News: Kay Jewelers Adds Some Bling to Snapchat via Try-on Lens
Rabbit ears and dog noses are fun and all, but Kay Jewelers is here to class up Snapchat.
Crazy Experience Search Results
Apple AR: Apple Smartglasses in Progress, Ready for the Public by 2020, Report Says
Like gas on an open flame, rumors and whispers have flared up in recent months around hopes of augmented reality smartglasses from Apple. But among all the false leads and unsubstantiated chatter, we finally have a credible report that some sort of Apple AR smartglasses are actually in development.
News: Developers Can Create Shared AR Experiences Through Twilio's Video Platform
With a pair of new APIs and low-latency media servers, Twilio's Programmable Video platform could soon help ARKit and ARCore app developers build shared AR experiences between multiple users.
How To: Get the Pixel 2 Launcher with the Bottom Search Bar & Google Now — No Root Needed
Update 10/14: Developer paphonb has added rootless Google Now integration to the leaked Pixel 2 launcher, so now, anyone running Android Nougat or Oreo can get the full Pixel 2 home screen experience. For those running Lollipop or Marshmallow, we've left the unaltered leaked version linked out below, but we've added a new link for the tweaked version with Google Now integration.
Brief Reality: Mobile AR Apps Help Save Rhinos (& Sell Stuff)
Mobile apps themselves are not always the end product or service for generating revenue. More often, they are deployed as tactics within a larger marketing or public relations strategy.
How To: iOS 11.1 Is Showing a Home Bar on Some Non-iPhone X Models — Here's the Best Fix
Did you want an iPhone X, but opted for the iPhone 8 instead? Or, maybe you aren't ready to upgrade from your 7, 6S, 5S, or what-have-you. Did you know iOS 11.1 lets you experience what it would be like if you had upgraded to the iPhone X? Well, in a way.
Brief Reality: View Your Home Before Building & Build Cities in Your Home with These ARKit Apps
To revise a line from the Blues Brothers, when it comes to ARKit apps, we've got both kinds — home utilities and games. As such, two more candidates for each category have made their way to the app store.
News: 8th Wall Breaks Down Walls Between ARKit, ARCore & the Mobile Devices They Leave Behind
With Apple ready to unleash ARKit to millions of iPhones and iPads and ARCore on its way to supporting millions of Android devices, is there room in the world for a cross-platform mobile AR platform?
Market Reality: Businesses Invest in the Expansion of AR Services & Content Creation
As augmented reality gains popularity, the demand for delivering related services and generating content increases. This is demonstrated by a pair of investments from the past week, one in the expansion of a technology lab and another in the form of seed funding for a content studio.
Market Reality: Ericsson Ventures Invests in Matterport
Influenced by the growth of augmented and virtual reality technology as well as 3D computer vision, Ericcson Ventures invested in Matterport, whose hardware and software help companies create AR/VR experiences.
Brief Reality: Halliburton, New York Jets, CyberLink Join the Augmented Reality Movement
A survey by ABI Research revealed that only 25 percent of businesses have implemented augmented reality technology in some form or fashion.
News: College Student Creates 'Scroll,' a Ring That Lets You Control Your AR Experience
Forget what you know about controlling augmented reality experiences. "Scroll" lets you interact with augmented reality using a much more subtle approach: A ring.
News: NBA's Sacramento Kings Unveil New Uniforms via Augmented Reality
Though the Golden State Warriors won the crown as the NBA's best team again this season, the Sacramento Kings continue their rule as the sport's technology leader, debuting their new uniforms from Nike through augmented reality today.
Market Reality: Augmented Reality Demonstrates Value for Business & Recreation
We continue to field stories underscoring the strong trends of Investment in augmented reality in various sectors. This week, one company strengthens their offerings to the enterprise sector, while two other companies capitalize on the promise presented by augmented reality to consumers – specifically, in gaming.
News: Paula the AR Salesperson Is Ready to Take Your Order
German tech store Saturn is experimenting with an AR alien called Paula to push their products ... That's a sentence I never thought I'd write.
Hands-on: Acer Windows Mixed Reality Dev Kit & Datascape
One thing that I got more and more excited about as we got closer and closer to the Microsoft Build 2017 developers conference was finally learning about the new Acer Windows Mixed Reality head-mounted displays (HMD). Brandon Bray, Principal Group Program Manager at Microsoft, had teased us a few weeks earlier at the Vision Summit event in Los Angeles, California, and said there would be a lot more information at Build. Fortunately for us, he was right.
News: HeadsupAR Turns Smartphones into Mixed Reality Headsets
Three years ago, with VR enthusiasts prepared to throw their money at Oculus to get their hands on the yet-to-be-release Rift headset, Google surprised the audience for Google I/O with Google Cardboard, a seemingly late April Fool's joke that actually jump-started virtual reality.
News: Lenovo's Mixed Reality Headset Reportedly Arriving in August for $399
In the nascent AR/VR race, any release news is big news. For augmented reality, those invested in the new technology eagerly await the release of Microsoft's Hololens and any inkling of information that comes with it. If you're one of those folks, you're in luck, as new information has just been disclosed about one of Microsoft's partners on the project, Lenovo, and their Hololens; including its release date and price.
News: 'After Ice' Shows What Climate Change Is About to Do to Our World
In honor of Earth Day tomorrow (woo!), visual artist Justin Brice Guariglia has released a new augmented reality app that lets you experience climate change from wherever you're standing.
News: Google Introduces AI for Its Android Services That Learns from You Without Compromising Privacy
Google, the company that rules the internet, is now testing a method to leverage its machine learning with its ubiquitous presence on mobile devices. The new model they're employing is called Federated Learning, and it hopes to apply artificial intelligence to Google's services on Android without compromising user privacy.
News: The Washington Post to Start Using Augmented Reality to Tell Better Stories
The Washington Post believes augmented reality adds an extra layer to stories, and they're doubling down on that belief by adding in new AR features into their already popular "rainbow" news (iOS and Android) and Classic (iOS and Android) news apps.
News: Shazam Sets Sights on AR Advertising with iPhone & Android App Updates
The company that pioneered music scanning for mobile devices is moving into the augmented reality advertising arena. Included in an update of their iOS and Android apps last week, Shazam can now scan special codes to immerse users in 3D animations, 360-degree videos, mini-games, and other AR content.
Video: Automate a Camera's Path with the HoloLens and VroomCam
Every day the young world of mixed reality is creating new ways for people to work with with computers. We are looking for, and finding, new ways for these head-worn computers to understand what we tell them. Sometimes it is with our hands, sometimes it is where we turn our head, sometimes it is what we say. In the case highlighted below, it's where we walk.
Have You Seen This?: Secrets of Ancient Egypt Shows the Potential of HoloLens Tourism
A few days ago, I pulled up the Windows Store on my HoloLens and saw a few new applications. One that caught my attention was Oriental Museum, which lets you explore China's Forbidden City, and the other one is very similar free demo app called Secrets of Ancient Egypt by Link Development.
How To: Replace Your Android Browser with This Enhanced Version of CyanogenMod Gello
No matter which smartphone you buy, it will come with an internet browser preinstalled. Depending on your OEM, the default browser might be called Samsung Internet, HTC Internet, Silk Browser by Amazon, ASUS Browser, or Google Chrome—there's just so many stock browsers available.
News: 3 Ways Developers Are Already Turning Mixed Reality into a Multi-User Platform
Microsoft's HoloLens may the coolest new advancements in technology we've seen in quite some time, and anyone (with deep pockets) can buy one right now. But so far it's been an isolated platform where you experience mixed reality alone and others watch you air tap nothing but air. Developers are working to change that, and we're seeing the first examples crop up online already.
How To: Binge-Watch YouTube Videos on Android Like a True Couch Potato
YouTube has gotten so big over the years that it is now viewed by more 18-49 year-olds than any cable network in the United States. But even though online video platforms continue to gain ground on traditional TV stations, there's one aspect to the viewing experience that live TV still does better—it lets you tune into a channel, then just sit back and watch indefinitely.
News: Snapchat Continues to Find Fun New Ways to Turn Ads into Enjoyable Experiences
Snapchat has already found a compelling way to create advertisements in augmented reality with their branded filters, but they continue to experiment with new ways to monetize the bridging of the real and digital worlds. Their latest idea, which requires users to "snap" an image to unlock content, could succeed where QR codes haven't.
News: When the Web Exists in 3D Space, What Happens to the Browser?
Augmented and mixed reality experiences attempt to break us out of windowed computing experiences and allow us to place software anywhere in the room. But that software doesn't have to take a rectangular form—theoretically, the web doesn't have to restrict itself to a page in a browser any longer. Does this mark the end of the web browser entirely? Probably not. A lot of information works well on the page, and the Microsoft HoloLens still uses a pretty standard version of their own Edge brows...
News: Mixed Reality Advertisements Sound Hellish—But Magic Leap Has a Plan
Graeme Devine, Chief Creative Officer at Magic Leap, spoke at the Games for Change festival about how mixed reality will change the world for the better. While we might need to take our own magic leap to believe in his utopian future, he hinted at a solution to the impending problem most of us fear: a cluttered, endless nightmare of ads.
News: How to Try Out the Microsoft HoloLens (& Other Reality-Altering Headsets) Near You
Mixed reality (MR) feels like an amazing, almost mind-blowing futuristic technology—but only once you've experienced it for yourself. Words, images, and even videos simply cannot describe the experience in full. If you want to really peer into the future and experience MR for yourself, you can sign up and just go in many cities.
News: I Ditched My iPhone for Windows & Went Right Back After 100 Days
I've been an iPhone user in the iOS ecosystem for years now after a brief stint in the Android realm. But, I'm also enthusiastic about varying forms of technology in general; I realize that iOS is far from perfect and that healthy market competition is beneficial for all. So, naturally being curious about other platforms, I decided to take Windows Phone for an extended trial run.
News: 3 Big Virtual & Augmented Reality Announcements We're Expecting from Google This Week
Google I/O is right around the corner, and everyone's expecting new virtual and augmented reality news. Here's what to expect from this week's announcements.
News: Oculus Demos Minecraft for Gear VR, Complete with a Side of Nausea
Since its purchase by Microsoft in 2014, Minecraft has regularly been pushed to new platforms such as Windows 10, Wii U, and Fire TV. In that spirit, Microsoft-owned Mojang has been developing virtual- and augmented-reality versions of the blocky sandbox game.
Weird Ingredient Wednesday: Would You Risk Your Life to Eat This Deadly Fish?
Sushi aficionados and Simpsons fans alike know all about the joys of fugu. Known also as blowfish, it's reputed for being tasty if sliced from the correct part of the animal and many even say they experience a "fugu high" after eating the fish. Alas, if you have an unskilled chef, fugu is famous for being deadly.
How To: Clear All Items from Your Nexus 5's Overview Screen in Just One Tap
Android 5.0 brought a lot of changes to the world's most popular mobile OS, but few were more central to the user experience than tweaks made to the "Overview" menu (more commonly known as the "Recent Apps" menu). Aside from a visual overhaul, Chrome tabs now exist as separate entries in this list, as do Google searches and a few other activities.
How To: Get the New "Eye Experience" Camera on Your HTC One M8 Right Now
As carriers finalize their variations of the Android 4.4.4 update, we're left with only brief glimpses of what the new "Eye Experience" holds in store for us while we wait. However, thanks to a system dump of an updated European HTC One M8 and some clever hackery by donmarkoni, we can now install the new camera app on any variant of the HTC One M8.
How To: Personalize Your TV Experience with Chromecast's New Backdrop Feature
It's been a long-awaited feature since being announced at Google I/O in June, but Backdrop for Chromecast has finally started rolling out. With an update to the Chromecast app for Android and iOS, users will be able to personalize the background images that appear when Chromecast is idle.
How To: Create Pen Window App Shortcuts on Your Galaxy Note 3 Without Using the S Pen
As an added functionality to the S Pen, the Pen Window enables you to create floating application windows on your Samsung Galaxy Note 3—a tool that's extremely useful when it comes to multitasking.
How To: Launch Google Now from Anywhere on Your Galaxy Note 3—Using Only Your Voice
Exclusive to only a handful of smartphones, including the Nexus 5, the Google Experience Launcher allows us to open Google Now simply by speaking out a certain phrase, at any time—dubbed a "hotword."