As interest in augmented and virtual reality continues to grow, so does the need to bring objects from the real world into virtual space. With that, there's also now an increased need for solutions that bypass the time-consuming process of producing handmade 3D models.
Augmented reality software maker Upskill has released the latest version of their Skylight platform, adding a number of new tools to ease implementation and improve functionality for enterprises, including a new application builder.
Last week, I tried out StackAR, a puzzle app updated to support ARKit where the AR features felt mostly unnecessary.
A virus easily spread among trout and salmon could make it harder to keep your favorite fish on the menu.
Bacteria, viruses and other germs sometimes set off the immune system to overreact, producing a severe condition called sepsis. Sepsis is so dangerous that it is the leading cause of death of children across the world, killing a million kids every year, mostly in developing countries. Probiotic bacteria might be able to prevent sepsis and infections, but no large research studies have been done to find out whether that actually works. Until now.
The ride-sharing firm Lyft and Faraday Future, a troubled electric carmaker and potential Tesla competitor, have quietly appointed new top executives, but like the rest of the industry, they struggle to find talent for their driverless programs.
Drones are a fairly new craze to hit the nation. While they are accessible to the general population, good drones still typically cost a ton of money and despite all the fun they are, it's sometimes not worth it to actually buy one. If you're one of those people who would love to play around with drones — but don't want to have to buy one — Arcane Reality is developing the app for you thanks to Apple's ARKit.
Faraday Future's all-electric super sports car concept attracted a lot of attention at CES earlier this year, but now it is struggling to replace key driverless engineers and program directors who left the company amid its recent financial troubles.
Mixed reality developer Arvizio has updated its MR Studio software suite to integrate processing of 3D light detection and ranging (LiDAR) point clouds.
A Norwegian carrier's launch of a pilotless container ship next year could lead the way to a new era in sea transportation and shipping if successful.
Augmented and virtual reality continues to be a hot commodity among tech investors, with more than $800 million invested in AR/VR companies in the second quarter alone and global tech leaders like Samsung focusing their investment strategies on the emerging field.
One of the best features in Super Mario Run is the ability to unlock other notable characters from the classic series on iPhone or Android. Each playable character in Super Mario Run has a slightly different skill set — be it speed or jumping — which can come in handy in certain maps or races.
After laying off 40% of its staff this month to cut costs, SoundCloud appears to be struggling to stay afloat. While blog posts from the company have assured fans that the music platform is not in danger of shutting down, some people aren't so sure this is the truth. Internet Archive — a non-profit dedicated to preserving websites and services — announced today that they will be conducting a partial backup of SoundCloud to safeguard the site's content in case of closure.
Russian phone customizer Caviar — you might have heard of the blinged-out iPhone 6s Pokemon GO phone they released a few months back — is taking on international relations with their newest product.
I don't know how I feel about this. On the one hand, Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow has charm. The original writers are attached to this project, and that shows in the humorous dialogue between characters.
When I booted up my second Sega Forever title, I wasn't sure what to expect. Sonic 1 was fun, but the controls weren't great. Touch screen controls can be excellent when the game is designed for them, but retrofitting a game designed for a physical controller to be played on a smartphone, well, sometimes is a bit disastrous.
Millions of dollars continue to pour into the Chinese driverless market. Now, according to research firm CB Insights, $929 million have been invested in the first quarter of this year.
The Asphalt series has been a staple in the racing genre since its first incarnation all the way back in 2004 — I still remember buying it for my newly-obtained Nintendo DS. It warms my heart to see that, after all this time, Gameloft continues to produce mobile Asphalt games, releasing the latest for Android today. Unfortunately, that's about all Gameloft has taken from its previous efforts. To be frank, this game ain't good.
You can pinch yourself, but you're not dreaming. Sprint is actually offering a year of (mostly) free, unlimited service for anyone who switches to the carrier. The only stipulation is that you must bring your phone with you, and it has to be one of the 27 eligible devices.
New York City may not be the friendliest city, but with the apps Via and Curb now letting users ride-share in the city's yellow taxis, New Yorkers can expect to snuggle up close in the back of a cab next to complete strangers. That's right, get ready to feel the love.
Waymo's transfer of its driverless car know-how to commercial trucks will likely pose few challenges for the self-driving unit of Alphabet, which owns Google.
Another entrant — Aryzon — has joined the competition to be crowned as the "Cardboard of AR." The Netherlands-based startup launched their Kickstarter campaign Monday (May 29) and the campaign has already surpassed its funding goal. The company expects to ship units to backers in September.
After SquareTrade tested out the Samsung Galaxy S8 and found it to be the first phone to shatter on all sides after only one drop, it's nice to know we may have a solution for this $500 problem.
The Galaxy S8 and S8+ come with a set of AKG-tuned earbuds that would cost you $99 by themselves. Unfortunately, the earbuds alone don't automatically translate to superior sound, and they've been met with lukewarm reception. But as it turns out, there's a fairly hidden menu on Samsung's flagships that'll give you a tailor-made audio experience and help you get the most out of your S8-AKG pairing.
While at work, you notice your gloves changing color, and you know immediately that you've come in contact with dangerous chemicals. Bandages on a patient signal the presence of unseen, drug-resistant microbes. These are ideas that might have once seemed futuristic but are becoming a reality as researchers move forward with technology to use living bacteria in cloth to detect pathogens, pollutants, and particulates that endanger our lives.
Termite poop and biofuels — what's the connection? New research into termites' intestinal comings and goings describes a process that may speed the development and lower the cost of fuels made from plant matter.
While the numbers may not always seem to agree, the message remains the same: augmented reality is a growth segment. This week's edition of Market Reality starts with two new reports outlining the expected good fortunes for the industry and concludes with an example of a company capitalizing on their own growth.
The battle of the budget phone is well and truly underway, as both T-Mobile and ZTE have launched affordable new devices simultaneously.
Apple staff will be put through their paces now that the company's "Automated System" for driverless cars is in motion.
It seems nowadays there's no limit to what type of companies are looking to invest in augmented reality. Given both the positive outlook on the future of AR, and its reported benefits for efficiency in employees, this makes sense. Safran, an international corporation with three main sectors—aerospace, defense, and security—is one such company taking the plunge into incorporating AR in their business.
The squiggly guys in this article's cover image are Propionibacterium acnes. These bacteria live in low-oxygen conditions at the base of hair follicles all over your body. They mind their own business, eating cellular debris and sebum, the oily stuff secreted by sebaceous glands that help keep things moisturized. Everybody has P. acnes bacteria—which are commonly blamed for causing acne—but researchers took a bigger view and discovered P. acnes may also play a part in keeping your skin clear.
Soon, users will no longer need an expensive headset or even a smartphone to experience mixed reality. The new Microsoft update will be bringing mixed reality applications to every Windows computer next month. This new upgrade to Windows 10 named the Windows 10 Creators Update.
LOOOK, a Seattle-based mixed reality and development studio, can now peer into the future with their new geotechnical engineering visualization application for Microsoft HoloLens.
If you have stuck volume buttons, it can be a real pain to adjust sound levels since your only other option is to use the volume menu in Settings. But even if your volume rocker is working fine, it's still a little weird to have to click a mechanical button to control one of the most central aspects of an operating system that is otherwise entirely touch-based.
Late last year, two surgeons from the Instituto de Ortopedia e Traumatologia de Jaraguá do Sul in Brazil started using a combination of 3D printing and the Microsoft HoloLens to help plan spinal surgeries. And now, with the rest of their team, they've successfully performed a surgical procedure on their first international patient using their 3D impression planning and augmented reality process.
Merge VR, a company mostly known for its virtual reality experiences, is moving into and creating an augmented reality experience that combines an iPhone or Android smartphone, a set of goggles to put your phone in, and a box about the size of a Rubik's Cube which looks more akin to the Lament Configuration seen in the Hellraiser film series. When used in concert with the smartphone and goggles, the toy cube, called Holo Cube, becomes one of many AR experiences.
YouTube is a great place for all your mainstream audio and video needs. But you can't simply plug in your headphones, choose a playlist, and put your phone back in your pocket without subscribing to YouTube Red, which costs $9.99/month for ad-free and background playback. If you can't afford that for just background playback, there are other ways.
When developing for the HoloLens, keeping a constant 60 fps (frames per second) while making things look beautiful is a challenge. Balancing the processing power to display complex models and keeping the frame rate where it needs is just a straight up painful process, but a solution seems to be on the horizon.
Pennies may only be worth $0.01, but if you want a coin with everyone's favorite donut-eating dad on it, you're going to need to shell out a little bit more.
A new contender has entered the mixed reality ring. San Fransisco-based Occipital has just released an "Explorer Edition" of Bridge—an iPhone-based mixed and virtual reality headset that uses their popular Structure Sensor. At a fraction of the cost of a HoloLens developers kit, this could be a place many curious people use to find their NextReality.
