augmentedreality
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Red Bull puts an entire mountain in your living room with AR
It's too late for you to catch a plane to Utah and watch Red Bull Rampage, a freeride mountain bike competition featuring some of the best riders in the world, live in person. But you can bring all of the ridges, slopes, and rocky terrain of the Virgin, Utah mountains into your living room using the new augmented reality features in the Red Bull TV app.
Coord's new app will help catalog curb rules on city streets
How often have you stared at a curb, unable to decipher whether you're allowed to leave your car there or not because the parking signs seem completely contradictory? That's just the kind of problem Coord is looking to solve. The company announced that its Surveyor system is now available for anyone to use in the US and Canada. It's aimed at organizations that are surveying American cities; the goal is to catalog as many curbs as possible and store the information in a digital database.
Spatial's collaborative AR platform is basically FaceTime in 3D
One of the many potential use cases for augmented reality headsets like Magic Leap and Microsoft's HoloLens is collaboration in the workplace. Instead of using something like Skype or Slack to have your remote meetings, you could strap on a headset and chat with co-workers in a "face-to-face" setting. One company exploring this idea is Spatial, which created an office collaboration platform that not only lets you chat with colleagues but also manipulate virtual objects in 3D space.
Lyft buys an AR company to bolster its self-driving car efforts
Lyft is ramping up it self-driving car strategy on two fronts. To start, the ridesharing mainstay has acquired Blue Vision Labs, a UK-based augmented reality firm whose underlying technology helps cars both know their location and understand their surroundings. The startup will join Lyft's Level 5 team (that is, working on complete autonomy) to contribute its knowledge. TechCrunch has also learned that Blue Vision will serve as the "anchor" for a London research and development wing.
Shaper's AR-equipped Origin power cutter is going on sale for $2,500
If you've been itching to add AR to your DIY with a handheld CNC, you'll be happy to know that Shaper's Origin augmented reality power cutter will once again be available for purchase. Originally launched in 2016, Origin scans visual markers and then displays a guide on the device's screen to direct where you cut. If you get too far off your design, the blade will retract.
Snapchat's latest Lens creation tools bring 2D objects to life
It might be easier to create and share Snapchat Lenses these days, but Snap clearly knows they need a little more panache. It's adding a trio of Lens Studio templates, with the centerpiece being a brand new marker tracking feature. The template turns 2D items like signs and posters into vivid augmented reality objects by linking animations to them -- place a Snapcode nearby and fellow Snapchatters could discover a new side to those seemingly flat images.
Magic Leap’s first experiences are still highly experimental
There were porgs. Porgs all around me. They cooed, flapped their wings and stared at me, as if begging for a treat. My dreams of being surrounded by the adorable alien birds from Star Wars have come true.
Google's AR Stickers are now appropriately called Playground
For the AR fans out there, Google didn't forget about you during its Made by Google event. The newly renamed Playground app (née AR stickers) brings in animated characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and even virtual Donald "Childish Gambino" Glover's dance moves to Pixel cameras.
Oculus predicts a VR future that includes ultra-thin headsets
Oculus' virtual reality ambitions extend well past standalone headsets. In a talk at Oculus Connect 5, the company's Michael Abrash updated his predictions for the future of VR headset technology. Most notably, he sees an end to the bulky headsets that define the experience today. Pancake lenses (already in use with interchangeable lens cameras) could slim down headsets or lead to ultra-wide fields of view, but the real star may be waveguide displays, where light bounces down extremely thin glass plates. You could see VR headsets that are scarcely thicker than glasses, with images that are as wide as you need. Abrash showed a concept drawing (this isn't a hint at a future product, he stressed) for a headset that would make your Rift or Go look positively ancient, although he wouldn't predict just when you might see such a device.
What will Android look like in the next ten years?
A decade ago, Android launched... to a world of challenges. But back in 2008, Google wasn't worried about artificial intelligence, it was just trying to make a stable mobile operating system. One that stood out in a very crowded playing field. Back then, the competition was Apple, BlackBerry, Nokia/Symbian, Palm and Windows Mobile. By 2009, however, Android's market share was steadily climbing, and by early 2010, sales inched past that of iOS devices (according to Statista). Android's upward trajectory hasn't stopped since. Now, Statista reports 88 percent of all smartphones sold run Google's mobile operating system, with iOS devices making up around 12 percent (based on total sales). What started as an alternative mobile experience for nerds has gone full mainstream. But what does that mean for the future of Android?
Firefox brings the thrills of web browsing to VR
Mozilla's headset-focused web browser is finally ready for your cranium: Firefox Reality is available for HTC Vive, Oculus and Daydream devices through their respective stores. The software is designed from the start for AR and VR hardware, with an interface that revolves around pointer control and voice search. There's a virtual keyboard if you need it, but let's face it -- you'd probably go back to a regular screen if you wanted to type more than once in a blue Moon. And yes, Mozilla knows the flat web isn't so exciting in a headset. The home screen provides fast access to 3D content like Sketchfab models, so you won't be hurting for something to take advantage of AR and VR technology.
Facebook hopes to prove AR is more than selfie filters and games
As I sit surrounded by software engineers in a conference room with no natural light, playing augmented reality games on an iPhone, I forget for a second that I'm in Seattle visiting Facebook. Not Amazon or Microsoft. Facebook, a company that's evolved from a simple social network to a full-on technology behemoth. Here, inside the company's largest engineering hub besides its Menlo Park headquarters, Facebook says people are working on many of the projects that will impact its 10-year road map and mission of "bringing the world closer together," including Games, Groups, Messenger and, of course, ads. But I'm here to talk about one particular emerging technology that the company believes will be key to its future: augmented reality.
CareerBuilder is the latest to jump on the AR bandwagon
How do you spice up a job-finding app when many of them effectively do the same thing? By adding a few buzzword-laden features, apparently. CareerBuilder has launched a revamped iOS app (Android is coming in the "months ahead") where the centerpiece is an augmented reality job search. Think of it as resurrecting Nokia's JobLens -- you're supposed to point your phone at buildings to discover positions (and importantly, salaries) in the world around you. We could see this coming in handy once in a blue Moon when you're just dying to know what people make in a posh-looking office, but you probably aren't going to find a new job wandering around like a lost tourist.
Facebook’s next big augmented reality push is multiplayer games
Even as Facebook faces extreme pressure from Congress on issues like foreign interference and fake news, the company has to remain focused on keeping users tied to its many products. After all, that's how it makes its money. One of the ways Facebook is doing that is by going in heavy on augmented reality. Aside from bringing the technology to its News Feed and main app's camera, Facebook sees AR as the perfect medium to bring a different layer to one particular service: Messenger, where friends interact with one another on a daily basis.
Physical copies of 'Jurassic World' come with an AR baby raptor experience
The franchise hype leading up to the theatrical release of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom earlier in the summer included a slew of AR and VR games. Unsurprisingly, there's another on the way to celebrate the film's home release on September 18th through the Facebook and Messenger mobile apps: An in-store display featuring the film's Indoraptor antagonist, and an insert slipped into physical copies that boots up an interactive baby version of the beloved Velociraptor, Blue.
Samsung found a new smart home evangelist in 'Family Guy'
Samsung gives me smart home fatigue. Enough about Smart Things, enough about how a thousands-of-dollars TV can connect to a new thousand-dollar fridge or washing machine. Enough beautiful families showcasing features in beautiful houses that I can only dream of living in. Samsung's leaning on augmented reality and some Family Guy branding to show the kind of tasks that can be accomplished with connected home assistance -- and make it a little more, well, friendly. With Samsung Galaxy Note 9 in hand, I pointed the camera at an AR doormat to calibrate to the empty room, transforming it into the Griffin household you know and love/tolerate.
Apple acquires a startup that's developing AR lenses
A Bloomberg report from 2017 once claimed that Apple is developing AR glasses slated to start shipping in 2020. The tech giant didn't confirm or deny the report, but based on its latest acquisition, all signs point to yes. Apple has snapped up Akonia Holographics, a Longmont, Colorado-based startup focusing on the development of lenses for augmented reality glasses. The company has confirmed the purchase to Reuters, but refused to elaborate any further: "Apple buys smaller companies from time to time," a spokesperson told the publication, "and we generally don't discuss our purpose or plans."
L'Oreal is bringing AR makeup demos to Instagram
L'Oreal and Facebook want a piece of the excitement surrounding augmented reality this week too. The pair have partnered for virtual try-ons for makeup using the tech, according to Reuters. Where will it show up? On Instagram, naturally, where beautify bloggers and selfie-connisseurs collide with the rest of us. No timeline was given, with Facebook saying "eventually" users should see it crop up in their feeds.
Magic Leap's $2,295 mixed reality headset is available now
It didn't take long for Magic Leap to confirm the rumors of an imminent launch for its mixed reality headset. The startup has announced that its Magic Leap One Creator Edition headset is available as of today. If you're an American developer (or very, very early adopter), you can shell out $2,295 for all the necessary hardware. You currently to live in a major burg to get one, though -- Magic Leap only has "limited quantities" available, and it's offering free in-person delivery and setup in six urban areas (Chicago, LA, Miami, New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle). If you're not in a qualifying area, you'll have to make a reservation.
Facebook adds augmented reality games to Messenger video chats
Hours-long video chats can be great for staying connected to distant friends, but there's bound to be a lull in the conversation at some point. Facebook thinks it can liven up those quiet moments -- it's introducing augmented reality games to Messenger video chats in its mobile apps. As many as six people can play simple competitive titles that make use of your face. You just have to tap the star button and pick a game to let others know you'd like to play.
