The XR beat slowed down this week as the only major announcement was Verizon’s purchase of JauntVR. No hit on Jaunt, or Verizon’s pioneering work with 5G, but the company’s track record on acquisitions (4 bn dollars for AOL, and 4.5 bn for Yahoo) is not good. They killed the Yahoo-AOL combination they called Oath soon after creating it. Speaking of acquisitions, Apple just snapped up UK-based IKinema, which is known for its inverse kinematic technology and affordable motion capture for real-time 3D rendering. Vive shipped its new $700 Cosmos headset this week. The inside out tracking eliminates the external towers, but it is still tethered to a PC (unless you shell for the wireless kit). Reviews have been mixed.
Google Maps AR beta finally shows up on Charlie Fink’s iPhone 10. People have been raving about this feature since August, but it just now showed up on our maps app. Apparently we are not as special as we think. And yes, it is as cool - and useful - as everyone says. The next time someone asks you about the AR “fad” show them this.
Google AR "beta" on the iPhone 10.
Verizon purchases JauntVR, or whatever’s left of it. Verizon has purchased JauntVR’s software and technology. The company originally worked on technology for capturing and displaying volumetric video of humans. Terms of the acquisition are not yet public, but previously JauntVR had raised over $100 million from investors like Disney.
Tilt Five doubles funding goal during the first few days of campaign. The kickstarter campaign launched September 24th with a goal of $450,000. The AR system, developed exclusively for tabletop games, looks like it might answer a few questions like, “what would a consumer do with AR smartglasses, anyway?” Now you know. This week it reached over $1 million. The team expects to deliver pre-ordered units next summer. The campaign will continue through October 28th.
Visualize a wireless signal’s strength with BadVR’s new Magic Leap experience. SeeSignal is a new app for the Magic Leap One that lets users visualize wireless signals. BadVR received one of the coveted grants from Magic Leap’s first cohort of creator grants. So far the software works to visualize cell service, wifi, or bluetooth. You can use it to find potential dead zones in your building’s wifi, as an example. No one can accuse Magic Leap of choosing the flashiest ideas from the more than six thousand applications for its grants.
City scale AR art coming to New Orleans this month. Battlegrounds is a collection of over 30 augmented reality activations spread throughout the city of New Orleans, produced by Nancy Baker Cahill and Jesse Damiani. Using the 4th Wall AR app, you can explore the art pieces starting October 26th..
Enklu launches AR maker space in San Francisco. The space, called E.den, provides a Microsoft Hololens to each member. The headsets run Enklu’s platform allowing a large area of mixed reality experiences built by the community. At E.den, players and creators will have access to the Enklu platform and support for learning how to create mixed reality experiences using it. You can find E.den on the 4th floor of the Dome in the city’s Westfield San Francisco Centre at 845 Market Street.
Enlku was responsible for the short-lived location based AR attraction Unreal Garden, which used the ... [+]
Imaginate and Partners receive $1 Million NSF grant to research augmenting emergency responders. LEARNER, or Learning Environments with Advanced Robotics for Next-Generation Emergency Responders, aims to discover ways to augment emergency responders using technologies such as powered exoskeletons, autonomous robots, and augmented reality. The team will use the grant for building their “personalized mixed-reality learning platform for emergency responders.”
NexTech Announces Audited Full Year Results. The company is targeting 10X revenue growth in 2020. The only publicly traded pure play AR company announced they made $2,002,365 Cn with a gross profit $584,007. NextTech recently raised over 1M from company insiders and existing investors.
Tour Versailles for free thanks to Googe’s new VR experience. SteamVR users can download the experience for any of their PC based VR headsets. The team used photogrammetry to capture the palace in full 3D with true to life details. Avoid the travel, and the crowds.
The VOID adding new Avengers experience to its location based VR lineup. Opening October 18th, Avengers: Damage Control puts players into recognizable movie locations and face to face with a few of the Avengers. The experience will launch in 11 locations as as limited run.
Teooh launches their avatar based virtual conference platform. Teams, companies, meetups, and more can meet virtually using Teooh’s solution.
Producers Guild of America creates The PGA Innovation Award. The new award showcases projects in VR, AR, and other emerging media. Applications for the award are open through November 15th, and the entries will be judged by a sleuth of experts from film, game development, VR studios, and more. Submissions can be made on the award’s website.
This Week In XR is written and edited with Michael Eichenseer.
