Market Reality: Meta Company & Leap Motion Find New Owners as AWE 2019 Wraps Up
The annual Augmented World Expo (AWE) typically packs the front page of Next Reality with new products and services from companies in the augmented reality industry.
Unofficial Market Search Results
News: Samsung Joins Niantic in Backing DigiLens with $50 Million Funding Round
Smartglasses are the future of augmented reality, and Samsung is betting on waveguide maker DigiLens to emerge as a leader in the growing AR wearable industry.
News: Facebook Searching for More Troops to Work at Oculus on AR Product Design & Marketing
At its F8 developer's conference in 2016, Facebook went on record with a roadmap that called for augmented reality integration into Oculus within 10 years. Now, it appears as though Facebook is accelerating those plans.
Market Reality: As the HoloLens 2 Arrives, Magic Leap Aligns with SK Telecom & CNN
On Sunday, Microsoft did what everyone expected the company to do by unveiling the long awaited HoloLens 2.
News: RealMax Returns to CES with Production Model of Qian AR Headset with Industry-Leading Field of View
Last year at CES, RealMax blew away the AR headset competition with a prototype AR headset surpassing 100 degrees field of view.
News: WaveOptics Sets Sights on Expansion of AR Optics Operations with $26 Million in New Funding
Augmented reality optics maker WaveOptics has just infused its operations with a fresh round of funding to facilitate its objective of bringing consumer-grade smartglasses at a $600 price point to market in 2019.
Market Reality: L'Oreal's Rochet Leads NR30's AR Influencers & Magic Leap Demonstrates Its Own Influence at L.E.A.P. Con
This week, Next Reality released the fifth and final set of profiles on the NR30 leaders in augmented reality, with this chapter focusing on the influencers in the industry.
Market Reality: More Magic Leap One Details Unearthed, Apple Adds to Its AR Team, & Snapchat Learns New Tricks
The arrival of Magic Leap One is tantalizingly close and, although the company has been saving the last details for launch day, a few of the more important details were found this week hiding deep in the code on Magic Leap's website.
Market Reality: Magic Leap Builds Content Arsenal, Unreal Engine Updates for Mobile AR, & AR Cloud Expands
If you're not impressed with the current crop of AR content, and you're worried this may put a damper on the industry's growth, these stories should give you cause for some optimism.
Market Reality: AT&T Invests in Magic Leap, Facebook & Snapchat Continue AR Duel
As it prepares to ship its first product by the end of the summer, Magic Leap has managed to impress yet another high-profile investor in telecommunications giant AT&T.
How To: Use Firefox Rocket to Browse the Web Faster & Save Data on Any Android
Mozilla has created yet another browser for Android. Similar to Firefox Focus, Firefox Rocket was designed to address specific problems: limited internal storage and low data caps. However, in the process of solving these problems, they created one of the fastest browsers on the market.
News: Unity 2018.2 Release Continues Optimization of 3D Content Performance for Mobile Devices & Desktops
On Tuesday, Unity released the latest version of its 3D engine, which brings improvements to the Scriptable Render Pipeline that the company introduced earlier this year.
News: Google Makes Case for ARCore Apps to Educators & Marketers
When it comes to mass adoption, augmented reality is still primarily a mobile world, so Google is pitching its own ARCore flavor of mobile AR to the education and marketing segments.
Market Reality: Snapchat Expands Ad Offerings, Magic Leap Takes Flight with Content, & Microsoft Readies New HoloLens
At present, consumer-facing augmented reality is a mobile world, and Snapchat is making money on it through advertising partnerships.
Market Reality: Apple Assembles AR Team, Google & Amazon Invest in New UI, & Qualcomm Powers Next Vuzix & Meta Devices
The Augmented World Expo is winding down in Santa Clara, where Qualcomm, Vuzix, and Meta Company were among the companies making big announcements.
News: New DigiLens Waveguide Displays for Motorcycle Helmets Are Thinner, Lighter & Cheaper
Less than a week after securing a $25 million Series C funding round for automotive HUDs, DigiLens has introduced a new waveguide display for motorcycle helmets that's thinner, lighter, brighter, and manufactured at a lower cost.
News: 7-Eleven Joins Forces with 'Deadpool 2' for Augmented Reality App & In-Store Experience
With the theatrical premiere of Deadpool 2 less than two weeks away, the hype train for the sequel to 2016's surprise R-rated hit is gaining steam, and augmented reality is on board for the ride.
Marketing: Snapchat Sells Advertisers on Augmented Reality with New E-Commerce Features
In an effort to help its advertising partners close sales with its sponsored augmented reality camera effects, Snapchat has launched a set of e-commerce tools designed to encourage users to buy products directly in the app.
Market Reality: Magic Leap's Branding Comes into Focus, Google Backs AR Cloud, & L'Oreal Takes Over AR Beauty
Noted poet T.S. Elliot once wrote that "April is the cruelest month." But Magic Leap might argue that March is the most miserable, as the Ides of March brought more legal woes to augmented reality startup. Elsewhere, its closely-held branding secrets have been spilled by way of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Market Reality: Upskill Fields Funding, Leap Motion Faces Lawsuit & Intel Confronts Challenges of AR Adoption
Augmented reality business followers, we've got good news and bad news. First, the good news: Upskill closed another round of funding, this time led by strategic investors Cisco and Accenture. (Well, this is probably bad news if you're competing with them on the enterprise AR front.)
Market Reality: Magic Leap, Microsoft & Movie Theaters Reveal Big Money Plans for AR
In any business, there are a number of questions companies must answer in order to get customers to buy a product or service. The same holds true for companies selling augmented reality headsets.
News: This Is How Big Business, Cities & Native American Tribes Are Leveraging the Power of AR via DAQRI Headsets
While the mainstream consumer market waits for cool augmented glasses to arrive from Magic Leap, or maybe even Snap Inc. (Spectacles 2.0??), AR headset maker DAQRI and its business customers are finding new, money-saving and time-saving use cases for the technology today.
News: This AR Headset Surpasses the Field of View of HoloLens, but You Still Won't Wear It in Public
Digital imaging company OmniVision Technologies and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI) entered the CES fray this week with a new reference design for an augmented reality headset capable of 60 degrees field of view (FoV).
Market Reality: Magic Leap One Says Hello, Google Tango Waves Goodbye & Honda Uses AR for CSR
Everything that has a beginning has an end. This week marked the end of the long wait for the reveal of Magic Leap's first product and the beginning of the wait for more substantive details. Likewise, Google Tango will meet its end in March 2018, when ARCore will officially begin its public rollout.
Market Reality: Apple Funds Its AR Device Production Future, the Snapchat vs. Facebook War Heats Up & Airbnb Goes AR
With an eye toward future iPhone X-focused augmented reality functions, Apple's new investment in one of its components vendors will increase production capacity for the technology behind its TrueDepth camera, but could also apply to its future AR ambitions.
News: Lumus Licensing Deal with Quanta Could Pave Path to First Generation of Consumer Smartglasses
Transparent display maker Lumus has reached a deal to license its augmented reality optical engine models to Quanta Computers for mass production of displays for consumer smartglasses.
Market Reality: This Is How AR Is Changing Things at Amazon, Apple & Snapchat
During its third-quarter earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that "AR is going to change everything."
Market Reality: Auto Industry Ramps Up AR Use via Microsoft & Snapchat
Between Renault Truck's testing of the HoloLens in factories and BMW promoting its newest model through Snapchat, the auto industry is hot for augmented reality to improve internal operations and engage consumers.
Market Reality: Apple Presents Bright Future for AR, While Snap Shows Reality of Glum Present
We may have to wait a few years before they arrive, but reports of Apple's headset taking shape in Cupertino gives the tech world hope that its white knight for consumer AR is on its way.
Market Reality: Lenovo's Star Wars AR Headset vs. iPhone X Launch Day, Niantic Acquires Evertoon & More
When the Super Bowl airs, every other TV network puts on reruns because no one wants to face that juggernaut for ratings. The launch of a new iPhone is the Super Bowl of the tech world, with the launch of the iPhone X being the biggest one yet.
Market Reality: Level Ex Closes $11 Million in Financing, While Gaze Coin Seeks $12 Million through ICO
According to Digi-Capital, investors poured $1.8 billion into augmented and virtual reality companies over the last 12 months, including $300 million in the third quarter. These investments are not made without a means to monetize products and services.
Market Reality: AR Investors & Influencers Respond to Apple's Big AR 'Meh'
The launch of the latest line of iPhones came and went without major revelations for advanced AR hardware other than the next iteration of processors and cameras.
Market Reality: Techstars Seeks Startups for Accelerator Program
Outside of early military applications, augmented reality is a relatively new technology. It stands to reason that the next company to make a splash in AR would be a startup, and Techstars wants to help.
Market Reality: Immersv Closes Funding Round While Lampix Completes Coin Offering
This week, two companies looking to capitalize on the growing augmented reality industry, raised funding from starkly different sources.
Market Reality: Vuzix Reports Sales Growth & Partners with Blackberry
As more companies begin adopting augmented reality in the workplace, providers like Vuzix reap the benefits.
Market Reality: Augmented Reality Demonstrates Value for Business & Recreation
We continue to field stories underscoring the strong trends of Investment in augmented reality in various sectors. This week, one company strengthens their offerings to the enterprise sector, while two other companies capitalize on the promise presented by augmented reality to consumers – specifically, in gaming.
Brief Reality: Augmented Reality Companies Earn Accolades for Innovation
A pair of organizations recognized companies working in augmented reality for their innovative technologies over the past week. Meanwhile, another company used augmented reality for a sector that is overdue for a technology makeover, while another company has developed new camera modules that could usher in the next evolution of mobile AR.
News: Hella & ZF Want to Go Big Together in Cameras, Radar
German groups ZF Friedrichshafen AG and HELLA are collaborating to add to their autonomous portfolios with camera and radar development.
Market Reality: Augmented & Virtual Reality Represent Leading Growth Segment in Entertainment & Media
A report by PwC highlights that immersive experiences in augmented and virtual reality represent the fastest growing segment of the entertainment and media industry over the next six years. News from two companies working in the industry, Fox and NetDragon, underscore the growth forecast.
Market Reality: Aira Raises Funding for Visual Interpreter Service
Over the past week, we are seeing more companies capitalizing on services leveraging augmented reality. One company secured funding to expand their service, while two other companies grow its own services through acquisition.