Market Reality: Air Force Gets Immersive, Crypto's AR Future, Inside Amazon's Echo Frames, & Metaverse Goes Mainstream
The march to the mainstreaming of augmented reality can sometimes seem slow, but this week things picked up in earnest.
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Market Reality: Olympics AR Content on Instagram & Google, Facebook's Metaverse, & Snapchat's Magic Karaoke
Over the past week, practically every major tech company working on augmented reality has held their quarterly earnings calls with investors, and each addressed or at least mentioned the role of AR during their prepared remarks. However, Facebook's earnings call had some of the spicier commentary on the technology.
Market Reality: Snap & Epic Games Acquisitions, Nreal v. Epic Games, AR on Oculus Quest, & HoloLens at the Olympics
It's already been a banner year for mergers and acquisitions in the augmented reality industry, with WaveOptics and Ubiquity6 among the notable companies acquired. Two of the more active M&A players, Snap and Epic Games, continued their respective buying sprees this week with major deals supporting their AR strategies.
Market Reality: Facebook AR & Space Jam, Virgin Galactic AR App, Asics NFTs, & Shark Week on Snapchat
A pair of properties from the soon-to-merge Warner Media and Discovery companies chose different platforms for their augmented reality marketing, with Warner film Space Jam: A New Legacy opting to go with Facebook and Discovery Channel publishing an AR experience through Snapchat.
News: Asics Brings Its Sneaker Magic to the 3D World via NFT Auction
Some tried to call it a brief cryptocurrency-fueled fad, but it looks like NFTs are here to stay. Now, one of the biggest sneaker companies on the planet, Japan's Asics, is getting into the game with its own set of NFTs, and there's a virtual object component included.
News: Google Launches Augmented Reality Filters on Meet App for Mobile
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Google has packed new functionality into Google Meet to compete with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other video conferencing platforms.
News: JigSpace Puts Together $4.7 Million in Funding to Expand AR Tutorial Technology
The startup JigSpace, which was among the first apps to support ARKit and LiDAR for iPhone augmented reality apps, has capitalized on its early mover status by innovating within the space.
News: Snapchat Extends Its AR Lenses to Viber Messaging App
Yo dawg, Snap heard you using Snapchat augmented reality Lenses in your messages, so it's putting its AR Lenses in other messaging apps.
News: Join Loki on His Time-Traveling Adventures with This Snapchat Lens
Like its predecessors WandaVision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Marvel's latest series for Disney Plus, Loki, has its own augmented reality experience.
Market Reality: Facebook Debuts Shared AR for Video Chat, Magic Leap Teams with AMD, & Lego Takes AR to the Theme Park
It's (virtual) developer conference season, and this week was Facebook's turn with F8 Refresh. Like Google and Snap, Facebook had some new AR capabilities to show off.
News: Snap Acquires Wave Guide Maker WaveOptics for $500 Million
The big day for Snap that resulted in the debut of brand new augmented reality Spectacles smartglasses is turning into a big week.
News: Snap Releases Lens Studio 4.0 with 3D Body Mesh & More, Upgrades Scan as Fashion Assistant
Throughout Thursday's virtual Snap Partner Summit, Snapchat's parent company made a profound statement: If you use Snapchat, you're a creator.
News: Microsoft Brings Chromium-Based Edge Browser, Swipe to Type & More to HoloLens via Windows Holographic Update
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.
How To: Sync Your iPhone Reminders in iCloud & Other Accounts Across All Your Apple Devices
Apple's iCloud is a fantastic way to ensure that all of your photos, messages, notes, and other important data are backed up and appear on all of your connected devices. However, you may have information like reminders attached to accounts other than iCloud, which won't appear when signing into iCloud on a new device. Here's how to get the full picture of where your reminders are stored.
Market Reality: Apple's AR Spaces, Facebook's AR Future, Snap's 3D Acquisition & Campfire AR Headset Launch
There's already some fierce competition between Snap and Facebook in the AR space, but it's about to heat up even more, with Snap snatching up a 3D mapping startup that could add some new AR capabilities to its arsenal.
Market Reality: Epic Games $1 Billion Raise, Apple AR Surprise, Deutsche Telekom Smartglasses & HoloLens Helps Intel
The Metaverse, or AR cloud, has been a sci-fi dream for decades, but only recently have companies begun to actually develop the technology to build it. With its latest funding round, Epic Games is suddenly a front-runner in this pursuit.
Market Reality: Google Pushes Web AR, Lil Nas X Goes Immersive, Coinbase & Ray-Ban Snapchat into AR Marketing
This week, Google showed off some wild new and innovative AR experiences that showcase the WebXR protocol for browser-based AR content, while 8th Wall applied its own web-based AR platform in service of Captain Morgan.
News: Google Maps Expands Live View AR Navigation Capabilities to Airports & Shopping Malls
The AR walking navigation feature in Google Maps, which is arguably one of the most useful mobile augmented reality to available to consumers, is about to get even more indispensable for travelers.
Market Reality: Microsoft Reveals More Mesh Details, Nintendo Taps Niantic for AR Games & Ricoh Prepares 3D Display
Microsoft believes its Mesh platform can help developers build immersive AR apps more easily. We spoke with a member of the Microsoft team to learn more about the platform.
News: Inside Microsoft Mesh, What Is It & How Does It Work? We Have the Answers
When Microsoft unveiled Mesh a couple of weeks ago, the move revealed a major part of Microsoft's next steps toward dominating the augmented reality space, particularly with regard to enterprise customers.
Market Reality: NFT & AR Converge with Atari, MF Doom & Virtual Homes, Plus Samsung Partners with Snapchat
Snapchat may trail Facebook and Instagram in terms of daily active users, but a new partnership with Samsung may get those innovative AR Lenses onto the mobile devices of a lot more users.
News: This Virtual Home Sold for $500K as an NFT, Now the Artist Wants to Move It into Augmented Reality
The NFT space is moving so fast that if you're not already engaged, you've probably already missed several history-making events.
How To: Add Self-Generating Captions to Your Instagram Stories So You Don't Have to Type Them in Manually
When creating video content for social media, such as a story on Instagram, it's common practice to add captions or subtitles to the post so that people can watch it wherever they are on silent. Doing this by hand is time-consuming and frustrating, but Instagram has a solution: a feature to add automatically-generated captions to any story you make from your iPhone or Android phone.
News: Google Launches TensorFlow 3D Using LiDAR & Depth Sensors for Advanced AR Experiences
After the mobile augmented reality platforms of ARKit and ARCore moved Google's previously groundbreaking Project Tango (the AR platform that gave us the first smartphones with depth sensors) into obsolescence in 2018, we've seen a bit of a resurgence of what was then a niche component for flagship devices.
News: Verizon, Pepsi & Cheetos Run AR Plays for Their Super Bowl LV Advertising Efforts
The Super Bowl isn't just the most important NFL game of the year, it's also the biggest night for brands to bring their most creative advertisements to a vast television audience.
News: Ultraleap Improves Tracking of Two-Handed Interactions with Gemini Software Update
Hand tracking is a key component in making natural interactions with augmented reality content, and one of the leading technology makers in this discipline has just improved on its tracking engine.
News: Looking Glass Factory Reveals 3D Conversion Platform That Can Turn Any Photo into a Hologram
Now that 3D display maker Looking Glass Factory is closing in on $2.2 million raised in its crowdfunding campaign for the consumer-grade Looking Glass Portrait device, the company now has a 3D content generator to go with it.
News: The New York Times Reinvents the Crossword Puzzle for Augmented Reality via Instagram
At first glance, it may not sound like there's much value in doing a crossword puzzle in augmented reality, but The New York Times has managed to revamp the pastime as an immersive game.
News: HBO Rolls Out 'His Dark Materials' AR Experience To Bring Characters to the Real World
In this year of everything going virtual and remote, it makes even more sense now that Hollywood is leaning heavily on augmented reality. In this case, it's HBO using AR to promote its highly-acclaimed original programming.
News: Manscaped's Brand Hype Grows into Augmented Reality via Snapchat Lens
If you're a man and subscribe to podcasts or YouTube channels that cater to masculine interests, then you've almost certainly encountered sponsorships from Manscaped. And that means I don't have to explain what the company is selling you (for the uninitiated, it's a company dedicated to helping you trim your body hair—most notably, your nether regions, in addition to other areas).
How To: Become a Big Data Master for Under $30
The amount of information we see on a daily basis is overwhelming. Then there's all the data we never even see. If your career depends on making sense of all of this information, you need to understand the programs that do the heavy lifting.
How To: Get Your Own Personal Project Manager for Under $40
We all know how hard it can be to stay productive, especially when working from home. There are many distractions throughout our day. Organizing your workflow is necessary for getting anything done.
How To: Learn Java with This Best-Selling Bundle for Just $36
If you're an aspiring or even well-established web or app developer, the good news is that there's a virtually limitless number of lucrative opportunities waiting for you, regardless of whether you're looking to work for a company or as a freelancer.
How To: Harness the Power of Big Data with This 10-Course Bundle
You don't need to work as an executive at Google to understand and appreciate the importance of large-scale data analytics in today's world. Whether you're interested in joining the ranks of a major tech firm or want to improve your company's marketing campaigns through consumer analysis, knowing how to work with large sets of complex data is paramount.
How To: Become an In-Demand Project Manager with This Scrum Training
Thanks to a growing demand for talented and trained leaders who can inspire teams and innovate new products and services, there's never been a better time to work as a project manager. Whether you're interested in joining the ranks of a Fortune 500 company or working independently, project managers command high salaries and enjoy unparalleled opportunities for advancement.
How To: Build Websites the Easy Way with Sparkle Pro
If you're a hacker, pentester, or any other type of Null Byte reader, and would like to create a website to showcase your services and skill set, you may not have the time or energy to do it the long way.
How To: Learn Everything You'll Ever Need to Know About IoT
The Internet of Things (IoT) is changing everything in our homes and at work, from security systems and lighting fixtures to smartphones and speakers. An estimated 50 billion devices are now hooked up to IoT.
How To: Learn to Design Stunning Games with No Programming Experience
GameGuru was created for game enthusiasts who are not programmers or designers. By offering catalogs with thousands of royalty-free assets, GameGuru lets design novices bring their visions to life.
How To: Take Control of Your Online Presence — Become a WordPress Master for Under $30
Since it first launched in 2003, WordPress has dominated the internet. The free, open-source content management system (CMS) is used by over 60 million websites. Wordpress is undeniably one of the most popular CMS solutions in the world.
How To: Take a Deep Dive into AI with This 4-Course Bundle
No longer strictly relegated to the realm of science fiction shows and novels, artificial intelligence can be found behind important technologies that are driving innovation throughout the world. From space exploration and self-driving cars to data science and marketing algorithms, AI is the driving force behind many technologies that are moving humanity forward.