Augmented reality plays a key role in the evolution of adjacent technologies, such as 5G connectivity and brain-control interfaces (BCI), and the business news of the week serves up proof points for both examples.
It's no secret that the enterprise sector is hot for augmented reality, but the move into the enterprise AR software market by one of the biggest names in industrial engineering announces the technology's arrival loud and clear.
After testing the waters with a few pop-up stores along the West Coast earlier this year, North is bringing its smartglasses to more cities across the US and Canada.
While the tech industries giants and eager startups chase the dream of widespread consumer augmented reality, enterprise AR is living the dream today.
Reading the augmented reality news lately has felt a bit like reading a John Grisham novel, as the business side of things has dripped with legal drama.
On Tuesday, Blue Vision Labs, one of three Google-backed companies working on AR Cloud platforms, announced its acquisition by ride-sharing company Lyft.
It turns out that coming up groundbreaking technology and raising billions may actually be the easy part for Magic Leap, as a new report has revealed yet another legal entanglement at the Florida-based company.
If you're a Harry Potter fan who has ever wanted to have your own Hogwarts adventure, you're in luck — Jam City is close to releasing "Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery," a mobile game that allows you to attend the magical school yourself. In fact, it's so close you can pre-register for the game right now.
Soon, Pokémon GO allies attacking a raid boss at a gym will be able to do so together in augmented reality.
In the midst of outlining plans to release Pokémon Go in China and debut its new Harry Potter game during the back half of 2018, Niantic CEO John Hanke turned to the dark arts by taking a swipe at the company's AR gaming competition.
Influenced by the growth of augmented and virtual reality technology as well as 3D computer vision, Ericcson Ventures invested in Matterport, whose hardware and software help companies create AR/VR experiences.
Augmented reality developer Blippar has created a new visual positioning service based on computer vision that is two times more accurate than GPS in urban locales.
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.
Numerous examples exist of doctors and surgeons using HoloLens to plan surgeries. The device has even been used to view reference images during a procedure and stream it to a remote audience. Until recently, it has not been used to augment the surgeon's view of the patient during a live surgery.
Hutch Interiors, Inc., makers of an eponymous augmented reality home design app for iOS and Android, has closed a series A round of funding, led by online real estate company Zillow Group, totaling $10 million.
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.
UPDATE 5/12: According to Bloomberg, it looks like the merger is on. Anonymous sources claim discussions have already begun about consolidation. Looks like there might be a new 5G powerhouse after all.
Beware: After a new caucus — the Congressional Caucus on Virtual, Augmented, and Mixed Reality Technologies for the 115th Congress — formed in the US House of Representatives, the government has decided to go after all mixed reality head-mounted displays. The HoloLens, Magic Leap — nothing is safe anymore.
Verizon could be getting in on the autonomous vehicle party, judging by its recent investment in driverless software company Renovo Motors.
Welcome to the maiden voyage of our new Market Reality column. Each Friday, NextReality will give you a roundup of news briefs from the financial end of the augmented and mixed reality industry. We'll cover funding news, market analysis, and more.
In a press event this past week at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, Unity Labs, the experimental and forward thinking arm of Unity, announced an upcoming toolset for developers in the augmented, mixed, and virtual reality space called the XR Foundation Toolkit (XRFT).
One of the big hurdles when equipping vehicles with sensors for autonomous driving is the cost. For example, the Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensors that power many versions of self-driving car technology are pricey, currently ranging from around several thousand dollars up to $85,000 per sensor—and vehicles often need multiple sensors to see enough of what is going on around them to drive safely.
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.
Augmented reality allows for all kinds of experiences to happen just about anywhere, and that creates some incredible potential for entertainment. While games like Pokémon GO take you out into the world, one crowd-funded game wants to keep you inside—to scare the crap out of you in your own home.
With all due respect to the fine folks at DrinkTanks, it's a little surprising that no one came up with their idea sooner. After all, last I checked, beer was pretty darned popular.
Smartglasses startup Nreal enjoyed some highs and endured some lows this week, as the company landed a product placement with Kevin Bacon but then faced production issues related to the coronavirus outbreak.
Investment in augmented reality remained robust in 2019. For the third consecutive year, we looked back on the biggest funding deals in the AR industry this week, and a familiar name came out on top.
When it comes to the business of augmented reality, companies that aren't already introducing new products or apps are focused on producing the AR technology of the future. But in the realm of real products and apps, Magic Leap continues to show off what its headset can do, this time via a new app that transports users to the ocean's depths.
Long before the HoloLens or the Magic Leap One, a California-based team of independent filmmakers envisioned what the future of augmented reality might look like.
Augmented reality and computer vision company Blippar has a new lease on life, as previous investor Candy Ventures has completed a successful bid to acquire the assets of the beleaguered company.
Mixed reviews of Magic Leap One aside, it would be hard to deny that Magic Leap has had a big year. And the AR unicorn isn't coasting to the finish line, with a number of new apps dropping and prescription frames finally arriving to bring relief to those who wear eyeglasses.
Last week, Twilio showed off how avatar-based chat communications will work on the Magic Leap One, and now a new startup has unveiled yet another way that augmented reality telepresence and remote collaboration can take place on the device.
This week, we continued our NR30 series highlighting the leaders of augmented reality space by profiling the venture capitalists and strategic corporate investors that sustain the industry.
Apple often cites its tight integration of hardware and software for its success. Startup Illumix is looking to do the same thing for AR gaming by building an AR platform for its apps.
The most convenient way for US users to buy Ripple (XRP) or Stellar (XRM) is through Binance. However, you can't deposit money directly into this app, but you can deposit cryptocurrency like ether or bitcoins to buy other alt-coins. The easiest way to do that is by using Coinbase, the most popular cryptocurrency app.
When a firm like Techstars believes that augmented reality is an attractive industry to invest in, there's a high probability that it's right.
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.
The de Blasio Administration of New York City has announced that the NYU Tandon School of Engineering will be hosting the country's first publicly funded VR/AR facility.
The leading platforms enabling augmented reality technology lead our headlines in Market Reality this week.
The coronavirus continues to disrupt the tech industry, including the augmented reality segment, with Apple and the iPhone the latest to feel the impact.
