AR Insider
MARCH 8, 2021
I t’s clear that mobile AR is where the scale is today, given 3 billion global smartphones. As for the portion that’s AR-compatible, the common industry rally cry is that there are 1 billion+ AR-enabled smartphones. That figure applies to ARkit and ARCore-compatible smartphones. But if you pan back to all platforms, such as Snapchat’s Lens Studio and Facebook’s Spark AR, the AR-ready universe is larger (figures below).
GizModo VR
MARCH 11, 2021
Bad news for streamers mooching their Netflix access. Read more.
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ARPost
MARCH 9, 2021
Microsoft Ignite was a three-day conference that took place virtually on YouTube, Microsoft.com, and in Altspace from March 2-4. The conference included hundreds of sessions, but we’re mainly here for those that particularly touched on mixed reality – which is enough. Surprisingly, there was little at the conference directly related to HoloLens , Microsoft’s mixed reality headset.
VRScout
MARCH 9, 2021
Remote students can study men’s health and world history from a virtual classroom. This week the famed Morehouse College, alma mater of such influential figures as Martin Luther King Jr., Spike Lee, and Senator Raphael Warnock, announced that it will soon be offering two VR classes as part of a new partnership with VR education provider VictoryXR.
Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions
To avoid awkward and sometimes disastrous learning content, instructional designers must use authentic translation in the right context to get optimal results. For example, even a simple phrase like “got milk” translates to “are you lactating” in Mexico. Can you imagine what a straight translation might do to your course? With over 317 million people in the US and over 6.7 billion potential customers in the world, personalizing training seems logical.
The Ghost Howls
MARCH 8, 2021
Happy Women’s Day to all the women in XR ! I think the spirit of this day is to show our men’s appreciation for what women do and our support for their future goals. So tet’s take a moment to appreciate all the amazing women we have in our community: journalists, CEOs, developers, or even just enthusiasts! There are many women in XR I personally know and I’m honored to have them in my community because they are incredibly smart and passionate.
Virtual Reality Pulse brings together the best content for VR professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
ARPost
MARCH 12, 2021
In the early 1980s, no one could have predicted how the Internet would eventually come to rule our lives. No one could have guessed the ways it would revolutionize the world around us, from ordering food, to streaming videos. We went through what is called a tech cycle. Multiple technologies combined to fundamentally change the way people and organizations go about their lives.
VRScout
MARCH 8, 2021
“One of the things that I’m really excited about for future versions is getting eye tracking and face tracking in.” During a recent podcast interview with The Information , Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shed some additional light on the future of Oculus, teasing everything from future hardware improvements to updates regarding the companies long talked-about AR headset.
The Ghost Howls
MARCH 12, 2021
Some weeks ago, a group of 12 indie development studios decided to launch the first bundle dedicated to App Lab experiences for Oculus Quest. Dubbed “Waiting for App Lab”, the bundle was meant to unite the powers of little game studios so that to perform together a more powerful marketing campaign and gain more visibility for the apps they provided.
AR Insider
MARCH 8, 2021
W elcome back to Spatial Beats. This week, we look at takeaways from Microsoft Ignite, Space X, Pokemon Go and VR training from Bank of America. Let’s dive in… Elon Musk’s company SpaceX successfully landed its Starship vehicle from high-altitude for the first time. Slightly more than six minutes after launching, the Starship was safely on Earth, landing vertically on its fins, just like space ship should.
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With a rapidly changing economy, Avangrid Renewables looked to virtual reality to develop a standardized form of immersive training in order to onboard and upskill technicians faster than ever before.
Road to VR
MARCH 12, 2021
In an interview with The Information , Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg continued to project his bullish outlook on XR as the future of computing, saying that the company is already working on Oculus Quest 3 and 4. He also spoke about what he believes are key features and challenges for future Oculus headsets. In a conversation published this week, The Information reporters Alex Heath and Mathew Olson spoke with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg about the company’s ongoing XR efforts.
VRScout
MARCH 11, 2021
Who needs an expensive gym membership when you have the power of VR? If you’re anything like me, you’re less than ecstatic at the idea of working out. I mean, you’ll do it, but it’s by no means an enjoyable experience, just a necessary one. It’s for these reasons—among others—that I’ve recently begun incorporating VR into my daily workout regimens.
Next Reality AR
MARCH 11, 2021
Museum curators typically frowned upon visitors touching paintings, sculptures, and artifacts, but not when those exhibits are displayed in augmented reality. The latest AR exhibit from Google Arts & Culture not only lets you virtually touch the displays but also make your own audio art. Don't Miss: Google Arts & Culture App Lets You Turn Your Home into an AR Museum Featuring the Works of Vermeer The AR Synth web-based AR experience anchors replicas of up to five electronic music machine
AR Insider
MARCH 12, 2021
A mong tech giants investing in AR, Microsoft continues to show strong signs as a leading platform for enterprise productivity. That not only includes its best-of-breed hardware in the Hololens 2, but an expanding suite of software (it is Microsoft after all) for enterprise AR. This ties to Microsoft’s DNA, as enterprise productivity has been its core business for 30 years.
Speaker: Nik Gowing, Brenda Laurel, Sheridan Tatsuno, Archie Kasnet, and Bruce Armstrong Taylor
With 191 country signatories to the Paris Climate Agreement now hard at work in the race to zero carbon by 2050, much of the heavy lifting in ecosystem sustainability falls on the shoulders of the world's densely populated urban centers. This conversation considers how today's AI-enabled simulation media, such as AR/VR, can be effectively applied to accelerate learning, understanding, training, and solutions-modeling to sustainability planning and design.
Road to VR
MARCH 12, 2021
By now, it’s pretty clear Facebook is serious about leading virtual and augmented reality. Further underling Facebook’s bet that immersive technologies are the future of computing, a report from The Information claims that the company is currently employing nearly 10,000 people to work on AR/VR. The report maintains this number accounts for a staggering one-fifth of Facebook’s total workforce worldwide.
VRScout
MARCH 8, 2021
Trusted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo returns with a supposed timeline for Apple’s rumored XR technology. Respected analyst and Apple research expert Ming-Chi Kuo revealed yesterday that the company will be launching its long-rumored mixed reality headset “mid-2021,” according to a report by MacRumors. This followed by a dedicated AR headset in 2025 and AR contact lenses as early as 2030.
Next Reality AR
MARCH 9, 2021
Just as the NCAA men's basketball tournament is set to start later this month, USA Today has decided to trot out an augmented reality mini-basketball game to promote its bracket competition. And while USA Today is prolific publisher of AR news content through its own app, this time, the media outlet took an assist from 8th Wall's web-based AR platform for this particular AR experience.
AR Insider
MARCH 9, 2021
O ne striking realization about spatial computing is that we’re almost seven years into the sector’s current stage. This traces back to Facebook’s Oculus acquisition in early 2014 that kicked off the current wave of excitement….including lots of ups and downs in the intervening years. That excitement culminated in 2016 after the Oculus acquisition had time to set off a chain reaction of startup activity, tech-giant investment, and VC inflows for the “next computing platform.
Speaker: Richard Goring, Director at BrightCarbon
Remote meetings are here to stay - and many are BORING. If you are trying to engage your learners (or any audience), compelling content is critical. But trying to create stimulating content with the same tools you’ve always had is hard, right? Thankfully, wrong! Terrific tools in PowerPoint along with visual assets help you create the kind of dynamic content you need to capture your remote audience’s attention, with functions that allow for interactive sequences and navigation.
Road to VR
MARCH 11, 2021
Rec Room wants to create a functional digital economy which would let creators generate content for the social VR app and sell it to others for cash. The studio took a big step late last year by allowing its premium members to to sell their creations for in-game tokens. Now those users can exchange their hard-earned tokens for real cash—with a few caveats.
VRScout
MARCH 10, 2021
The next generation of nonverbal communication arrives in VR courtesy of HTC VIVE. Facial expressions are an important part of how we communicate with others face-to-face. Without saying a word, we’re able to express a wide range of subtle emotions, from happiness and despair to anger and fear. Unfortunately, this type of nonverbal communication has been sorely missed within the metaverse.
Next Reality AR
MARCH 12, 2021
Sure, Snapchat AR Lenses can be fun, but they can help communicate complex issues as well. While our Facebook news feeds were filled with references to 311 Day, March 11 is also World Kidney Day, the United Kingdom's National Health Service Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) used the occasion to educate its constituents about organ donation. Don't Miss: AR Snapshots: Your Cats & Dogs Can Join in Your AR Antics with These Pet-Friendly Snapchat Lenses Utilizing the new body-tracking technology recen
ARPost
MARCH 10, 2021
ARTECHOUSE New York City, which is known for displaying genre-pushing installations, has launched its latest immersive tech installation. Created by award-winning artist, Julius Horsthuis, Geometric Properties is an immersive cinematic audio-visual experience that highlights the beauty of mathematics, nature, and architecture. It will be on display until September 6.
Speaker: Treion Muller, Chief Strategy Officer at ELB Learning
Since when has learning and development (L&D) become such a negative experience with its intended learners? Could it be because learners have been conditioned by very poor learning experiences over the past two decades, combined with the kinks of technological innovation? Or is it because learning has typically been designed as a one-size-fits-all solution, despite the fact that humans are not clones?
Road to VR
MARCH 10, 2021
HTC today announced two new VR accessories: a consumer version of its face-tracker and a new version of the Vive Tracker which is said to bring a large jump in battery life alongside being smaller. Both accessories are priced at $130 and will launch in the US starting on March 24th. Vive Facial Tracker. Image courtesy HTC. HTC’s new Vive Facial Tracker is a face-tracking add-on for the Vive Pro headset.
VRScout
MARCH 6, 2021
Epson’s latest wearable devices can connect to your smartphone, tablet, and computer. Epson already has a solid lineup of AR smart glasses with their Moverio series, each designed for enterprise use. That lineup is about to get larger with the addition of two new next-generation AR glasses, the Moverio BT-40 and BT-40S. Much like the company’s earlier Moverio BT models, the BT-40 and the BT-40S feature a slim binocular display allowing users to see and interact with the AR content.
AR Insider
MARCH 11, 2021
W hat are the biggest insights and observations in AR and adjacent sectors this week? Welcome to Reality Bytes , featuring lightning-round commentary from AR Insider partner M7 Innovations. Founder Matt Maher lends his insights from the trenches of AR experience creation. We continue the narrative this week with Maher’s look at Google’s augmented hearing, Alexa’s new Xbox home and a new twist on escape rooms.
ARPost
MARCH 11, 2021
The seventh annual Festival of International Virtual and Augmented Reality Storytelling (FIVARS) concluded its Winter session this Tuesday, March 9. The virtual reality film showcase, which was supposed to run from February 19 to March 2, was extended an extra week due to heavy attendance, according to event organizers. While it’s too late to get in on the Winter showcase, ARPost was invited to attend to give you a peek at the festival.
Speaker: Micah Eppler, Account Executive for Rehearsal of eLearning Brothers
Did you know that companies such as Paychex, 3M, and Honeywell are getting better results by incorporating video-based practice and coaching within their L&D strategy? From sales pitches to soft skills, learners are becoming top performers by applying and validating knowledge transfer using the unique benefits of video. Whether used as a stand-alone application or integrated with a learning platform, video-based practice and coaching platforms give learners the ultimate opportunity to repeatedly
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