mixedreality
Latest
HoloLens is helping Ford designers prototype cars quicker
When Google released Glass Enterprise, it took a consumer-oriented product written off as privacy-invading nonsense and made it incredibly useful for businesses. Microsoft is effectively doing the same with its $3,000, not-yet-for-consumers HoloLens by introducing it to designers who find that price a relative bargain. Take Ford, which has been testing HoloLens over the last year to help stylists and engineers visualize and test products, considerably shortening the design phase.
Microsoft is holding a Mixed Reality event on October 3rd
In case it wasn't already clear that Microsoft is big on the concept of mixed reality (read: augmented and virtual reality), the company is about to drive the point home. It's inviting the media to a Windows Mixed Reality event in San Francisco on October 3rd, and it promises that you'll see "where Microsoft is headed next" in the wearable technology space. For the most part, this will revolve around the plethora of WMR headsets arriving on October 17th alongside Windows 10's Fall Creators Update. We'd expect Microsoft to highlight games and other software experiences that take advantage of the hardware, too.
Nike made me a pair of custom sneakers in 46 minutes
Last week, Nike announced the launch of its Makers' Experience, an invite-only, limited-time event where people can design a pair of shoes and have them made in less than hour. And today we had the chance to check it out for ourselves at the company's By You Studio in New York City, a space created to take you through the process of making your own custom shoe from start to finish. That means being able to choose from a set of four different graphic packs, including the camouflage pattern pictured above, and the colors you want on the upper of your sneakers. The midsole will be white by default.
ASUS’s first mixed reality headset has plenty of pleasant surprises
ASUS has been teasing us with details of its Windows Mixed Reality headset, but now is ready to let folks try it for themselves. At IFA 2017, we were also able to spend a decent amount of time using the Windows Mixed Reality controllers that will ship with it. The short version of it all is that both devices have no business being this good, and it bodes very well for the future of the platform.
Jaguar makes first hire through Gorillaz mixed-reality app
In June, Jaguar Land Rover launched its code-breaking recruitment puzzle in the Gorillaz mixed-reality app in order to attract new talent to its team and fast-track successful players through the interview process. Today, the company has announced that it has made its first hire through the app and he'll be joining the company next month.
Windows 10 Fall Creators Update may arrive on October 17th
We've known that Microsoft planned to release a large Windows 10 update this fall, but the company has been mum on the exact date. The Fall Creators Update is slated to feature some big changes, too, including built-in AI to fight malware, new Cortana features and handwriting recognition. While many expected bi-annual updates for Windows 10 starting in September, PC World reports that hardware partner Lenovo leaked a Windows 10 ship date of October 17th on a since-deleted product page for its upcoming two-in-one PC, the Miix 520.
Watch ASUS' IFA 2017 event in under seven minutes
The first official day of IFA 2017 isn't until Friday, September 1st, but the pre-event festivities are already in full force. Like Acer and Samsung, ASUS had its big press conference today in Berlin, where it revealed a slew of new mainstream, multimedia and gaming laptops. It also shared more details about its upcoming Windows Mixed Reality headset, which promises to be a solid, premium device -- so don't expect it to be cheap. You can catch these and other announcements in this highlight reel we put together, just for you.
Get ready for 'Halo' in VR
Microsoft regularly uses Halo as a selling point for its technology (see: the original Xbox), and that's definitely true in the virtual reality era. The tech pioneer and 343 Industries have revealed that they're working on Halo mixed reality experiences. The two aren't saying anything more at this early stage, but it's safe to say these offerings will run on Windows Mixed Reality headsets whenever they're ready... and of course, Microsoft is bound to hype them to the hilt.
You can finally stuff your head into a Windows VR headset
After a few months of waiting, you can snap up a Windows Mixed Reality headset for yourself... if you meet the right conditions, that is. Microsoft is now selling both the Acer and HP Developer Edition headsets at respective prices of $299 and $329, but only to developers -- you can't pick one up just because you think an Oculus Rift is too expensive, unfortunately. The HP model is also out of stock as of this writing, so you can't be too picky.
Disney plans to make augmented reality a shared experience
Augmented and mixed reality experiences tend to be solo affairs: you're either looking at your phone or wearing a headset. For Disney Research, that's not nearly social enough. Its scientists have created the Magic Bench, a blend of augmented and mixed reality that entire groups can share. It uses the combination of a camera and a depth sensor to produce a 3D recreation of you and the bench, letting virtual characters and objects interact with you as if they were there. And the seating is key to this -- it can tell the system how many people are present, where they're facing, and vibrate when a digital actor sits down. The activity you participate in depends directly on how many people are involved and what they're doing.
Magic Leap is still figuring out what 'mixed reality' is
Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz recently said at an investor conference that the company's 'mixed reality' headset (?) "is not far away" from launch, whatever that really means. While the mysterious startup might be closing in on consumer-ready hardware, it's still in the process of discovering exactly what 'mixed reality' is. Delivering the opening keynote at gaming conference Develop:Brighton today, Magic Leap's Graeme Devine said, "There's huge expectations that mixed reality will come of the gate and, oh boy! It'll be here and it'll be just like Minority Report right away... And no, we've never seen that with any platform. So that ask is impossible."
Inside The Mill’s mind-bending alternate reality art showcase
I stepped inside a small, dark room in a large, airy loft space in New York's Soho district early Wednesday morning. Our host fitted me with an HTC Vive and told to explore the world around me. Within moments, I was trapped in a glass box, surrounded by other people, also wearing VR headsets, also trapped in glass boxes, one of whom continued to claw at the glass until both of our headsets were consumed by our own flesh. We were one with the machines. Over the next two hours I watched semi-autonomous robots run in circles, randomly scribbling on large sheets of butcher paper; pulled the virtual puppet strings of a CGI llama that lip synced to Mariah Carey; watched as Reeps One, a world-famous dubstep beatboxer, created unique digital sculptures with the incredibly nuanced tones of his voice; and floated through a VR dreamscape using my breathing and brain waves to propel me upward.
Apple is the perfect anti-VR test case
Apple shined a dull spotlight on virtual reality during its WWDC keynote yesterday, introducing VR support for macOS and a beefed-up, VR-capable version of the new iMac. This marks Apple's first real dive into VR, and, honestly, it's too little, too late. The potential of modern VR has been looming over the technology industry for nearly five years now, exciting consumers and prompting plenty of companies to develop their own support systems and hardware for this strange new virtual world. But until yesterday, it was impossible to natively develop or even run VR experiences on an Apple machine. The first instance of built-in VR support for macOS developers comes about a year after Google, Facebook, Samsung, HTC and Sony actually put their VR headsets on stores shelves, and Apple hasn't hinted that it's working on any proprietary hardware. Apple's nod to VR, one year late, feels like a lackluster reaction to an evolving industry rather than a prescient foray into a new and thrilling technological landscape. It feels a lot like Apple doesn't believe in VR.
Give any VR headset mixed reality powers with this 3D camera
While Microsoft's HoloLens is the first augmented-reality headset you can actually try (if you're a developer, anyway), it's also pretty inaccessible thanks to its $3,000 price. Late last year, Stereolabs announced a potential solution in the form of the Linq, a mixed reality headset that will hopefully retail for less than $1,000. It offers a much wider field of view (110 degrees) and the ability to map a 3D space in real time, mostly thanks to the company's ZED 3D camera that's embedded in the headset itself. Today, however, the company is announcing an even cheaper device that'll transform any VR headset into an AR one: the ZED Mini.
Microsoft shows off Windows VR headsets from ASUS and Dell
We've already seen Windows 10 VR headsets from HP, Acer and Dell, and now we can add ASUS to the mix. During its Computex keynote today, Microsoft revealed ASUS's headset for the first time, along with a new look for Dell's entry. They share similar-looking forehead-strap designs, but Dell's goes for minimalism, whereas ASUS aims for a bit of polygonal bling.
Microsoft's true holographic display fits in your glasses
A lot of the technology billed as holographic, well, isn't. Not even HoloLens. Real holography requires a laser-generated 3D image, and it's no mean feat to stuff that into something you can comfortably wear. Microsoft just made some important progress, however. Its researchers have developed a true, near-eye holographic whose optics can fit inside a regular pair of glasses. The mirrors and the liquid crystal on silicon needed to achieve the effect sit inside the frame -- it's only the electronics that have to stay outside. While this extra-compact size would normally result in an unusable picture, corrections in the holographic projector make it easy to read details down to individual pixels.
Acer's and HP's Windows Mixed Reality headsets go on pre-order today
Microsoft's plan to bring augmented and virtual reality experiences to everyone is about to get a major boost. At its Build developer conference, the company announced that Acer's and HP's Windows Mixed Reality headsets will go on pre-order today in the US and Canada. The devices, which are geared toward developers, are expected to ship this summer from the Microsoft Store starting at $299 for the Acer headset. HP's, meanwhile, costs $329.
Microsoft HoloLens becomes an AR assistant for spinal surgery
Since the HoloLens was introduced, Microsoft has pitched it as both a gaming peripheral and a practical assistant in the workplace. Professionals have already started using its augmented reality tech to help out, from building engineers donning it to visualize structural blueprints or Duke surgeons testing it during brain operations. Those were preliminary applications, but augmented reality software company Scopis has released a platform for HoloLens specifically to aid in spinal surgeries.
Microsoft helps you see mixed reality with only a webcam
You won't need HoloLens or some other special headset to experience mixed reality in the classroom. Microsoft is preparing View Mixed Reality, a built-in viewer for Windows 10 that will make it easy to see virtual 3D objects (created in 3D Paint) in the real world. All you need is a PC with a webcam -- preferably rear-facing, of course. If teachers want to show you the relative size of a Mars rover, they just have to load the viewer and give you a look. View Mixed Reality will be available sometime this fall, and it can also be used on Windows Mixed Reality hardware arriving in a similar timeframe. Check out all the news from the MicrosoftEDU event here.
Filmmaker Ridley Scott is committing to VR in a big way
Filmmaker Ridley Scott isn't a stranger to using emerging tech to push his creative vision. I mean, for all of Prometheus' faults, Scott's use of 3D wasn't one of them. Back in 2015 Scott said he was working on a a mystery VR project, so today's news that his RSA Films outfit is launching RSA VR as a company "dedicated" to virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed media perhaps isn't too surprising. However, it does signal that Scott has an eye to the future beyond whatever timelines the Alien and Blade Runner universes take place in. In fact, the first project for RSA VR is a previously-announced Alien: Covenant vignette.
