China's e-commerce site Alibaba has been making heavy investments in augmented and mixed reality startups. In February of this year, they led a $793 million round of Series C financing of Magic Leap. And now they've just invested in Israeli-based InfinityAR, which acquired $18 million in its Series C financing.
We've already seen plenty of shopping potential for mixed reality headsets, from holographic car showrooms to trying on clothes and picking out furniture. Very few of those ideas have been put into actual practice, but we're getting closer, and consulting firm Valorem is making headway. They created HoloTire for the Microsoft HoloLens to demonstrate the advantage of experiencing a product in mixed reality. I'm hard-pressed to think of a more boring product to put on a holographic pedestal tha...
If you're an Apple user and want an untethered virtual reality system, you're currently stuck with Google Cardboard, which doesn't hold a candle to the room scale VR provided by the HTC Vive (a headset not compatible with Macs, by the way). But spatial computing company Occipital just figured out how to use their Structure Core 3D Sensor to provide room scale VR to any smartphone headset—whether it's for an iPhone or Android.
Snapchat accidentally—and then intentionally—announced their digital eyeglasses, known as Spectacles, over the weekend. While we'd hoped their augmented reality-heavy platform would result in related hardware, Spectacles unfortunately seek to "reinvent" little more than a video camera.
When we talk about augmenting our reality, we often first think about vision instead of our other senses—but there's more to an immersive experience than what you see. One inventor figured out how to utilize sound and touch to create a simple, upgraded version of laser tag that you can play with your smartphone.
Tricking your eyes into seeing 3D images isn't all that hard in movies or even in virtual reality, but when you start projecting holograms into the physical world, you run into some difficult problems. Microsoft obviously figured them out with their HoloLens, but how? The process is pretty amazing.
You can easily take audio for granted in virtual reality, but realistic sound in VR isn't an afterthought. It not only involves creating surround sound within a pair of headphones, but figuring out where the sound ought to exist based on your position and line of sight.
The reality of tomorrow will not be static. We're here to bring you a daily look into the cutting edge innovations poised to merge the impossible worlds of our imagination with real life. We're NextReality.
You've likely seen light-up musical keyboards that teach you how to play a song with visual cues, but few of those devices exist and have a limited number of songs you can actually learn. But Karl Baumann and his HoloLens Hackathon team figured out that in mixed reality, you can learn music with visual cues with any piano.
While the early stages of any new technology always seems amazing because of the utilitarian, almost altruistic software concepts it inspires, mixed and augmented reality will still see its fair share of corporate apps. That might be a good thing, however, as Volvo's plan goes past general information and advertising to make a truly helpful tool for prospective car buyers.
Pokémon GO has had an incredible impact on gamers in a way we've never seen before, but you can only do so much in augmented reality on a smartphone. It's clear we're headed for more immersive experiences, but the Amsterdam-based development studio Capitola VR already created a proof-of-concept version of the game that works on the Microsoft HoloLens.
Pong, one of the simplest video games ever created, has managed to evolve in some crazy ways over time, from the original basic 2D version and colorful Breakout sequel, to the PlayStation game with power-ups and 3D graphics, and now Cyberpong VR—a virtual reality game on the HTC Vive—where you act as the paddle instead of just moving it into place with a controller.
While flying isn't easy, once an airplane gets into the clouds there isn't a whole lot to worry about—most of the work happens during takeoff and landing. Helicopter pilots, on the other hand, have a lot of dangerous obstacles (like power lines and buildings) to contend with. But, once again, augmented reality can save the day.
We started with a static page and evolved to dynamic screens, and making that 2D surface interactive was a relatively straightforward transition in design. But when you can put holographic objects literally anywhere in the room, the way you design apps, games, and experiences requires a different mode of thought entirely.
Microsoft enjoyed a few months in the spotlight after releasing the developer version of the very first mixed reality (MR) headset, but now we're starting to see the competition jump in.
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.
An accelerometer/gyro goes onto an Arduino board and transmits the angular motion of the skateboard via Bluetooth to a virtual reality game I made for Android phones and Google Cardboard.
Another day, another company hopping on the virtual reality bandwagon. Today, it's fast food behemoth McDonald's, which is testing limited edition Happy Meal boxes that you can turn into a VR headset by punching out a couple holes and tearing along a few perforated seams. The resulting headset is a lot like Google Cardboard, with the lingering scent of fry grease.
I don't know anyone that likes going to the dentist—few things are more uncomfortable than having someone else's hands in your mouth. But outside of that, not only can the pain of certain procedures be unnerving, the drugs used to numb those pains can be just as uncomfortable. Not being able to feel your mouth for hours on end is a disconcerting feeling. But all that could soon be a thing of the past, thanks to virtual reality.
Stars are symbols of hope and light during the holiday season, probably the reason why lots of folks dress the top of their trees with this single most important holiday emblem. So what better origami project to fold this Christmas than an origami star?
You've probably seen millions of caricatures, or drawings that exaggerate reality by either over or under emphasizing a person's traits (so former president Bill Clinton would have a really big chin and Christina Ricci would have a really prominent forehead).
In this tutorial, Nancy goes over the star tip. The star tip is the most popular tip used for cake and cookie decorating. This tip is fantastic for beginners and can look like stars, flowers and also be used to fill in colors for other designs. Follow along with Nancy for fabulous tips and design ideas.
Major chords are like happy kids' movies, which have an upbeat beginning, middle, and end to satisfy innocent minds and sugarcoat harsher realities.
Are you interested in doing a crochet project? Watch this two-part video tutorial to learn how to do the daisy star crochet stitch. for this project you will need some yarn and a crochet hook.
This video tutorial is in the Arts & Crafts category which will show you how to make a faux suede looking card with Stampin' Up! Take the creamy caramel card stock and punch out a large star using the large star punch. Now use the bone folder to curl the star you punched out. Flip the star over and repeat on the other side as well. You will see the edges coming apart. Then peel the star apart and what you will get is a piece of card stock that looks like suede and is really soft. Now you can ...
Know your way around sector space when you're playing Star Trek Online. This tutorial shows you how to interact with the sector map in the game and get to where you're trying to go, and what you might find as you travel through space.
Crafting is someting you can do in Star Trek Online after you complete the Scientific Mandate mission at level 4. Once you do, you'll gain the ability to craft items. This tutorial shows you what to do once you acquire this ability.
This video explains one of the newer features of Star Trek Online and how to use it - the Accolade System. Also covered are the mechanics behind your ship's shields, and how to use that math to your character's advantage.
It's entirely likely to encounter hostile natives when exploring a new planet in Star Trek Online. Fortunately, you can easily outflank your enemy and triumph over the odds by using your Away Team. This video shows you a few strategy tips to decrease casualties.
Are you passionate about both Star Trek and Apple products? It's indeed possible to run Star Trek Online on an Apple Mac! This shows you how to download two separate mods that will allow you to play Star Trek Online on your Mac.
In Star Trek Online, not only do you play an individual character, you can also play your own ship while on space missions! And just as the characters are customizable, so are the ships! This tutorial shows you how to customize your ship to get it just the way you want it.
Have you always wanted to be the drummer in a famous rock and roll band, but you're still just a beginner? This tutorial starts from the very beginning and shows you how to play the drums, starting with a basic, versatile beat. The tutorials gradually increase, until, at the end, you'll be a rock star on the drums.
In this video, we learn how to make Mario Party star coin decorations. First, trace templates for the star coin onto a large piece of gold paper. You can get these templates from CoolPartyBlog. After you have traced the entire outline, retrace using a permanent marker, you want your lines dark and full. Continue doing this for all of the coin stars. Now, take the star template and trace it into the inside of the circles with the permanent marker. When finished, add glitter paint or loose glit...
Talk about taking the adage "count your lucky stars" literally. This video demonstrates the birth and making of origami lucky stars, also known by their street name, puffy stars.
If you are looking for face painting designs, learn how to make star with face paints in this free video series.
This three part tutorial shows you how to use Photoshop to create Star Wars text and then make it scroll up like in the movie intro using After Effects.
This video walkthrough guides you through all of Boba Fett's bounty hunter missions on Lego Star Wars for the XBox 360 and PC.
A full guide to making the perfect ninja star. I've seen loads of videos of how to make Ninja Stars, and I don't have a clue what they mean. So I decided to make this how to video on paper ninja stars (aka shurikens) and it's easier to understand and follow, especially for young children. Pause the video at any time, if you think the timing is too fast, Enjoy! ;)
The Origami Spiked Pentakis Dodecahedron is an excellent Paper Christmas Decoration Star made out of 15 paper squares. In spite of the large paper size I was defeated by the last module after nearly 2 hours (!) of trying to lock the last unit in place each time another one dislodged. Never mind, it is still a remarkable sound structure once (nearly) completed and you can not see which one is not locked anyway.
Google, you have something that I want. You may think you have some idea of what you are in possession of, but you do not. In a few moments, it will be mine...and it can be yours, too, dear readers.
