We've shown you the best augmented reality headsets, and now it's time to show you the rest. These are the AR headsets you've probably never heard of or even seen. The AR headsets that, in some cases, have a shot at the big time, and may one day reach widespread adoption, and, in other cases, are unwieldily contraptions that look like something out of a weird science fiction movie.
A tethered version of the Vuzix M300 smart glasses, developed to pair with wearable computers from Toshiba Corporation, is expected to be available by the first quarter 2018, if not sooner.
While IKEA is collaborating with Apple for its ARKit furniture app, Marxent is ready to help the rest of the interior decorating and home improvement crowd with their apps.
The leading platforms enabling augmented reality technology lead our headlines in Market Reality this week.
Mixed reality display manufacturer Realfiction has developed a 64-inch display capable of delivering 3D holograms without a headset.
Every Friday, Next Reality reviews the latest headlines from the financial side of augmented and mixed reality. This Market Reality column covers funding announcements, mergers and acquisitions, market analysis, and the like. This week's column is led by two companies cashing in on visual inputs.
We often discuss the augmented reality efforts coming from the biggest players in Silicon Valley like Google, Facebook, Apple, and others, but one name that keeps coming up when you really begin to dig into the AR space is Vuzix. Since the late '90s, the company has quietly but deliberately worked to build itself into a viable competitor in the enterprise space via its wearable display technology.
A side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic is that small businesses are suffering from forced closures and social distancing, but game developer Niantic has a solution.
The coronavirus pandemic has ushered in an unprecedented time in modern history where terms like "social distancing" and "self-quarantine" have pushed their way into the zeitgeist.
The powers of the Nreal Light continue to increase incrementally with each passing week. Now, the latest feature added to the device is possibly the most requested feature for anyone who has tried the Nreal Light: hand tracking.
It's safe to say that we can call the annual ranking of AR investments a holiday tradition at Next Reality.
Augmented reality can be more than simply a way to enhance navigation, or superimpose virtual sunglasses onto your face. It can also be a platform for shining a light on important social issues.
As Microsoft works toward fulfilling its $480 million contract to supply modified HoloLens 2 headsets to the US Army, Airbus is preparing to supply advanced augmented reality apps for the device.
Next to map data overlays, one of the most often discussed concepts for apps that could propel augmented reality smartglasses into the mainstream is a real-time language translation app.
The idea of remote assistant apps in augmented reality has been taking off in the last couple of years, but Epson is introducing a differing kind of solution for companies that may benefit from a more straightforward dynamic before going full-on immersive with higher-end AR remote assistance tools.
There's no shortage of augmented reality platforms for remote video assistance, but startup Streem is looking to give its offering a leg up with an infusion of new technology.
It looks like Microsoft will finally make good on its promise to bring Minecraft to augmented reality, as foreshadowed via a HoloLens demo in 2015.
Much of the excitement around the HoloLens 2 has moved on to many wondering when we'll finally be able to get our hands on what is now the best augmented reality device on the market.
With $100 million in grant funding already available to developers via its MegaGrants program, Epic Games is sweetening the pot with some gear for Magic Leap developers.
Over the past year, two trends have emerged among augmented reality development software: make it easier to create AR content, and give AR apps better environmental understanding with just a smartphone camera.
To build hype for the HoloLens 2 among developers, Microsoft is borrowing a page out of Magic Leap's playbook.
News junkies who own the Magic Leap One received some good news on Thursday, as CNN has published an app for the headset to display the network's news coverage in augmented reality.
In the last couple of days there's been a lot of speculation about the powers of Microsoft's HoloLens 2, but few have had a chance to get their hands on one to see if the company's claims live up to what HoloLens inventor Alex Kipman showed off on stage.
It may sound like deja vu, but neural interface startup CTRL-labs has closed a $28 million funding round led by GV, Google's funding arm, for technology that reads user's nerve signals to interpret hand gestures.
After entering the UK's version of bankruptcy last month, Blippar's assets are up for sale, and bidding ended today.
Magic Leap One owners, start your virtual engines, as automotive virtual reality developer RelayCars has published an app to Magic Leap World that lets users customize and test drive a 2019 Kia Stinger.
The latest business move by Magic Leap could result in a significant boost to its spatial computing platform's performance and headset design.
Smartglasses maker ThirdEye has announced that its X1 model wearable will be updated by the slimmer, as yet unreleased X2 model. Both devices will be promoted and sold through its partner, brick and mortar technology retailer b8ta.
Smartglasses maker Epson remains the top gun in the drone market with its Moverio line of wearables, and the company is further elevating its offerings with its new Drone SoAR app for DJI drones.
As we predicted earlier this week, the focus has already begun to move from Magic Leap back onto Apple's rumored augmented reality smartglasses. The latest credible whispers come from none other than longtime Apple-focused analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
In recent years, medical professionals have demonstrated how the HoloLens can assist in surgeries, ranging from collarbone repairs to spinal surgeries to cosmetic procedures. Now, the largest children's hospital in the United Kingdom is also ready to deploy the technology.
While Vuzix is beefing up the processing power of its next-generation smartglasses with the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1, the company will also give its devices an upgraded display engine.
Enterprise augmented reality software maker Scope AR is bringing the powers of its two productivity apps together like the Wonder Twins into the form of a single app.
A newly-filed patent application from Disney Enterprises, Inc. teases more augmented reality lightsaber duels, either for at-home gaming or for the media behemoth's forthcoming Star Wars theme park.
While some in the augmented reality space are tweeting about future amazing immersive experiences and others are showing off cool experiments, Microsoft continues to move forward with tangible business solutions right now that show how the HoloLens can improve business.
Google's AI investment arm, Gradient Ventures, has joined a $10.5 million round of funding for Ubiquity6 and its platform for shared augmented reality experiences, just weeks after Google's GV fund backed a competing AR cloud platform.
Next to things like natural disasters and disease, the specter of war is one of the only things that threatens to derail the 21st century's long stretch of technological innovation. Now a new app is using augmented reality to remind us of that by focusing on those most impacted by war — children.
Mobile augmented reality developer Blippar's mission is to construct a computer vision map the world, with visual recognition of thousands of notable buildings, bridges, castles, holy places. A major step toward that goal has been taken by the company this month with the announcement of its landmark recognition API.
Apple CEO Tim Cook's most recent tech prophecy is that "AR will change everything." And now, that includes Apple's own website.
While the mainstream consumer market waits for cool augmented glasses to arrive from Magic Leap, or maybe even Snap Inc. (Spectacles 2.0??), AR headset maker DAQRI and its business customers are finding new, money-saving and time-saving use cases for the technology today.
