Augmented Reality News Features

News: Augmented Reality Treasure Hunt Allows You to 'Snatch' Up Free Beer

Free beer and AR? What could be better? Amstel, a Dutch beer brand, has launched an innovative sampling campaign using an AR app called "Snatch." Snatch is a treasure hunt gaming app, and if you win the game, your prize is 10,000 free pints of Amstel beer, redeemable at Mitchell & Butler pubs.

News: Unity & Microsoft Are Giving Away $150,000 for HoloLens Apps & Loaning Out HoloLens Developers Kits

At the Microsoft Build 2017 conference in Seattle this past week, 3D application and game platform Unity, partnering with Microsoft, launched a contest that drives HoloLens developers to realize their ideas into a full-fledged application and possibly win money for it.

News: 'Jurassic World' Movie Sequel Hatches Augmented Reality Book to Accompany Sci-Fi Franchise

The first teaser for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom just hit computer screens on Sunday, but now plans for an augmented reality book for the film have also emerged.

News: This Hackathon Project Turns Any Room into an Art Gallery

One of the first things you'll do with the HoloLens is place little holograms around your room, and it'll look like you have a large figurine collection. Ralph Barbagallo, Edward Dawson-Taylor, and their HoloHacks team decided to take that a bit further and created an app that allows the user to produce and tour virtual art exhibits.

News: Google Stays Nimble with ARCore 1.4 Update, Bringing Passthrough Camera Auto-Focus & Wider Availability

Google's ARCore team is staying busy, as evidenced by yet another update of its augmented reality toolkit.

News: Archer AR App Deputizes Viewers as Detectives

The producers of FX's animated series Archer have devised a plan to introduce augmented reality hijinks into its eighth and penultimate season with a new app for iOS and Android devices.

News: Give the Gift of AR This Holiday Season with These 12 Newbie-Friendly Ideas

If you're a regular reader of Next Reality, you're more likely to spread the joy of augmented reality than most others. But it can be difficult to introduce newbies into the AR fold if you don't give them exactly the right starting point in terms ease-of-use and affordability. But fear not, oh gift-giving AR pioneer, we're here to help!

News: Lionsgate Goes Deep into AR & VR Ads for New 'Saw' Movie 'Jigsaw'

With a new installment of the Saw horror series opening in theaters nationwide this weekend, Lionsgate is betting its ad dollars on immersive advertising to sell tickets.

News: Intel Reveals Vaunt Smartglasses, Normal Looking Glasses That Work with iOS & Android Smartphones

Just a week after news leaked out about Intel's 2018 plans for smartglasses, the company revealed what the device looks like and how it works in a new video (bottom of this page) released on Monday.

Hands-On: Hands-On with CNN's Magic Leap News Video App

Magic Leap has done a great job of aggressively releasing new apps, software updates, and major franchise tie-ins. But aside from all the creative and entertainment apps, what's it like to use one of the apps the company hopes you'll use every day?

News: Snapchat Transports Gucci Fans to Trippy Tropical Island for Holiday Promotion

Baby, it's cold outside, but, with some help from Snapchat augmented reality, Gucci is thawing our wintery hearths with a virtual trip to the tropics.

News: Niantic Levels the Pokémon GO Playing Field Between iPhone & Android with ARCore Support

Players of Pokémon GO on Android now have a reason to turn on AR mode with the release of AR+ support via ARCore.

News: Magic Leap One Passes Through FCC Certification, Setting the Stage for Imminent Release

The rite of passage for every tech product, formally known as Federal Communications Commission (FCC) certification, has come for the Magic Leap One: Creator Edition.

News: Leap Motion Exec Posts Early Peek at Hand Interaction Project via Meta 2

It's been months since Leap Motion, the hand-tracking interface startup, announced the hiring of Keiichi Matsuda as the VP of design and global creative director based in London. Since then, Matsuda's normally active social media stream has been fairly quiet — until now.

News: Brenda Freeman Leaves Behind TV & Film to Join Magic Leap as CMO

Today, December 7, it was officially announced that Magic Leap has found their replacement for the recently departed Brian Wallace. Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz has tapped Brenda Freeman, former EVP and Chief Marketing Officer of National Geographic Channel, as their new Chief Marketing Officer.

News: Apple's ARKit 2.0 Intends to Match & Surpass Google's ARCore with Multiplayer & Persistent Content, Says Report

On the one year anniversary of the introduction of ARKit, Apple is planning to reveal major updates its augmented reality toolkit for mobile apps at its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California next week.

News: Target Taps YouCam for Augmented Reality Cosmetics Web App

Department store chain Target is the latest retailer to offer an augmented reality cosmetics app for customers to virtually try on lipstick.

News: Kohl's Partners With Snapchat AR for Holiday Pop-Up & Black Friday Promotions

All Kohl's wants for Christmas is Snapchat augmented reality. In conjunction with a holiday pop-up hosted in New York City from Nov. 7 through Nov. 10, Snapchat ran a sponsored portal lens available to targeted Snapchat users in the AR carousel. The experience gave users the ability to virtually transport themselves to the pop-up.

News: Slipknot & Guns N' Roses AR Masks on Facebook's AR Camera Let Fans Virtually Wear the Music Experience

While Snapchat augmented reality often embraces pop stars like Drake and Ariana Grande, a couple of bands from the louder side of the music industry have found a home with Facebook.

News: Facebook Is Making It Easier to Post AR Content in Its News Feed

A recent update to Facebook's News Feed could significantly broaden its reach when it comes to delivering augmented reality content.

News: Snapchat Channels Your Inner Coffee Junkie with Branded Bitmoji from McDonald's

With its new Sponsored Lens debuting on Snapchat on Friday, McDonald's is attempting to give potential customers a virtual pick-me-up.

News: How Snapchat Quietly Became the First Social AR Platform

Most augmented/mixed reality hardware still exists in the development stage, whether that's one of the more robust headsets or a high-powered smartphone. Most everything else isn't widely used or monetized. Snapchat, however, snuck in under the radar and created the foundation for the first social network to focus on augmented reality.

News: Visit WandaVision's Reality-Bending Living Room with This Facebook Messenger AR Portal

The new WandaVision series is perhaps the hottest TV show on the Disney Plus streaming service since...well, its own The Mandalorian wrapped up its second season late last year.

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: Snapchat Can Turn Your 12-Pack of Labatt Blue Beer into a Virtual NHL Arena

Bud Light being the official beer sponsor of the NFL just makes sense for American football. But what about the NHL, with hockey being the official winter sport of Canada by decree?

News: Reality Trending — Peering into the Present & Future of Augmented Reality in 2018

While many of you were off surfing and lounging on some sandy beach or trying to figure out how to balance work with sky-high summer temperatures, I've been talking to all the companies that make augmented reality what it is today.

News: Apple's ARKit 3 Casts Next-Level Illusions via Meisai AR App

Now that iOS 13 is in the wild, developers are starting to show off the magical augmented reality powers ARKit 3 can deliver.

News: Wonderscope iPhone App Turns Bedrooms into Stages for Children's Stories in Augmented Reality

Augmented reality content makers often position the technology as a new storytelling medium. And who loves stories more than children?

News: Makers of Ghostbusters World Scare Up Sneak Peek of Gameplay Footage

Sony's Ghost Corps, the caretaker of the Ghostbusters franchise, just released some pre-alpha gameplay footage from the upcoming Ghostbusters World location-based AR game to whet the appetites of would-be hunters of the paranormal.

News: Apple May Finally Be Making an AR Headset, According to Their New Patent

Microsoft has the HoloLens and Google has their money on Magic Leap (as well as their own Tango and Cardboard, among others), but we've heard next to nothing about how Apple plans to enter the virtual/augmented/mixed reality space. A new patent offers some clues.

Apple AR: Apple's ARKit Update Already Being Taken to New Levels in These Developer Experiments

Thanks to Apple's beta preview of iOS 11.3 released last week, app developers are already experimenting with the ARKit capabilities that will be available to regular users this spring.

News: Magic Leap to Launch Twitch Channel Featuring Developer Tutorials, Updates & Interviews

Although Magic Leap's founder Rony Abovitz has a lot to say about his product, what people really want are visuals, and it looks like we're about to get a lot more of those in the coming weeks. In a post on Magic Leap's official announcements forum page, the company revealed that it plans to begin a monthly livestream series on Twitch.

News: Vuzix Sharpens Focus on Consumers with Blade Debut at CES, Adds Amazon Alexa Functionality

If CES 2018 is the starting gate for this year's race to release smartglasses, then Vuzix is already racing down the augmented reality track with its Blade smartglasses.

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: 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: Chairish App Now Lets You Try Before You Buy (With Augmented Reality)

Chairish, Inc. is the latest furniture retailer to bring augmented reality into its mobile stores, adding features for users to visualize products in their homes.

Exclusive: Meta's Ryan Pamplin on the Meta 2 Headset & the Future of Mixed Reality

The future of augmented and mixed reality offers many possibilities, mostly because we're still figuring out everything it can do. While Meta is open to exploration, they've spent a lot of time thinking about what the future of this technology will be.

News: Snapchat's New Augmented Reality Trick Is Literally for the Dogs, Lets You Turn Your Pet into a Nerd or Reindeer

First, there was SnapCat. Now, we have DogChat! Or SnapBark? In October, Snapchat took social media by storm with its Lenses for cats. But the latest addition to the camera app has given dog lovers an augmented reality Christmas gift they won't want to return.

News: NASA Team Headed to Titan in Search of Life Using Microsoft HoloLens As Key Part of the Mission

NASA is going going to Saturn's moon Titan, and the space organization is using augmented reality help them do it.

News: Snapchat Celebrates Pride Month with New Landmark AR Experiences

While the 49th Annual Gay Pride Parade and Festival will take place on Santa Monica Boulevard and West Hollywood Park, revelers will also be able venture Northeast to the TCL Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard to continue celebrating via Snapchat.