Market Reality: The 10 Biggest AR Investments of 2017
As the calendar year (and, for many companies, the fiscal year) comes to a close, it appears 2017 may stand as the new high-water mark for investment in augmented and virtual reality technology.
As the calendar year (and, for many companies, the fiscal year) comes to a close, it appears 2017 may stand as the new high-water mark for investment in augmented and virtual reality technology.
When it comes to making smartglasses that look more like regular eyeglasses and less like sci-fi helmets, Corning International might be among the suppliers to make it happen.
It finally happened. Magic Leap has given the world its first glimpse at its debut device, the Magic Leap One Creator Edition.
As expected, Magic Leap closed a Series D round of equity funding, raising $502 million from new and existing investors. Less expected, however, were a fresh set of rumors that the company's first devices could ship within six months.
Outside of early military applications, augmented reality is a relatively new technology. It stands to reason that the next company to make a splash in AR would be a startup, and Techstars wants to help.
While Meta Company has agreed to a settlement in its lawsuit against a former employee and his company, they find the tables have now turned on them in the form of patent infringement allegations from another entity.
Ex-Uber CEO and founder Travis Kalanick's bad and likely illegal behavior aside, his vision of not wanting to pay "the other dude in the car" has lead to a ground-breaking driverless test fleet.
The status of Uber's driverless program remains a big unknown amid the company's recent woes, but a reported multibillion-dollar shot in the arm by Japanese tech giant Softbank could change all that.
According The Venture Reality Fund, the introductions of Facebook's camera platform and Apple's ARKit catalyzed increased activity among companies developing consumer applications.
Augmented and virtual reality continues to be a hot commodity among tech investors, with more than $800 million invested in AR/VR companies in the second quarter alone and global tech leaders like Samsung focusing their investment strategies on the emerging field.
JigSpace, a company that uses 3D renderings to give instructions, showed off a fun new way to learn how things work using Apple's ARKit. The video released shows the anatomy of a range of things, including an espresso machine, an Archer Hb Plus chair, and the manual transmission of a car. Not to mention, they also used ARKit to show a 3D how-to of removing an iPhone's SIM card.
A pair of organizations recognized companies working in augmented reality for their innovative technologies over the past week. Meanwhile, another company used augmented reality for a sector that is overdue for a technology makeover, while another company has developed new camera modules that could usher in the next evolution of mobile AR.
Do you know what your smartphone is made of? I've had smartphones for years, but if you asked me that question I'd probably respond with "Wi-Fi." For uninformed consumers like myself, it may shock you to know just how much goes into creating a smartphone.
The way we tell stories is about to change. Imagine you're hearing a story when suddenly characters and images from the tale start to appear in your world. This immersive way of storytelling is in the not-so-distant future thanks to the Microsoft HoloLens and Rémy Martin.
Driverless partnerships continue to appear as Continental AG, leading German automotive manufacturing company, has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with global electric startup, NIO. The goal of this partnership is to research, share, and develop autonomous technology, among other developments.
Honda president Takahiro Hachigo has just announced that Honda will complete development of fully self-driving cars by 2025. While the company aims to have level 3 — or conditionally autonomous cars requiring human intervention only in emergencies — on the road in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, these level 4 cars would require no intervention in most environments and thus bring Honda one step closer to producing fully driverless cars.
The leading platforms enabling augmented reality technology lead our headlines in Market Reality this week.
Whoop, there it is. McDonald's makes its food even faster by partnering with UberEats to bring orders to your doorstep in over 1,000 locations around the country.
Uber has been in the hot seat for awhile now, for many reasons, especially for being sued by Waymo over stolen LiDAR designs. But now, perhaps the attention will be taken off both Uber and Waymo as a new contender enters the LiDAR arena; A small, independent company called Luminar has finally let the world in on what it has been cooking up.
Udacity, the online education startup that set out to train a school of self-driving car engineers, is now spinning off into its own autonomous tech company called Voyage.
Baidu Inc, the "Chinese Google" search engine and technology company, which has been actively pursuing self-driving cars, reported that a gang of hackers recently attempted to steal its driverless car technology.
Nokia, the Finnish telecommunications company, is about to shake things up a bit after its networks sales in the final quarter of last year declined 14% compared to sales in 2015.
A company known as Cyanogen, Inc. has been in the news numerous times over the past year, and almost every time their name is brought up, it's amid reports of an impending doom. The writing is on the wall for the makers of Cyanogen OS, as it appears that there is little that can be done to prevent the company from going belly-up in the near future.
In the wake of Google Glass' failure, we can expect other companies to fill the void in due time. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Snapchat may be one of the first.
The highly anticipated VR headset hasn't been on the market long, but there's an issue that has some consumers, and even government officials, concerned about the Oculus Rift. You probably guessed the issue surrounds privacy and the extensive, not-so-secret way that it's collecting your personal data. The privacy concerns came about as various customers and media outlets took notice of the rather lengthy Terms and Services that pop up once you strap yourself into the Rift headset.
Cable TV providers were dealt a pretty significant blow on Thursday, February 18th, 2016, when the Federal Communications Commission decided that customers should have a choice in what type of device they use to watch cable, instead of being forced to rent a set-top box.
BlackBerry was one of the first companies to put anything that resembles a modern-day smartphone on the market, but now, seeing one out in the wild is like stumbling upon a fossil. Now that they've announced the BlackBerry Passport, it seems as if this is their last-ditch effort at remaining relevant.
A month ago, we showed you what I, and many around the web, dubbed the "Nexus Killer". That device is the OnePlus One, a low-priced, high-powered, CyanogenMod-run Android device.
Since The Guardian published leaked documents exposing the depth of the NSA's spying powers, many people who've never put much effort into protecting their privacy are finally starting to pay attention. Evidence of public opinion concerning PRISM can be seen from the rise in traffic for pro-privacy sites like DuckDuckGo to the petitions demanding that the program be scaled back or done away with altogether. Some would argue that you waive your right to privacy by signing the terms of agreemen...
Is your boss a monster when it comes to running his company? While those who take on more than their job description calls for are usually the ones that get ahead, working too much or working overtime too often are not necessarily good for the company or for your health.
You only have one hour before company is coming. So make this 40 minute, delicious pineapple cake. Think of the fragrance that will fill the house when your guests arrive.
In this video, we learn how to conduct strategic planning retreats. When planning these, you need to make sure you have your priorities planned for the next year. Make sure you choose the right time to go and there are no big changes happening during that time. Pick who is going to go by taking a survey around the company. After you get this figured out, you will need to figure out your agenda. Ask yourself to find out how you are going to get goals accomplished and where you want the company...
Whether you own a business or work for a company, you probably send out millions of emails every day corresponding with clients, PR, and whoever else you have to deal with. It's hard enough making sure you get around to all of them, but what's more is that even after you've finished composing the message you have to add your name, company name, phone, etc.
If you love Justin Bieber and want to be able to replicate his songs in more polite company than the recorded versions merit, check out this video! It will show you how to play a fun, easy instrumental cover of the song on piano. Now you can finally play Justin Bieber for your parents and not have them run from the room screaming!
The presenter of this tutorial demonstrates how to unlock an iPhone 3G or 3GS using blacksn0w firmware 3.1.2, so you can use it with any mobile carrier company that you want. The tutorial includes 3 main steps: (1) click on the black icon that was added by Blacksn0w software, (2) install "snow", (3) insert your SIM card, and wait. After a minute or so, the presenter shows that that his mobile carrier company is presented as the current carrier and cellular/Wi-Fi supplier.
This video explains how to not answer an interview question from a potential employer. The question is "Share a goal you set for yourself." The interviewee answered the question incorrectly. She avoided answering the question by describing goals that she set for her employees when she was a manager. She also added that the company set a goal and the prize was a trip to Hawaii. Sharing a goal you set for others does not answer the question, and neither does a company goal.
Whole Structure Heating Jeff White from Bedbug-central.com explains the different methods of effectively killing bed bugs in your home with heat instead of poison.
When faced with old, damaged plaster walls, one technique to dress up the room is to install drywall over the existing plaster. A drywall overlay gives the walls a smooth, fresh surface that's ready for new paint, paper or trim. This is a common technique used among professional contractors hired to renovate houses bought under foreclosure. For example, real estate companies that invest in foreclosures often deal with houses that are more than 50 years old and exhibit serious signs of aging. ...
Less than a month after the worldwide launch of HoloLens 2, call center consultant BellSystem24 has already prepared an augmented reality solution for one of its clients.
Augmented reality enthusiasts who expected an AR hardware unveiling at Apple's annual iPhone launch event might not have to wait much longer.