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AR pioneer Blippar is going out of business
Pioneering augmented reality startup Blippar, once touted as a $1.5 billion British tech unicorn, has stumbled into administration. The company said that it failed to secure the funding it needed to reach profitability following a dispute with one of its shareholders. Corporate insolvency firm David Rubin & Partners announced on Monday that it was appointed as Blippar's administrators by a UK court.
AR navigation app promises better accuracy than GPS alone
You may have seen augmented reality navigation before, but the arrival of AR-native frameworks is making it considerable slicker and more accessible. Case in point: Blippar. Its just-launched AR City app for iOS uses Apple's ARKit to clearly outline where you have to walk, and highlights nearby points of interest based on what you can actually see. And more importantly, it promises to be more accurate than GPS alone. The app uses visual inertial odometry (that is, interpreting movement seen through the camera) to minimize distance errors and prevent you from turning on to a side street by mistake.
AR comic book spreads awareness about sexual violence in India
An augmented reality comic book called Priya's Shakti aims to open people's eyes to how badly rape survivors are treated in India. A life-sized version is now coming to the US, and you'll have the chance to see it at the City Lore Gallery in NYC on May 7th. Priya's Shakti tells the tale of rape survivor Priya, who was chosen by Parvati (the Hindu goddess of love, fertility and devotion) to become her envoy in the fight against gender-based violence. The 32-page comic has hidden AR animation and videos in its pages that you can see through the Blippar app for iOS, Android or Windows. Blippar also helped creators Ram Devineni, Vikas K. Menon and Dan Goldman add AR content to the murals painted in several locations around India to promote the project.
US billboards to display interactive paintings to teach you art history
Several billboards in Times Square displayed something a lot different than the usual on August 4th -- instead of ads, they displayed some of the most recognizable American paintings. What happened in Times Square marks the launch of the Art Everywhere US project, which touts itself as the "largest outdoor art exhibition ever conceived." Its organizers plan to showcase 58 artworks (voted by people out of the original 100, with Edward Hopper's Nighthawks topping the list) across the country throughout the month of August.
