News: The Magic of Microsoft's HoloLens 2 Hand Interaction on Display in Mixed Reality Toolkit v2 Demo Video
Describing how and why the HoloLens 2 is so much better than the original is helpful, but seeing it is even better.
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News: Vuzix Reveals First Smartglasses Running on Qualcomm's Snapdragon XR1 with the M400
Smartglasses maker Vuzix has emerged with the first hardware powered by the Snapdragon XR1 chip, roughly nine months after Qualcomm introduced the chipset designed to drive augmented reality wearables at the Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara.
News: Magic Leap Highlights Award-Winning Augmented Reality Apps Revealed at Reality Virtually Hackathon
With Magic Leap One approaching six months since launch, Magic Leap is fully focused on building a content ecosystem and developer community.
News: Sneakerheads Can Use This Augmented Reality App to See How Those New Kicks Look on Their Feet
Move over, cosmetics companies. The athletic footwear industry wants to be able to give their customers the opportunity to try on products in augmented reality as well.
News: Bluetooth 5.1 Adds Precision Location, Offers Beacons for Indoor Navigation & More Augmented Reality Experiences
The ability for apps and devices to determine the precise location of physical and virtual objects in space is a key component of augmented reality experiences, and the latest advancements in Bluetooth technology may have a hand in facilitating such location services in the near future.
How To: Block Artists on Spotify (So You Never Have to Hear Their Music Again)
I love finding new artists on Spotify to listen to but hate when musicians I don't like keep popping up in recommended playlists and radio stations. For the longest time, there was nothing you could do about it, but now, Spotify lets you block specific bands and singers from ever playing again.
News: Pokémon GO Developer Niantic Scores $245 Million in Funding to Fast-Track Real World Platform
With Pokémon GO as its cash cow and the forthcoming Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Niantic Real World Platform promising future revenue streams, Niantic has convinced investors to bet on its flavor of augmented reality
How To: Set Up Instagram Recovery Codes So You Can Always Access Your Account with 2FA Enabled
Two-factor authentication (also known as 2FA) adds a necessary additional layer of security to your username and password in many important apps. On Instagram, 2FA requires you to confirm it's you attempting to log in, with a special code sent to you via text message. Enter the code and you're in ... but what happens when you need to log in and don't have access to your phone?
News: Lowe's Unleashes Its Magic Leap One App in Time for the Holiday Shopping Season
On Monday, with just days left before Christmas, Lowe's dropped a surprise augmented reality treat in everyone's lap: a brand new Magic Leap One app.
How To: Use Samsung Health to Diagnose Symptoms from the Privacy of Your Phone
You really can't go wrong with Samsung Health when it comes to staying on top of fitness-related data. Its features help you keep track of workouts, track calorie and nutrition intake, and monitor your heart rate, just to name a few. And if you start exhibiting symptoms you've never had before, you can even use the app to find out more about what's wrong with you.
News: Young Developers Are the Future of AR — This 11-Year-Old Has Already Created 2 AR Apps
While most kids his age are busy playing Fortnite, 11-year-old Yumo Soerianto is developing augmented reality games. Kids like Soerianto are the future of the augmented reality field — they'll likely be coming into their own as professional developers right as AR technologies become lightweight and powerful enough to be contained in a pair of sunglasses.
News: Magic Leap One Teardown Reveals Sophisticated Hardware with Shortish Shelf Life & Low Repairability
One of the primary marketing tactics used by Magic Leap in promoting the Magic Leap One was selling early adopters on the "magic" contained within the device. On Thursday, some of that magic was uncovered as the Magic Leap One was completely disassembled by repair engineers, revealing the delicate innards of the device and detailing how it delivers its augmented reality experiences.
News: Former Meta Exec Launches DreamGlass AR Headset, Shipping at End of June for $399
Just a year after facing trade secret theft allegations from his former employer, ex-Meta Company employee Kevin Zhong and his new company are ready to ship the product that triggered the lawsuit.
News: Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 Will Power New Augmented Reality Headsets from Meta & Vuzix
Confirming a previous report from last week, Qualcomm announced its Snapdragon X1 platform designed for augmented and virtual reality devices during an event at the Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara on Tuesday, with Meta and Vuzix among the first manufacturers to adopt it.
Facebook 101: How to View, Delete & Disable Location History Data That's Been Collected on You
Facebook's shadiness when it comes to user privacy has never been much of a secret. The Cambridge Analytica scandal, however, has thrown the company and its practices into the limelight, with users taking their data more seriously than ever. If you're one of those users, you might want to check your "Location History" to see if and how Facebook's kept tabs on your whereabouts.
Market Reality: Upskill Fields Funding, Leap Motion Faces Lawsuit & Intel Confronts Challenges of AR Adoption
Augmented reality business followers, we've got good news and bad news. First, the good news: Upskill closed another round of funding, this time led by strategic investors Cisco and Accenture. (Well, this is probably bad news if you're competing with them on the enterprise AR front.)
News: How Samsung's AR Emoji Stack Up to the Competitors
Apple's Animojis took the world by storm with their ease of use and fluidity. They added new life to your emojis by mapping your face with the technology that lives inside the iPhone X. Now, Samsung is also adding new life to emjojis with the introduction of AR Emojis in the Galaxy S9 and S9+.
News: Merge Locks & Loads 6DoF Blaster for Mobile AR Shooting Games
On Monday, toy maker Merge virtually blasted its way into CES 2018 with a new tech-meets-toys innovation in the form of an augmented reality gun controller for use with smartphone-powered first-person shooter apps.
Apple Maps 101: How to Add, Edit, Share & Delete Favorite Locations
Whether you've stumbled upon an interesting location you want to bookmark for later, need to remember where you park your bicycle or vehicle, or want to keep track of your favorite food truck locations, Apple Maps makes it easy.
Google Play Music 101: How to Use Radio Stations to Make the Perfect Party Mix
Have you ever wanted the perfect radio station for an artist, genre, or even one to match your mood? Luckily, Google Play Music has an extensive radio feature that takes you exactly where you and your friends want to go for a quiet brunch, or a neighbors-banging-on-the-walls dance party.
Hands-on: Lenovo & 'Star Wars: Jedi Challenges' Deliver First Truly Mainstream AR Headset
After spending a good portion of 2017 teasing us with images and bits of news, Lenovo, in a partnership with Disney and Lucasfilm, has finally released its Mirage AR headset along with the Star Wars: Jedi Challenge game collection.
Apple AR: Amazon Harnesses the Power of Apple's ARKit for Black Friday Rush
As if Amazon didn't already make it easier to buy things from home than in a store, the company has now given shoppers yet another reason to avoid the holiday rush with an ARKit update to its iPhone app.
News: Developer Conjures Virtual Haunted House with ARCore
If you're following the classic Halloween playbook closely, you've already got a costume or three picked out, you've binged-watched your favorite horror movies, and you've likely visited a haunted house. But it's 2017, so how about trying something new, like a haunted house that's not actually there?
Market Reality: As Magic Leap & Microsoft Seek Funds, Educators Prepare the Next Class of AR Innovators
For a company who hasn't released a product and has a reputation for being secretive, Magic Leap sure has a tendency to make waves. Over the past few weeks, they've refreshed their website design, released an abstract YouTube video, and announced a partnership with Madefire to offer mixed reality comics on its device whenever it launches. Next, they are gearing up for another round of funding.
Market Reality: Level Ex Closes $11 Million in Financing, While Gaze Coin Seeks $12 Million through ICO
According to Digi-Capital, investors poured $1.8 billion into augmented and virtual reality companies over the last 12 months, including $300 million in the third quarter. These investments are not made without a means to monetize products and services.
News: This Creepy Holographic AI Concierge Could Be Following You Around Hotels Soon
Back to the Future Part II missed wildly on many technological advances for the year 2015, such as flying cars and rehydration ovens. However, it connected on several predictions, such as video calling and biometric security, and it was in the ballpark (pun intended) on others, such as the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series.
News: Vertebrae Standing Up AR Ad Platform for ARKit Arrival
When iOS releases in the next few weeks, consumers on both iOS and Android operating systems can expect to see more AR ads in the mobile web browsers thanks to Vertebrae, an advertising platform for immersive media.
News: Blippar Brings Facial Recognition AR Profiles to Mobile App
Mobile augmented reality developer Blippar has updated its mobile app for iOS and Android with an augmented reality face profiles feature based on the company's real-time facial recognition engine.
How To: Find Out What Music Is Trending on SoundCloud Right Now
SoundCloud is a really interesting alternative to Spotify and Pandora in that it will never really give you the exact mainstream song that you want. If you're looking for new up-and-coming artists that are making some wonderful alternative remixes to mainstream music, then SoundCloud is the right music streaming app for you.
News: Untreatable 'Super Gonorrhea' Spreading Like Wildfire — Luckily, It May Have a New Opponent
In the race to outsmart "untreatable" antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea, one of the three new treatments on the track is about to enter Phase 3 clinical trials. Hopefully, it'll be widely accessible sooner rather than later, for the 78 million people who are diagnosed with gonorrhea each year.
News: Snapchat's New Feature Shows You Where in the World Your Friends Are
Snapchat's newest feature will allow you to see where your friends are posting from around the world. Called Snap Map, this easy-to-use update gives users the ability to view your friends' stories and locations on a map.
News: New Treatment Could Save 100,000 Babies a Year from Deadly Respiratory Virus
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is the most commonly occurring lower respiratory tract viral infection in young children and usually isn't serious, but in premature infants and babies under six months old, the infection can be severe, and even fatal.
News: Niantic Promises More AR in Pokémon GO on the iPhone with ARKit
Pokémon GO's augmented reality journey is continuing with Apple's newly announced ARKit. It's no surprise considering Pokémon GO is the largest mainstream augmented reality game, with 500 million downloads.
AWE 2017: Rounding Up All the News from the Augmented World Expo
The Augmented World Expo (AWE), the biggest event for augmented, virtual, and mixed reality companies, developers, customers, and connoisseurs, is happening right now. You know what that means for us here at Next Reality? Companies presenting and exhibiting at AWE are releasing news like crazy.
News: Robot Swarms Could Be Controlled by Your Smartphone, Thanks to AR
Have you ever wanted to control a swarm of robots? Well, now you can! Robotics researchers at New York University (NYU) have created an app which controls 'bots from your smartphone, using augmented reality. This AR app would certainly come in handy when you want to make a coffee from the comfort of your couch, but let's not get ahead of ourselves!
New CDC Stats: Zika Birth Defects Appear in 10% of Babies Born to Mothers Infected While Pregnant
After a brief reprieve, Zika fear is back with a vengeance as the US mosquito population booms. And we're just now seeing the true impact of this devastating virus, as babies of mothers infected with the virus are being born.
Hands-On: Our Detailed Look at Osterhout Design Group's R-8 & R-9 Smartglasses
I had the opportunity to speak with the COO of Osterhout Design Group, Pete Jameson, shortly before the announcement of the company's R-8 and R-9 smartglasses models at CES in January. And while I sadly could not make it to CES to test the smart specs out right away, ODG invited me to do just that while I was in San Francisco for the Game Developers Conference.
News: Five Windows Holographic Mixed Reality Headsets Have Now Been Seen, but Most Have Not Been Touched
Some of the products I have been looking forward to seeing the most during CES 2017 has been the upcoming Windows Holographic virtual reality headsets. These are VR headset that will run a version of the Windows Holographic platform, which will allow users to have a similar experience as the HoloLens with a mixed reality environment. Of the six headsets that could have possibly made it to CES, five had shown up. Unfortunately, most of them are behind glass.
PSA: Verizon's Shady 'DT Ignite' App Is Silently Installing Adware on Phones
A few months ago, it was discovered that Verizon was installing an extremely shady app called "DT Ignite" on some of its smartphones—most notably, the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. The app, created by Digital Turbine, monitors your smartphone usage, then uses the data it collects to silently install "recommended" apps without notifying you.
News: Magic Leap Is 'Racing Toward Launch' According to New CMO
Well, we have some potentially good news for those wanting to experience Magic Leap. The ultra-secretive company seems to be planning a big year in 2017.