While most people have only begun hearing the term augmented reality in the last year or so, AR has been around in some form since the early '90s. It all started with heads-up displays (HUDs) for pilots to see instant information in their visors, but has graduated to a far more useful and widespread technology thanks to the advancement of computers and, more recently, smartphones.
We're already glimpsing the future when we look at mixed reality through a headset, but is the real evolution of this technology something that will exist as part of our bodies? As intense as that may sound, TechCrunch's Jay Donovan offers compelling reasons why it's not such a crazy idea:
Amazon has joined the ranks of film and TV studios using the power of augmented reality to engage fans looking to go behind passive screen viewing.
It appears that the Project Aero 3D content development tool isn't the only augmented reality project that Adobe has in the works.
When you're trying to pioneer a brand new category of technology, sometimes it's not enough to just have great tech. You also need to be able to tell a great story. You need to be able to capture the imagination.
The research team from Nvidia is returning to SIGGRAPH, an annual hotbed of innovation, with two new advancements in augmented reality displays.
Under the rocket's red glare and the bombs bursting in air, the Statue of Liberty is swaying in celebration this Fourth of July thanks to Snapchat.
Players who have stuck around with location-based game Jurassic World Alive just got a new treat that makes the augmented reality experience even more fun.
Apps that can display virtual furniture in the home are one of the most popular applications of mobile AR today, but Houzz has decided to raise the stakes with its latest update.
With plans to compete with Niantic and other augmented reality game developers, game developer WarDucks has closed a $3.8 million funding round.
Every year, fans of Irish culture, as well as those looking to celebrate their own culture, come together on St. Patrick's Day, March 17.
Just because augmented reality is the technology of the future doesn't mean it can't reach into the past of computing.
In a previous tutorial, we were able to place the Mona Lisa on vertical surfaces such as walls, books, and monitors using ARKit 1.5. By combining the power of Scene Kit and Sprite Kit (Apple's 2D graphics engine), we can play a video on a flat surface in ARKit.
One of the best aspects of the Magic Leap One is the spatial audio, a feature that enhances the overall sense of immersion when interacting with virtual objects and content through the device. Now the company is aiming to boost the quality of that component by partnering with one of the leading names in high-quality audio.
The day has finally come. About eight months after unveiling Magic Leap One: Creator Edition, on Wednesday, Magic Leap made the device available for order through a reservation page on its website.
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.
If you have a substantial collection of POGs, the disc-collecting game from the 1990s, squirreled away in your basement, then a new augmented reality app may give you a reason to dig them up.
Royal wedding fever has officially taken over the media, and that obsession with the UK's latest marriage event has now extended to Snapchat, thanks to a new Lens from the Today Show.
On this, the most cherished day for Star Wars fans, May the fourth, Lenovo has released a significant new update to its Star Wars: Jedi Challenges app: real person versus person lightsaber battles.
With numerous insider reports, patent awards, acquisitions, and hires over the past few years, augmented reality smartglasses from Apple appear to be an inevitability.
In just a few days, all the Galaxy S9 and S9+ leaks will come to an end, as Samsung will officially unveil its latest top-tier smartphone. But before that happens, we're all getting another leaked image of the handset thanks to a bit of snooping and the magic of augmented reality.
A new telemedicine application for the Microsoft HoloLens is promising paramedics and EMTs a new tool for diagnosis and treatment of patients in the field.
Harry Potter fans can set down their wands for a spell, as the highly-anticipated augmented reality game from Niantic based on the franchise won't arrive until after July at the earliest.
Nike has launched an augmented reality design tool at its Niketown store in London that lets shoppers customize sneakers and see their designs on a real product.
Not all remakes of video game classics turn out well, but a new augmented reality take on Super Mario is likely to draw in fans of the Nintendo hit.
You love augmented reality (that's why you're here!), but some of you also love cryptocurrencies, most popularly known in one of its forms as Bitcoin. So you might be wondering why you can't you find two of your favorite emerging technologies together in one app. Take heart, early adopter — now you can.
On Oct. 19-20, the MOC Exhibition Center in Munich, Germany will play host to the Augmented World Expo (AWE) Europe 2017.
Buyers can't wait for their Tesla Model 3 to be delivered. But with no clear arrival date in sight, buyers are starting to get a little antsy waiting to see what the Tesla Model 3 will look like up close. Luckily, Tesla accessories seller EVANNEX partnered with technology firm Kinetic Vision to try and satisfy buyers for a while by creating an app that lets you view an augmented reality Tesla Model 3 that's nearly life sized.
The augmented reality feature in Pokémon GO is one of the key components that draw people in to the popular Android and iPhone game. Indeed, there's nothing quite like the sight of a Pokémon standing around in an otherwise uninteresting parking lot.
Beer pong is a classic game created by college kids to drink and have a good time. However, the process of setting it up is messy and takes a while. Luckily, a demo has introduced an app coming soon where you can play an augmented reality version of beer pong using Apple's ARKit.
Companies are already clamoring to figure out strategies for integrating augmented reality into their advertising platforms. AR is going to become a huge asset to marketers, and Apple's ARKit is only going to help that along. Mixed reality producer Bilawal Singh Sidhu has given us a sneak peek of what the world of advertising could be with the ARKit.
HoloLens developers have created some useful solutions for visualizing building models and viewing construction plans overlaid on the job environment.
Microsoft is bringing its developer incentive challenge Dream.Build.Play. After a five-year hiatus, Microsoft has announced the 2017 edition of the game development contest with the largest prize pool yet of $225,000.
Thanks to Apple's ARKit, a new app will let iPhone users measure distances through the magic of augmented reality.
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.
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.
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.
