Augmented Reality News Features
News: I Spent a Full Day Working in the Magic Leap One & Discovered the AR Office of the Future
Why do you need augmented reality? Because enterprise, they say. And while that's certainly true for several disciplines, there's still that mainstream use case hanging out there waiting for users to discover beyond the realm of enterprise and gaming.
Have You Seen This?: New 'Crayon' HoloLens App Brings Back the Fun of Drawing on Walls
Crayon, a free 3D drawing application by the mysteriously named arkalian, showed up in the Windows Store recently, so I gave it a try like I do all new apps for Windows Holographic. Truthfully, I loaded it up not expecting much, but wow, was I wrong. It's a simple idea, but it's executed well enough to make it a truly great experience on the HoloLens.
News: Coachella Partnered with Camera IQ to Alter Your Festival Experience with Hidden AR Easter Egg Hunts & More
Any stoked Coachella-goers out there? Well, get even more excited, because the celebrated music festival has partnered with virtual reality company vantage.tv and software platform Camera IQ this year to take the Coachella VR/AR app to augmented reality paradise.
How To: View Art from Your Chromecast in Augmented Reality
The Chromecast TV streaming lineup from Google is one of the more popular products in the category, primarily due to its low price tag and broad app support.
Apple AR: Color BlastAR Rides the Rainbow from Tango to ARKit
Mobile game companies Hit Point Studios and Legacy Games have adapted their Color BlastAR augmented reality game for iOS with the ARKit platform.
News: Magic Leap Experiencing Yet Another Major Executive Shake-Up, Report Says
Just when everything seemed settled over at Magic Leap, it turns out that the internal tumult is still in play.
How To: Cheat at Pokémon GO Without Getting Banned
Gotta catch 'em all, right? That's easier said than done, considering that Pokémon GO has region-specific characters that you may never get a chance to see. Sure, you can spoof your GPS location to make the augmented reality game think you're at a different spot on the map, but Niantic Labs seems to be catching on to this method, and some users have been soft-banned for a few hours after trying it.
Apple AR: This App Uses the iPhone X's TrueDepth Camera to Conjure 3D Illusions
A Swedish digital artist has developed an app for the iPhone X that creates mind-bending 3D illusions that correlate to the user's point of view.
News: Sherwin-Williams Uses Augmented Reality to Take the Guesswork Out of Paint Color Selection
Do you see a red door and wonder if it might be a good idea to paint it black? You could "ask Ask Sherwin-Williams," or, better yet, you could just ask the new augmented reality features in the retailer's mobile app.
News: Snapchat Gives Movie Fans Augmented Reality Superpowers with Voice-Activated 'Shazam!' Lens
When the titular hero of your superhero movie activates his powers with a catchphrase, it would be pretty neat if your augmented reality promotion for that film could react to the user's voice.
News: Disney's 'Maleficent' Brings Its Magic to YouTube with Augmented Reality Make-Up Experience
Dark mode themes for mobile apps are all the rage these days, but YouTube is taking that a bit literally with its latest augmented reality experience.
News: Trimble Brings Mixed Reality to the Construction Site with DAQRI Smart Helmet
Trimble is integrating its mixed reality applications into the DAQRI Smart Helmet to enable outdoor and on-site support for design, construction, and heavy industry as part of a collaboration the companies announced today.
Apple AR: Developer Opens Portal to Underwater World with ARKit
Building virtual portals are popular practice for developers to demonstrate the "wow" factor of augmented reality.
News: Now the HoloLens Can Measure Your Heart Rate by Scanning Your Face
Researchers have developed a new method that harnesses the power of augmented reality to detect a patient's heart rate using a Microsoft HoloLens and computer vision.
News: Starbucks Uses Instagram AR to Promote Sustainability via Holiday Campaign
Starbucks is spicing things up ahead of this holiday season with a little augmented reality joy. This week the company launched its first Instagram filter, called Holijoy, delivered like an early Christmas gift and packing four seasonal lenses.
News: Microsoft's HoloLens 2 Team Answers More Questions About Biometric Security, Audio, & Hand Tracking
Now that the dust has finally settled on Microsoft's big HoloLens 2 announcement, the company is circling back to offer more granular detail on some aspects of the device we still don't know about.
News: ODG's New R-7HL Are the First Rugged Smartglasses Made Specifically for the Industrial Workforce
Osterhout Design Group just announced the upcoming release of the newest addition to their smartglasses lineup, the R-7HL, short for R-7 Hazardous Location. ODG worked directly with customers who work in extreme environments to come up with a durable solution that fits their needs; These smartglasses can not only survive but function well in many areas that would otherwise be considered too harsh for augmented reality tech.
Hands-On: Magic Leap's Screens App Is the Closest Thing to a Killer App for the Magic Leap One, For Now
By now, you already know that the Magic Leap One ships with an array of apps to immediately get you accustomed to operating in your new spatial computing reality. The first one we're going to focus on is Screens, an app we told you about previously, but only now have managed to try for ourselves.
Video: Haptics Make Holograms Touchable on the HoloLens
Imagine wearing your HoloLens, then reaching out to touch a hologram and actually feeling it. Mind blown, right?! Now imagine that same hologram responding to your touch. I don't mean in the way holograms currently respond to an air tap, but a much more refined and precise touch. Maybe you touch a character on the shoulder and it turns around to see you, or maybe you hit a button in the air and it reacts accordingly.
News: Mimesys Brings Its Version of Augmented Reality Video Calling to Magic Leap via Intel RealSense
The release of Avatar Chat for Magic Leap One and Spatial for HoloLens during the fourth quarter of 2018 appeared to revolutionize video calling via augmented reality.
News: BMW Uses ARKit to Let You Customize Your New Car in iOS
Last month, BMW rolled out its playful take on augmented reality with Snapchat, and now the automaker is bringing that same immersive computing whimsy to iOS directly.
News: This AR App Could Make Your Next Dentist Visit Less Frightening
For some, going to the dentist can be a terrifying experience, but a new use of augmented reality could go a long way toward making the trip feel more like it's worth the orthodontic angst.
News: Apple Park Visitor Center Opens to Public with AR Tour of Entire Campus
After years of tantalizing drone video, and then brief glimpses from special guests sharing photos on social media, the Apple Park Visitor Center finally opened to the public on Friday, Nov. 17.
News: Magic Leap's Mysterious Mixed Reality Headset Might Cover Your Entire Face
We've experienced the HoloLens, learned a lot about the Meta 2, but almost nobody knows exactly what to expect out of Magic Leap's mixed reality headset. Thanks to a patent dug up by Quartz (which we saw first on Tech Insider), we now might have a better idea.
News: Toyota Rolls Out Web-Based AR Advertising Campaign via 8th Wall
While Toyota ranks as the leading automotive brand in the world, the company is a follower when it comes to augmented reality.
News: Startup Phiar Prepares Beta Launch of AR Driving Navigation App for iPhone
Google pushed a new kind of augmented reality walking navigation to the mainstream last year, and now startup Phiar is hoping users will use its AR app in the same way for driving navigation.
News: Airbus Partners with Microsoft to Begin Selling HoloLens 2 Software After Successful AR Pilot Program
Aircraft manufacturer Airbus is so impressed with the boost in productivity it has gained from Microsoft's HoloLens, the company will begin offering augmented reality software to its customers.
ARKit 101: How to Place a Group of Balloons Around You & Have Them Float Randomly Up into the Sky
Have you ever seen pictures or videos of balloons being let go into the sky and randomly floating away in all directions? It's something you often see in classic posters or movies. Well, guess what? Now you'll be able to do that without having to buy hundreds of balloons, all you'll need is ARKit!
News: 8th Wall Brings Image Targets to Its Web-Based Augmented Reality Platform
When it comes to web-based augmented reality, 8th Wall has emerged as one of the leading platform providers, and the company just cranked up its capabilities another notch for AR marketers.
News: New US Army Military-Grade HoloLens 2 Imagery Gives Us Star Wars Stormtrooper Vibes
It's all fun and games until the technology is actually put into use and you realize augmented reality is now part of Death Star.
News: Hotstepper Dances Alongside You in Augmented Reality as You Walk to the Next Party
Sure, Blippar was first to market with an AR navigation app for iPhones (and iPads) compatible with ARKit, but does it know how to party? Hotstepper does.
News: ISS Astronauts Use Magic Leap One to Prepare for Next Mission
The tradition of using cutting edge technology to prepare for missions in space, in this case, augmented reality, continues with a new team of international astronauts slated to board the International Space Station (ISS) later this year.
Apple AR: Dunkin Donuts Goes All in for the Solar Eclipse with 'Moonchkin' App
The total solar eclipse is just a few days a way and everyone is buzzing about it. It will be visible in the US from Oregon to South Carolina with 16.5 million people able to view it.
Hands-on: Meta's New Meta Viewer App Is the AR Collaboration Tool All Those Sci-Fi Films Imagined
When you drive along the deceptively sedate streets of Silicon Valley, there are few hints that all those nondescript office parks and low-rise buildings contain the very future of the planet, but they really do. On a recent trip to tech's epicenter, I found that out firsthand when I got to visit the offices of Meta, the startup that produced the Meta 2 augmented reality headset.
News: Harry Potter Fans Can Now Summon a Wizarding World Sorting Hat in Augmented Reality
If you need to know whether you are really a Hufflepuff or a Gryffindor, then it's time to get yourself an augmented reality sorting hat.
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: Young Readers Can Now Enter the World of Dr. Seuss via New AR App Created with Unity's Project MARS
Alongside Sesame Street, the Dr. Seuss universe has been a constant presence in the formative years of several generations of children in the US.
News: Snapchat Adds New Landmarker Targets & Templates to Lens Studio
After hosting an augmented reality experience using its Snapchat Landmarker technology at the Statue of Liberty, Snap is now giving creators the opportunity to create their own Lenses with Lady Liberty.
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: Pizza Hut Delivery Now Comes with Slice of '80s Gaming via Pac-Man in AR
What is old is new again. In this case, a classic arcade game gets the augmented reality treatment. In a new promotion playing off its ad campaign featuring actor Craig Robinson (The Office, Hot Tub Time Machine), Pizza Hut has turned its pizza boxes into a virtual Pac-Man game via web-based AR technology.