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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
If you want the latest in breaking news, a heavy dose of humor, and all things kittens, look no further than reddit. But no matter how great the content and community is, reddit has yet to fully catch up to the mobile world.
Microsoft's updated web browser, Internet Explorer 10, has only been out for a few days on Windows 8, and there is already a storm of controversy surrounding its launch.
Most of us would love reclining into a steaming, soothing bath of warm water with a glass of champagne and a good romance novel, but let's face it: With all that we have to do these days, we're lucky if we have ten full minutes in the bathroom to ourselves.
You don't have to pay an expensive mechanic for something that you can do yourself! An experienced auto mechanic shows you the way to replace the brake lights and tail lights on a Honda Accord. You will need a flat head screwdriver, a Phillips screwdriver, a 10mm wrench (or socket and ratchet) and an 8mm socket and ratchet. The most challenging part of the whole tutorial is taking the rear bumper off - everything else is smooth sailing from there!
Chicken pot pie is a classic treat that will never not be enjoyed, but sometimes you want to spice things up a little and experience new and interesting flavors without totally pushing the boundaries.
Getting your hair done and dyed at the salon feels luxurious and is as much a rejuvenating, spa-like experience as it is a practical coloring session. But with the economy as it is and hair color appointments costing upwards of $100 average, it's quite a costly expense.
The AppleTV is a great home entertainment hub for all your video viewing joy, but it still stands a little limited in all its glory. You can hack your Apple TV to death, but if you don't know what you're doing, you can waste tons of time and possibly even ruin your Apple TV. But with a hack called aTV Flash, hacking gets a little easier. It does cost around 50 bucks, but it adds a ton of functionality, from integrating Firefox, to allowing external storage to incredible codec support.
Using a UVW unwrap modifier, this tutorial shows you a few Autodesk technqiues to unwrap a 3-D model and then apply your own texture to it. It also outlines a couple pitfalls animators sometimes experience, and how to avoid them in your own work.
From Thanksgiving turkeys to grilled chicken, basting helps add incomparable moisture, tenderness, and flavor to any dish. So if you've never basted before and would like to experience the oily awesomeness that is basted food, check out this food video for a tutorial using chicken and melted butter as an example.
If you're a habitual makeup user then your brushes probably experience a lot of wear and tear every day. This means not only that you must clean them right after you use them, but also that their logos and brush numbers - MAC 216 for instance, fade away quickly.
Brushing your teeth is pretty mundane. Why not enliven the experience for a friend or enemy by pranking them into thinking that their mouth is gushing blood? This video will teach you how to use food coloring and an oven to set up the Bloody Toothbrush Prank. All you do is cook the food coloring into it's powdered essence, apply the powder sneakily your victim's toothbrush, and wait until they brush.
A cookie and lollipop in one? Our wildest sugar-loving dreams are finally coming true. This delectable, sweet treat features a tulip-shaped cookie (decorated with oodles of yummy icing, of course) sitting atop a lollipop stick.
In this tutorial, we learn how to do ultra wide pushups for a big chest. A basic pushup can be way too easy if you are an experienced body builder, but you can do different variations to strengthen your body further. First, get down on the ground and place your arms much wider outside of your body than they normally would be. This will make you push harder up while your hands are pushing outward. This will make you work hard and squeeze at the same time, and your range of motion will be limit...
It's true that a high quality digital SLR can take pictures 1000X better than any digital camera can without any previous experience from the photographer, but by understanding some digital SLR camera basics you can improve the quality of your photos greatly, and even take professional-looking ones.
The creator of this video, Akkibifuu, created this awesomely complete tutorial for making a Warcraft 3-like hero game in the Galaxy Editor for Starcraft 2. In this video he expands on his work in that video, showing us how to emulate the hero ability system from Warcraft 3, allowing you Starcraft heros to gain skill points after every level of experience that they can spend on improving their skills. If you wish Starcraft had integrated all the hero stuff from Warcraft 3, make it happen!
There's nothing more American than chowing down on a slice of apple pie in the middle of summer, relishing in its sweet tartness and the crunch of the pie crust. But we can bet that by now you've already tried a zillion plus one different versions of apple pie. So how do you continue to enjoy a favorite?