Smartphones News
News: Google Arts & Culture Builds AR Replica of Bangladeshi Mosque as Part of Historic Site Preservation Project
In recent years, Google's Arts & Culture project has been leading the way in terms of innovating the practice of using technology to preserve landmarks and great works of art via digital 3D copies. Increasingly, these efforts are also giving history buffs the chance to experience classic works and spaces with unparalleled intimacy through the wonders of augmented reality.
News: 8th Wall & Trigger Build AR Lego Playground for Web to Promote Fox's 'Lego Masters'
Lego has shipped several apps and products that add an augmented reality dimension to their playsets. But it has taken a reality TV show from Fox to allow brick fans to build with virtual bricks in augmented reality.
News: Startup Phiar Prepares Beta Launch of AR Driving Navigation App for iPhone
Google pushed a new kind of augmented reality walking navigation to the mainstream last year, and now startup Phiar is hoping users will use its AR app in the same way for driving navigation.
Market Reality: Apple, Snap, & Google Execs Talk AR, Form Takes AR to the Pool, & Octi Pivots to AR Social Networking
Some of the leading big tech companies are still working in the lab on actual products, but at least some of their leadership did have some thoughts to share on the future direction of the technology this week.
News: Apple Recruitment Video Features Augmented Reality Clues at the Center of Call for New Team Members
Whenever a new Apple event invite arrives, the entire tech industry begins tearing the invite's graphics apart in a bid to decipher what the company may be planning on releasing in the coming weeks.
Hands-On: Form Smart Swim Goggles Hit the Mark for Aquatics Athletes
Despite some of the biggest players in tech still lagging in terms of offering smartglasses options, there are nevertheless a number of smartglasses makers, including North and Vuzix, with consumer-grade smartglasses on the market right now.
News: Qualcomm & Accenture Upgrade Event Planning with AR App for Nreal Light & Mobile
One of the hallmarks of augmented reality's coming of age is that the technology is starting to find a home in business categories that are less obvious compared to typical AR enterprise use cases.
News: Mobile AR App Octi Evolves into Social Network via Facial Recognition Tech
In a world full of augmented reality camera effects apps, one app is going in a more social direction.
News: Apple's Tim Cook, Google's Sundar Pichai, & Snap's Evan Spiegel Deliver Strategic Insights into AR in 2020 & Beyond
The words of three of tech's most important executives in the last 48 hours are providing some valuable insight into the near term future of augmented reality and the cloud infrastructures that support it.
Market Reality: Apple & Snap Boost AR Features, Magic Leap & Nreal Work on Truce, & Mojo Vision Unveils Smart Contacts
While the big names in augmented reality demonstrated the breadth of opportunities in the industry's landscape this week, one new startup showed off what is possible further in the future.
News: This Is Why All Augmented Reality Startups Suck
People fundamentally distrust magicians. And they should. The illusions they proffer are just that, illusions meant to astound rather than tangible interactions and results that have weight and meaning in our real world. Our lizard brains know this, and, no matter what the outstanding feat of "magic" presented, we nevertheless hold fast to our survival-based grip on the truth: we just saw simply "can't be real."
News: Startup Mojo Vision Seeking FDA Approval for First Augmented Reality Smart Contact Lens
After more than two years of teasing, augmented reality startup Mojo Vision has confirmed that "invisible computing" means what we've suspected all along.
News: Startup Ubiquity6 Expands 3D Object Social Network into AR Cloud Creation with Display.land Studio
After dipping its toes into the AR cloud arena last year, Ubiquity6 is now jumping in with both feet this year.
News: Snapchat Turns Real World into AR Scavenger Hunt with Nearly Instant Object Recognition
While Snapchat is no stranger to location-based AR scavenger hunts, the app's new world-facing game adds some environmental understanding to the mix.
News: Magic Leap Trade Secrets Lawsuit Against China's Nreal on Hold as Mediation Begins & Court Sets Tentative Trial Date
This week, the beginning of an epic legal battle was set to begin between augmented reality players Magic Leap and Nreal, the small China-based startup accused by the former of stealing trade secrets.
News: Apple Launches Reality Converter to Prepare 3D Objects for Reality Composer
After introducing and launching Reality Composer alongside iOS 13 and ARKit 3 last year, Apple is making it easier for developers to create apps with it.
News: Artists Transform Brooklyn Light Installation into Instagram AR Filter That Doubles as Dimensional Portal
What if you went to an art installation at one of the coolest venues in New York that you could then take with you anywhere in the world?
Market Reality: Samsung Prototype, Mastercard App, Plus Vuzix, 0Glasses, & Pacific Future AR Wearables Shown Off at CES
In years past, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) mostly dabbled in the future as far as the long-term vision for augmented reality was concerned. This year, however, objects in the future are much closer than they appear.
News: Hong Kong Startup's Am Glass Wearable Offers Powerful Augmented Reality Smartglasses Alternative to Nreal Light
We've been predicting the rush of augmented reality wearable makers from China for a couple of years, and now it looks like it's in full swing, with one of the most promising entrants coming from startup Pacific Future.
News: BMW Augmented Reality Windshield Concept Adds Gaze Detection for Natural Interaction
While the automotive industry is moving towards adopting AR displays in future models, BMW is already shifting into the next gear with its vision of the technology.
News: Mastercard Develops Mobile AR App to Explain Rewards & Benefits to Cardholders
It's a good sign for any emerging technology when one of the leaders of an industry adopts it. So when Mastercard, a brand so recognizable that it dropped its name from its logo at CES last year, decides to develop a mobile augmented reality app, the moment is a milestone for the AR industry.
News: Unity Previews Immersive Art Experiences for Mobile AR, Magic Leap One, & HoloLens at Upcoming Sundance Festival
The Unity 3D engine is not only responsible for facilitating the creation of 60% of AR and VR content but it also plays a significant role in producing the immersive stories that increasingly push the boundaries of cinema.
News: China-Based Startup 0glasses Looks to Challenge Nreal Light with Its RealX Augmented Reality Smartglasses
Brace yourselves: Nreal Light clones are coming. Since the China-based startup wowed the crowd at CES 2019 with its consumer-centric smartglasses, a number of followers from Asia have emerged, and all with very similar aesthetics to Nreal Light.
News: 10 Best Apps for Improving & Maintaining Your Mental Health
If you made a resolution for 2020 to get healthier, it's essential to concentrate on your mental health just as much as you do on physical fitness. Running and exercising is great, but a sound mind is integral to a healthy and balanced life, and you can improve your emotional and physiological well-being with your smartphone.
News: Samsung Demos AR Smartglasses, Virtual Workout Partner at CES
The world of CES, the annual technology conference in Las Vegas, usually brings a few surprises, but few expected Samsung to fire off its first real augmented reality salvo at the event.
News: Vuzix Reveals Next-Gen M4000 Enterprise Smartglasses, Shows Off Smart Swim AR Wearable for Aquatic Athletes
While consumer-grade smartglasses are the holy grail for tech companies, smartglasses maker Vuzix knows where its bread is buttered, and that's in the enterprise segment.
News: Nreal Light Intros Nebula for Augmented Reality Interfaces on Android Apps, AR Cloud & 6DoF Controllers
With the consumer edition of its Nreal Light headset, scheduled to ship in 2020, Nreal is prepared to bring the entire Android app ecosystem into augmented reality.
News: Explore the Grueling Wartime Trenches of Golden Globe Winning Movie '1917' via Web-Based AR Experience
Filmed in what appears to be a single continuous shot, war film 1917 is now the front-runner to conquer the Best Picture category of the Academy Awards after bringing home the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture in the drama category.
Market Reality: The Year in AR — HoloLens 2, Magic Leap's Rocky Ride, Apple's Future, & AR Startups Under Pressure
When filtered through the prism of the top stories of the year, the business of augmented reality 2019 was defined as much by epic failures of AR startups as it was by the promising developments that propelled the industry forward into 2020.
News: Instagram Creators Launch Filters for Harry Potter, Pokémon & Simpsons Characters in Augmented Reality
The developer who gained notoriety for his What Disney Are You? augmented reality filter on Instagram is striking again while the iron is hot.
News: USA Today Deepens Story on Afghanistan War with AR Experience
The augmented reality team at USA Today closed out a prolific year of immersive storytelling with a hard-hitting companion piece exploring the controversial conflict in Afghanistan.
News: Android Chrome Browsers Get More WebXR Support via Open Source Platform A-Frame & ARCore
While Apple and Google have paved the way for developers to create web-based AR experiences through their respective mobile toolkits, an open source option has entered the space.
News: This Viral Instagram Augmented Reality Filter Will Tell You Which Disney Character You Really Are
One Instagram creator's augmented reality homage to Disney's deep bench of animated characters has earned him fifteen minutes of fame.
Hands-On: Spotify Premium on Magic Leap One Is Futuristic, But Not Quite the iPod of AR
Back when I worked in the music industry, I never imagined there would be a day that I'd be able to sit in a room surrounded by virtual album covers while listening to beats, but that day is really here.
News: 13 Ways a Good Smartwatch Can Enhance Your Workout
Thanks to numerous smartwatch deals this holiday season, many people are receiving their first one. But what exactly can they do? In regards to fitness, quite a lot. With a growing list of sensors and software updates, these small devices can be the very thing you need to ultimately reach your fitness goals.
Market Reality: Google Lens Pairs with L'Oreal, 8th Wall Riffs on Pink Floyd, & Magic Leap Delivers Holiday AR
In his famous 1996 "Content is King" essay, Bill Gates predicted that content is where tech companies will make money on the Internet. The adage clearly holds true in the current phase of augmented reality experience.
News: Star Wars Baby Yoda Unofficially Comes to Magic Leap via This Developer Experiment
The first season of Star Wars: The Mandalorian may be over, but the love for its biggest star, Baby Yoda, persists.
News: Snapchat, Facebook, Google, 8th Wall, & Immersion Bring Holiday Cheer via Augmented Reality
Sending Christmas cards via snail mail is so passé. Why spend the time and money for a bougie photoshoot, saccharine card design, and postage when you can use augmented reality to instantly dress up photos and videos to send to friends and family instead?
News: Magic Leap Wraps 2019 with Immersive Holiday Experience
The book is almost closed on 2019, but Magic Leap has one more gift to offer its users before the new decade arrives.
News: Our Writers & Editors Pick Their Favorite Phones of 2019
One of my favorite perks of this job is the opportunity to try out all the big flagship phones each year. Whether it's rating their suitability for a particular use-case or just entering their specs into our comparison tool, we have to get our hands on all major phones released in the US. We pride ourselves on being fair in our reviews and roundups, but that doesn't mean we don't have preferences.