One thing that I got more and more excited about as we got closer and closer to the Microsoft Build 2017 developers conference was finally learning about the new Acer Windows Mixed Reality head-mounted displays (HMD). Brandon Bray, Principal Group Program Manager at Microsoft, had teased us a few weeks earlier at the Vision Summit event in Los Angeles, California, and said there would be a lot more information at Build. Fortunately for us, he was right.
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.
Disney Parks are hard at work bringing the technology from a long time ago in a land far away to life for the opening of Star Wars Land parks in Anaheim and Orlando in 2019.
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.
"Necessity, not novelty," is a phrase I use often when it comes to HoloLens development. It would be fair to call it my mantra, or mission statement, as I prototype and explore software creation on this new frontier of mixed reality.
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.
The future of augmented and mixed reality offers many possibilities, mostly because we're still figuring out everything it can do. While Meta is open to exploration, they've spent a lot of time thinking about what the future of this technology will be.
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.
I've been an iPhone user in the iOS ecosystem for years now after a brief stint in the Android realm. But, I'm also enthusiastic about varying forms of technology in general; I realize that iOS is far from perfect and that healthy market competition is beneficial for all. So, naturally being curious about other platforms, I decided to take Windows Phone for an extended trial run.
Microsoft's HoloLens is certainly a leap into the future of mixed reality interfaces, but it's not without drawbacks.
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.
The Oculus Rift is finally shipping to customers in more than 20 countries, and we're getting a good idea of how the device holds up from the initial reviews. You'll see some common threads throughout: along with an impressive virtual reality experience, the device is very comfortable with a solid design.
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.
If you're a certified computer nerd along the lines of NASA scientist Howard from "The Big Bang Theory," then you know how frustrating it can be transferring large amounts of data between an external hard drive or other drive and your main computer, especially when you're in a rush to get experiment data in. Usually this requires mounting the drive into a system or external case first.
What better way to get into the holiday mood than by wearing a festive Santa or elf hat around your workplace? Send your spirits soaring and get ready for Christmas by making your very on Santa hat.
In this video, we learn how to fix the VAIO SZ space bar. First, gently lift up on the space bar until the top is removed from the bottom of the board. After this, take a scrap piece of paper and place it underneath the middle of the metal that's on the space bar. After this, click the bar back into place on the keyboard. Now, test out the space bar to see if it works! It should be working without any problems now. If you do experience more problems, just repeat this same procedure and you wi...
In this video we learn how to make a balloon truncated octahedron. This is a complex design for a balloon where you will use around three balloons and create squares and hexagons. This is a difficult type of balloon to create, so make sure you have experience before you begin. Take the first color and twist bubbles into it, making around 16 in total. Then take the next color and twist that into the same amount, twisting into a circle. After this, intertwine these balloons together which one a...
When it comes to losing weight, cardio is your BFF. When you combine cardio with strength training you achieve what is known as solid gold fitness: The perfect combination of sweating (and fat loss) and muscle building so the fat slides off and your toned muscles come out.
In this tutorial, we learn how to use different drive modes in the 2010 Prius. The Prius offers a smooth and gentle ride, and new technology lets you tailor the driving experience to your needs. All you have to do is press the button and let the car do the rest. The EV mode lets you drive for longer distances at low speeds using the electric motor only. This is an extremely quiet ride that doesn't produce any emissions. The ECO mode makes the most of fuel economy, even on stop and go city str...
What if your PC crashed? What would you do? Everything would be gone, erased forever, and you'd be in a horrible and stressful situation, especially if all of you homework or work files were stored on your Windows PC. But why even enable yourself to be in that situation? In Windows XP, it's not uncommon to have experienced a corrupt registry or a missing DLL file, or having a blue screen of death.
Sony has started making game smaller and quicker, like the games available on iPhones and Android phones, and they're calling them minis. One of these PSP mini games is entitled Hysteria Project, and it's only available from the PlayStation Store for the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3. This two-part walkthrough is played using the PS3.
