News: Magic Leap Highlights Award-Winning Augmented Reality Apps Revealed at Reality Virtually Hackathon
With Magic Leap One approaching six months since launch, Magic Leap is fully focused on building a content ecosystem and developer community.
Robust Sustainability Search Results
News: DigiLens Vision of Cheaper Smartglasses Becomes Clearer with Crystal Reference Design
If waveguide display maker DigiLens has its way, enterprise businesses and consumers will soon be able to purchase smartglasses for less than $500 — as long as they can supply their own computing and battery power.
How To: Start a Fitness Competition Among Friends with Samsung Health
When you're trying to get fit, friendly competition can go a long way towards keeping you motivated. Samsung Health has a great feature for just that, letting you challenge your friends or even complete strangers to bring some excitement to an otherwise routine workout experience.
News: Wonderscope iPhone App Turns Bedrooms into Stages for Children's Stories in Augmented Reality
Augmented reality content makers often position the technology as a new storytelling medium. And who loves stories more than children?
News: Jaunt Hit with Layoffs as Startup Abandons VR Business to Focus on Augmented Reality
After building its business on virtual reality, Jaunt is leaving the technology behind to focus on building tools for creating augmented reality content.
News: Unity Unveils Project MARS for Simplified AR Development & Facial AR for Easy Mocap
On Tuesday, at the Unite Berlin developers conference, Unity unveiled new tools designed specifically for augmented reality that could literally raise the technology to the next level.
Hands-On: Kopin's Golden-i Infinity Is What Google Glass Was Supposed to Be, But Comes at a Cheaper Price
If you cover a particular area in tech long enough, you develop certain pet peeves, and one of mine happens to be devices that attempt to keep us wed to the Google Glass style of augmented reality. And while I remain mostly uninterested in such devices, one of these products recently earned my admiration and might work for you, too, under the right circumstances. It's called the Golden-i Infinity.
News: ARKit 2.0 Brings Persistent, Shared Experiences & 3D Object Detection to Apple Mobile Apps in iOS 12
As expected, Apple revealed today at the WWDC keynote that ARKit 2.0 will support multiplayer gaming support and persistent content, which will arrive this fall with iOS 12.
News: We May Finally Know How Many HoloLens Devices Microsoft Sold, & It's a Revealing Peek at the Future of AR
Last week, we told you about Microsoft's Alex Kipman and his nomination for the annual European Inventor Award, presented by the European Patent Office (EPO). And while that's big news in and of itself, it turns out we overlooked a very important detail buried in the EPO's video presentation. What was it? Only one of the most sought-after data points related to the HoloLens since its launch: how many have been sold.
News: Cover Girl Opts for Browser AR Try-on Tool Instead of Mobile App & the Results Are Tragic
The latest cosmetics brand to launch its own augmented reality try-on tool is Cover Girl, which introduced its browser-based experience this week.
News: Office Depot Updates Elf Yourself App with the Tiniest Bit of AR
Now that the holiday season has officially kicked off, Office Depot has updated its popular Elf Yourself app with a few new augmented reality options.
News: Metaverse Lets Anyone Program Their Own AR Games
Thanks to Metaverse, it has never been this easy to create your own AR game.
News: Samsung Announces New Flagship Phone, Impressive First Quarter Results
It's no secret that Samsung had a lot of bad press this year. Despite this, we've reported how, even with the massive negativity in the media, Samsung has been expected to have an excellent Q1. Not only have those expectations been confirmed today, but Samsung has announced they are also working on a new flagship smartphone. One that some say could be the Note 8.
News: Easily Make Your Own Pokémon GO with Motive.io
Throughout the summer and fall of 2016, in the sudden whirlwind that was Pokémon GO, it was hard to go anywhere in public without seeing someone attempting to catch Pokémon. Now, thanks to an upcoming platform called Motive.io, from the Vancouver company of the same name, location-driven application development will soon be accessible to everyone.
News: Microbes Behave Strangely—& Potentially Dangerously—In Space
Since the 1960s, bacteria have been hopping a ride into space on space vehicles and astronauts, and have been cultivated within experiments on space shuttles and the International Space Station (ISS). The extreme growing conditions and the low gravity environment on the Earth-orbiting vehicles offers a stable research platform for looking at bacteria in a different light.
News: Bluetooth 5 Is Here—But It Won't Make Your Headphones Sound Better
Bluetooth 5 was announced and made officially available on December 7, 2016. It comes with a handful of improvements to speed, range, maximum device connectivity, and anti-interference from other nearby devices. While this might be great for those special few who use Bluetooth on a daily basis to send and receive (or steal) data, what about the average Joe?
News: Virtual Reality Will Change How We Experience Music
Virtual reality, along with its siblings, has the opportunity to profoundly change the way we interact with all things digital. As a visual medium, we often don't think about the impact on audio, but it plays a significant role nevertheless. When it comes to music—and music videos—the possibilities are enormous.
News: The 5 Best Android Calendar Apps to Replace Your Stock One
Whether you use Google Calendar, Exchange, iCloud, or any other service, you need a good Android calendar app to keep you organized on the go. For many folks, the obvious answer was always Sunrise Calendar, but Microsoft purchased the company behind this awesome app in a classic acqui-hire move, and now, Sunrise has officially been shut down.
News: Shima Smartglasses Make Augmented Reality Fashionable
The world of augmented reality has seen a myriad of different products, from sensor-laden smartphones to robust holographic headsets, but Google Glass's failures nearly killed the middle ground.
News: The HoloLens Lets You Watch TV in a Whole New Way
Are there any benefits to watching a movie in a holographic mixed reality headset, or should you just stick with your TV? It's not as cut and dried as you might think. While TVs have some advantages, so does the virtual screen of a Microsoft HoloLens.
News: Microsoft's Windows Holographic Is Breaking Free from the HoloLens
Not content with bringing the first untethered mixed reality headset to market, Microsoft wants to expand their Windows Holographic operating system beyond HoloLens into vastly more robust technologies.
News: What's the Difference Between AR, VR, and MR?
Several technologies seek to change the way we perceive our reality, whether that involves entering a virtual world, augmenting an existing one in a realistic and interactive way, or somewhere in-between.
News: 3 Big Virtual & Augmented Reality Announcements We're Expecting from Google This Week
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.
News: 7 Must-Have Paid Apps for Android
Let's say you're flush with Google Opinion Rewards credits, or you just got a Google Play gift card for your birthday. This is a perfect opportunity to remove ads and unlock new features by upgrading some of your free apps to their paid counterparts, or to finally purchase that app you've been lusting after that doesn't offer a free version.
How To: Customize the Windows 10 Lock Screen
Modern versions of Windows have revamped the lock screen to make it a lot more useful. If you're coming from Windows 7 and older versions of the OS, this lock screen is both new and useful (though you can turn it off if you just don't want it).
How To: Get Your Computer Ready for the Windows 10 Update
The day has finally come, and after quite a bit of hype and buildup, Windows 10 is now officially available. The update itself is on a staged rollout, which means it will be slowly becoming available to users over the coming weeks and months, so don't panic if you haven't already received an update notification. Besides, you have until July 29th, 2016 to download your free copy of Windows 10 if you're eligible, so there's plenty of time to get your ducks in a row.
How To: Use Smart Switch to Update Your Galaxy S6—Even It's Rooted
In the past, updating a rooted Samsung Galaxy device has always involved the complicated process of downloading the proper firmware for your variant, installing device drivers, then sideloading the update with Odin.
How To: Get the HTC One M8's Camera App on Your Nexus 6
With the Nexus 6, you get a very clean software experience with minimal bloat. While this is generally the main selling point for most Nexus fans, it can be a bit of a detraction for some.
How To: Troubleshoot & Fix Your Parents' Android Issues Remotely
If you're the de facto tech support person in your family or circle of friends, you know how frustrating it can be to have to hold someone's hand and walk them through every troubleshooting step. Luckily, several options now exist for you to remotely access a Mac or Windows PC, which effectively skips the middle man and lets you get straight to fixing the issue yourself.
How To: Shoot 4K Video with Manual Focus & More on Your Nexus 5 (Lollipop)
One of the biggest under-the-hood changes in Android 5.0 is a new, robust Camera API. When Lollipop makes its official debut, this API will allow developers to hook into your phone's camera sensor like never before.
How To: Fix Runny Fruit Pies with These Two Surprising Food Hacks
Pies and soufflés: these are two dishes that can try even the most experienced cook. Berry pies can be especially challenging, since the high water content of cherries, strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries often leads to a big, leaky mess once you cut into your beautiful pie.
How To: Open Links in Different Browsers with Gestures on Android
All Android web browsers are not created equal. Some, like Chrome, have slick interfaces and quick rendering, but are not very robust. Others, like Firefox, boast tons of functionality and support add-ons, but are lacking in the interface department and could use a boost in performance.
How To: Get Text Messages in Facebook-Style "Chathead" Bubbles
When Android 4.4 was released, the massive changelog led to some awesome new features getting lost in the virtually endless list of new tweaks. One such change was the ability to set a default text messaging app, which streamlined the existing process of installing a third-party SMS client.
VLC: The Best Android Media Player You're Not Using
In 2012, VideoLan published a beta release of their wildly popular desktop media player, VLC, for the Android platform. However, because the non-profit development team did not have access to popular North American Android devices, they opted to exclude the USA and Canada from their initial release. That is, until now.
How To: Sync Your Android Clipboard with Windows (& Vice Versa)
Pushbullet is one of those apps that helps separate Android from its competition. By pushing the boundaries of cross-platform data syncing and file sharing, the service truly demonstrates how flexible and robust the world's leading mobile operating system can be.
How To: Fully Control Your Galaxy S5 with Google Now Commands—No Root Needed
Google Now is a wonderfully powerful service—with its predictive cards and voice search, it serves as a great starting point for any searches you need done. In fact, Samsung liked it so much that they decided to build the "Okay, Google" hotword detection right into the Galaxy S5's stock launcher.
How To: Lock Individual Apps to Prevent Friends from Snooping on Your Samsung Galaxy S3
Keeping unwanted clowns off on my Samsung Galaxy S3 is priority number one. I've shown you how to snag a picture of people opening your apps and how to lock your screen for whenever you hand off your phone, allowing them to access only the page you left open.
How To: Save Battery & Data When Streaming YouTube Videos in the Background on Your Samsung Galaxy S4
YouTube may have started out as a video-sharing site, but these days a lot of people use it as a source for music. When I'm browsing the internet on my desktop, I usually have a YouTube tab open in the background playing some music.
Market Reality: Snap Spectacles Early Prototype, Volkswagen Drives into AR, Inside Lego Snapchat, & Instagram Updates AR
We're still basking in the afterglow of the HUGE Snap Partner Summit last week, where Snap made Snapchat a much stronger augmented reality platform while also unveiling the AR smartglasses version of Spectacles. This week, we got a peek at how Spectacles AR started and got our hands on Lenses from Lego and Disney featured during the keynote.
Hands-On: Hands-On with the Looking Glass Pro, An Easy Alternative to AR for Interacting With Virtual Content
Here at Next Reality, our typical approach to all things augmented reality involves vision combined with remote control, either via a handheld device, gaze control, or hand/finger tracking.