually using the HoloLens 2 can be difficult to describe to anyone who hasn’t had a chance to directly interact with the device in person and be blown away by its immersive capabilities. That’s why any new exploration into exposing the augmented reality magic made possible by the HoloLens 2 demands attention as we reveal how computing is about to change for the entire planet. This latest demo is no different. • Don’t Miss: Intel Takes Us Inside to Reveal How HoloLens 2 Is Transforming Computer Chip Production This demonstration focuses on displaying the hand tracking and object interactions that allow the HoloLens 2 to simulate the experience of touching and holding objects. In this case, the object is a virtual cube that is being handled by a pair of virtual hands overlaying the real hands of the user. This specific virtual hands effect is useful in that it allows the virtual light beaming from the cube to interact with the virtual hands, thus enhancing the…more

Consumers who haven’t already delved into the interactive wonders of augmented reality are about to be pushed into the immersive waters by market forces. In the lead up to next week’s upfronts, an annual event during which TV networks work to woo advertisers with new shows and marketing techniques for their upcoming programming schedules, NBCUniversal took the wraps off its next big AR initiative. • Don’t Miss: Marvel Heroes Invade ESPN’s NBA Broadcast of Warriors vs. Pelicans Game via AR Similar to last year, due to the pandemic, the event, which is usually held in New York, is being held virtually this year. In the case of NBCUniversal, the massive network revealed that it plans to offer AR-powered shopping options while viewers watch their favorite programs. The effort is being called @HomeShopping. NBCUniversalAlthough the network didn’t show off a fully-formed demo of its new advertising interaction, it did produce a short video that gives us an idea of what it will be like when…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

Niantic first unveiled its AR cloud back in 2018, using it to enhance the immersive capabilities of its gaming portfolio. Now, the company is expanding access to the system, allowing third-party developers to take advantage of next-generation augmented reality features for their mobile apps. Don’t Miss: Pokémon GO Developer Niantic Scores $245 Million in Funding to Fast-Track Real World Platform The platform, which was previously known as the “Niantic Real World Platform,” is also getting a new name: Lightship. Niantic opened up the refreshed developer kit as a private beta this week. At… more