News: North Cuts Employees After Slicing Price of Focals Smartglasses
A week after reducing the base price of its Focals smartglasses by nearly 50 percent, wearables maker North is now reducing its workforce.
Volatile Markets Search Results
Market Reality: AR Goes to Court as Meta Infringement Case Unfolds & Epic Games Takes on Nreal for Trademark
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.
News: Bluetooth 5.1 Adds Precision Location, Offers Beacons for Indoor Navigation & More Augmented Reality Experiences
The ability for apps and devices to determine the precise location of physical and virtual objects in space is a key component of augmented reality experiences, and the latest advancements in Bluetooth technology may have a hand in facilitating such location services in the near future.
Market Reality: Meta Comes Clean on Crash, Microsoft Prepares HoloLens 2, & Niantic Captures Another Funding Round
Despite its status as a hot commodity amongst emerging technologies, the augmented reality industry is not immune to the ebbs and flows that occur in every industry.
News: Google Challenges Leap Motion with FCC Approval of Gesture Recognition Alternative
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has cleared a path for Google to move forward with hand-tracking technology that could pose a major threat to Leap Motion.
News: Walmart & Target Unwrap New Augmented Reality Features to Bring in Holiday Shoppers
This year's holiday shopping season is shaping up to be fertile ground for augmented reality to show its worth, as both Walmart and Target have crafted immersive experiences designed to engage shoppers in the coming weeks.
News: Magic Leap Shakes Up C-Suite, Shuffles Two Top Executives to Advisory Roles
In the aftermath of the launch of the Magic Leap One, Magic Leap has ejected two more executives from their leadership roles.
News: Universal Studios Augmented Reality App Lets You Recreate a Scene from 'Welcome to Marwen' Film
In a world where augmented reality is becoming the hero of the movie marketing, Universal Studios has decided to use the technology to reinvent the traditional movie trailer, a time-tested tactic of film promotion, in support of the forthcoming Robert Zemeckis film, Welcome to Marwen.
News: Snap Rolling Out New Spectacles with AR Features by End of Year, Report Says
The augmented reality smartglasses future that Snap founder Evan Spiegel has teased for so long may be closer than many realize.
News: Travelocity Transports Roaming Gnome into Augmented Reality with Its Mobile App
In the latest example of non-tech companies taking on augmented reality marketing, online travel site Travelocity has added an AR version of its Roaming Gnome mascot to its mobile app.
Market Reality: Lyft Acquires Blue Vision, Google & Samsung Invest in AR, & Epic Games Scores Massive Funding Round
With would-be unicorns Magic Leap and Niantic among its investments, Google is an active investor in augmented reality technology. This week, the search giant experienced both ends of the investment cycle, with an exit via Lyft's acquisition of Blue Vision Labs, and a funding round for Resolution Games.
Market Reality: Disney's Bob Iger Leads NR30 AR Investors, Magic Leap Acquires Computes, & Snap to Invest in AR Hardware
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.
News: ThirdEye Reveals X2 Smartglasses Design & Retail Partnership with b8ta
Smartglasses maker ThirdEye has announced that its X1 model wearable will be updated by the slimmer, as yet unreleased X2 model. Both devices will be promoted and sold through its partner, brick and mortar technology retailer b8ta.
News: Meta Company's Funding Fallout Followed by Furloughs, Report Says
After a $20 million funding round fell through, augmented reality headset maker Meta Company has been forced to furlough (or place on temporary leave of absence) approximately 65% of its workforce for 30 days.
News: Warner Bros. Conjures 'The Nun' Snapchat AR Lens to Scare Up Ticket Sales
The latest sponsored augmented reality experience on Snapchat from a movie studio might be its scariest — and perhaps most popular — yet.
News: Pizza Hut Teams Up with NFL for Scannable Pizza Boxes & Augmented Reality Beanbag Game
After parting ways with Papa John's, the National Football League has drafted Pizza Hut as its official pizza purveyor, and the company has hit the field with an augmented reality game to entertain hungry football fans.
News: New Line of Augmented Reality-Powered Wines Celebrate Women's Empowerment via Historical Figures
Just in time for Women's Equality Day on Aug. 26, Treasury Wine Estates is breaking out a line of wines with augmented reality experiences that pay tribute to historically famous women.
News: L'Oréal Brings Its Modiface AR Makeup Platform to Facebook Camera
Already one of the leaders in augmented reality for cosmetics, L'Oréal is extending the reach of its ModiFace virtual try-on platform through a partnership with Facebook.
News: Magic Leap Sheds Light on Lumin OS, Disney Creates AR's Future, & The New York Times Innovates on AR Strategy
Magic Leap has earned a reputation for overt secrecy, but as it nears the highly-anticipated launch of the Magic Leap One, the company is spilling some of the beans. This week, we get a heaping helping of information on the Lumin OS, as well as a couple of great demos.
News: Facebook Brings Augmented Reality Ads to Its News Feed
Facebook is preparing to make augmented reality experiences for brands more visible in its mobile app with Tuesday's introduction of augmented reality ads in its News Feed.
News: Rémy Martin Distills Art Through Augmented Reality App to Promote Its Cognac
Another branding team has stepped up to the bar to order a tall glass of augmented reality for its marketing campaign, this time through a mobile app for Rémy Martin VSOP Limited Edition cognac.
News: Zappar's ZapWorks Promises to Give Anyone the Power to Create Complex AR Experiences Without Coding Experience
Another entrant into the do-it-yourself AR content creation market has emerged, as Zappar has updated its ZapWorks Studio software to include features for development newbies.
News: First App for Meta 2 Headset Lets You View 3D CAD Models in Augmented Reality
Augmented reality headset maker Meta Company unveiled Meta Viewer, its first software application, during its keynote at the Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara on Wednesday.
News: Retailers Benefit from Augmented Reality in Operations & Online Sales Over In-Store Experiences, Research Says
Although retailers like Mac Cosmetics and Zara have been celebrated for deploying innovative in-store augmented reality experiences in their brick-and-mortar locations, a new report throws cold water on the practice.
News: Snapchat Rides AR Ads to Boost in Revenue Despite Redesign Hiccups
During Snap Inc.'s quarterly earnings report, released on Tuesday, the company disclosed that it snagged a revenue total of $230.8 million for the first quarter of 2018, an increase of 54% compared to last year, largely fueled by its augmented reality offerings and other advertising products.
News: WaveOptics Enlists Waveguide Manufacturing Partner to Help Produce Lower-Cost, Mainstream AR Smartglasses
On Thursday, waveguide maker WaveOptics announced that semiconductor and microelectromechanical systems supplier EV Group (EVG) will provide the manufacturing infrastructure for the production of its waveguide displays designed to support lower-cost, third-party augmented reality wearables.
News: ARCore Closes Gap with ARKit via Image Recognition from Viro Media
Upon Google's release of ARCore in February, the platform wasn't only playing catch-up with Apple and ARKit in terms of downloads, but it also lagged in capabilities, as Apple already had vertical surface recognition and image recognition on the way with ARKit 1.5 for a March release.
News: Apple's Education-Focused iPad Event Pushes Augmented Reality Further into the Classroom
At Apple's education event in Chicago on Tuesday, augmented reality stood at the head of the class among the tech giant's new offerings for the classroom.
News: Google Debuts an ARCore Exclusive with Curate App from Sotheby's International Realty
Just weeks after officially launching its mobile augmented reality toolkit, Google can now claim one of its first Android and ARCore app exclusives with the Curate app from Sotheby's International Realty.
News: Galaxy S9 & S9+ Will Support T-Mobile's New 600 MHz LTE Band — Rural Users Rejoice
In 2017, after purchasing a majority of the 600 MHz frequency, T-Mobile began a massive rollout of the new LTE Bands across the US. However, there are currently only two devices that support the frequency, also known as LTE Band 71. Thanks to a recent FCC listing, we've learned this number will double when the Galaxy S9 and S9+ debut next month.
News: Vuzix Launches Program Allowing Consumers to Order Blade AR Smartglasses Along with Business & Developer Customers
After Vuzix's scorching hot week at CES, the future of AR is so bright, we have to wear (smart) shades. Luckily, Vuzix is making it easier for consumers to grab a pair.
How To: Binance Trading Pairs Help You Keep Track of Your Favorite Coins' Values
With the sheer number of alt-coins that you can buy and sell on Binance — Ripple (XRP), Stellar (XLM), and NEO to name a few — keeping track of coins you're interested in is a hassle. But with the tap of a button, you can mark trades and alt-coins that are on your radar for quick access on your Binance account.
News: See & Feel a Supercar in Augmented Reality with Ultrahaptics on the Meta 2
With today's augmented reality experiences, we can see and hear virtual content, but Ultrahaptics wants you to be able to feel those experiences, too.
News: Nissan Brings the Force of Star Wars to Its Dealerships with Augmented Reality
The Star Wars saga may have occurred a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but Nissan is using a futuristic technology to bring stormtroopers and droids into its dealerships.
Apple AR: Blippar Charts New Territory with Launch of First AR Navigation App for iPhones & iPads
Mobile AR developer Blippar has achieved a breakthrough by releasing what appears to be the first commercially-available AR navigation app.
News: Olympus Muscles in on Google Glass Territory with Enterprise AR Smartglasses
When it comes to augmented reality smartglasses, for now, it's still a mostly enterprise world, since the form and function of most are more acceptable on a job site versus your local cafe, and the still high price tags are far more palatable to major companies rather than individuals.
Brief Reality: Mobile AR Apps Help Save Rhinos (& Sell Stuff)
Mobile apps themselves are not always the end product or service for generating revenue. More often, they are deployed as tactics within a larger marketing or public relations strategy.
News: Social Fresh CEO Jason Keath Explains Why AR Will Become a Massive Business Platform
Innovation Congress starts tomorrow, but its creator, Jason Keath, spoke to Next Reality today about the future of augmented reality.
News: Zappar Pitches Baseball AR Mini-Game for Wise Snacks
Wise Snacks wants baseball fans to reach for potato chips instead of peanuts and Cracker Jacks, and it's calling augmented reality out of the bullpen to close the deal.
Today's Top News: China Is Cracking Down on US & Euro Driverless Mapping with New Restrictions
The Chinese government's tight restrictions on gathering data by foreign firms for 3D mapping, the lifeblood of machine-taught driverless systems, could at least slow down access to the market by Waymo, Tesla, General Motors (GM), Ford, and other players hoping to make inroads there.