Mobile AR News News
News: This Billie Eilish Oculus Quest 2 Video Inadvertently Offers a Peek at AR Gaming on the VR Headset
It's always fun to get an unexpected glimpse of the future, especially when that peek is so close you can actually feel the excitement of the new emerging dynamic.
News: Google Adds Famous Monuments & Iconic Buildings to Augmented Reality Search Feature
Even with unlimited resources and a serious case of wanderlust, it's unlikely that you or I will be able to see all of the most famous structures in the world in person.
News: New York Times Revives Its AR Storytelling on Instagram with Tokyo Olympics Experiences
Old school media stalwart The New York Times launched its augmented reality news content in 2018 with a feature on the athletes of the Winter Olympics.
News: Google Adds More Olympic Athletes to Its Roster of Augmented Reality Search Content
After facing delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Olympic Games are underway in Tokyo, but a surge in cases worldwide has taken the spectator out of these spectator sports.
News: USA Today Showcases New Summer Olympics Sports with Augmented Reality
After a postponement of the Summer Olympics for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tokyo is set to host the games this summer, despite a surge in cases in the city.
News: Create Your Own Holograms at Home with the Volu iPhone App
With the release of Object Capture this fall, Apple is giving everyone with a Mac and a camera the means to create their own 3D objects.
News: Google Launches Augmented Reality Filters on Meet App for Mobile
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Google has packed new functionality into Google Meet to compete with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other video conferencing platforms.
News: PepsiCo's Doritos Used to Push for Return to Live Concerts with Augmented Reality Experience
With fears over the COVID-19 pandemic subsiding, live concerts are returning. And Doritos wants to send music fans to a few of them via an augmented reality promotion.
News: JigSpace Puts Together $4.7 Million in Funding to Expand AR Tutorial Technology
The startup JigSpace, which was among the first apps to support ARKit and LiDAR for iPhone augmented reality apps, has capitalized on its early mover status by innovating within the space.
News: Snapchat Extends Its AR Lenses to Viber Messaging App
Yo dawg, Snap heard you using Snapchat augmented reality Lenses in your messages, so it's putting its AR Lenses in other messaging apps.
News: You Can Now Try-On & Test Samsung Galaxy Smartwatches in AR via Snapchat
Now that Snapchat has extended its virtual try-on powers from the face and feet to the wrist, Samsung is leveraging the new capability, along with an interactive twist, to sell its smartwatches.
News: Niantic Primes Its Lightship AR Engine for Transformers Game, Global Launch Slated for 2021
With the tagline "More Than Meets the Eye," the Transformers franchise was pretty much preordained to have its own augmented reality game, and AR gaming pioneer Niantic has stepped up to fulfill that destiny.
News: Google Extends AR Search Lead Over Apple with Landmark Recognition for Google Lens
This week, Apple unveiled its own version of Google Lens in the form of Live Text. In response, Google just hit back with a new feature for its visual search tool called Places, a new search category that can recognize landmarks and return information on them within the camera view, which Apple touted as a capability of Live Text during its WWDC keynote.
News: Join Loki on His Time-Traveling Adventures with This Snapchat Lens
Like its predecessors WandaVision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Marvel's latest series for Disney Plus, Loki, has its own augmented reality experience.
News: Apple Delivers Competitor to Google Lens & Google Maps AR Features in iOS 15
Mobile augmented reality for iOS typically comes through apps via ARKit, but Apple is borrowing a few pages from Google's playbook and bringing AR directly to iOS 15.
News: Lego Transforms Statues into AR Creatures at Legoland Windsor Theme Park via Mobile App
Few brands have been more enthusiastic about augmented reality than Lego, which has now expanded its AR experiences from toys to theme parks.
News: Google Adds Raw Depth API to Improve Spatial Awareness & Depth Data for Android AR Apps
For most mainstream users, LiDAR sensors for precision depth sensing remain the exclusive domain of Apple iPhones and iPads, but Google is helping Android device makers close the depth gap on the software side via its ARCore toolkit.
News: Google Adds Sports Athletes to AR Search, Includes Virtual Street Signs in Live View AR in Google Maps
Since bringing augmented reality features to Search and Maps, Google has made them arguably the most useful augmented reality products in its portfolio.
News: Google Offers Virtual Photo Booth Web App Ahead of Socially Distanced I/O Conference
Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic is showing signs of winding down, nevertheless, Google will still hold its annual I/O developer conference as a virtual affair, with keynotes and sessions available as live streams and on-demand videos starting Tuesday, May 18 and concluding on Thursday, May 20.
News: Rovio Reinvents Angry Birds as Web-Based AR Tower Defense Game for Burger King Campaign
Angry Birds, one of the first franchises to find success in mobile gaming, continues to shoot its shot at new life in augmented reality gaming.
News: AT&T and NBA Launch Mobile AR Experience via Chicago Bulls App
The Chicago Bulls may not be very relevant in the current NBA standings, but they do lead the league in one other area.
News: Netflix Fantasy Franchise 'The Witcher' Opens Early Access to AR Game Called Monster Slayer
Having found success in video games and a hugely popular Netflix series, The Witcher franchise is now on the hunt for the coin Pokémon GO has earned in location-based augented reality mobile games.
News: Marvel Studios Tosses 'Falcon & the Winter Soldier' AR Game to Fans in Time for Finale
Disney Plus shows WandaVision and Falcon and the Winter Soldier are both streaming hits, but the two series could not be more different in terms of giving fans a taste of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
News: Samsung's New App for Galaxy Smartphones Turns the World into Your AR Canvas
After integrating Snapchat into its latest Galaxy A Series smartphones, Samsung is trying out a new AR camera app for its army of mobile devices.
News: Snapchat, Google & Verizon Highlight Humanity's Impact on the Environment with AR for Earth Day
It's Earth Day, which means that nonprofits, individuals, and brands are making a concerted effort to raise awareness of environmental issues and how to change behaviors to reverse impacts of pollution, deforestation, and suburban sprawl, among others.
News: Google Adds Pac-Man, Hello Kitty & More Japanese Anime & Video Game Characters to AR Search
Gamers, anime fans, and those with an interest in Japanese culture are in for an AR treat courtesy of Google.
News: Hulu, Coinbase, Ray-Ban & Captain Morgan Unlock Advertising Gold with Interactive AR Ads
We've reached the point in the trajectory of augmented reality's growth where AR advertising experiences are becoming commonplace tactics rather than rare experiments.
News: You Can See to the Other Side of the World with Google's Latest Web-Based AR Experiment
Have you ever wondered where you'd come out if you drilled to the other side of the world? Now, if you have an Android device and Chrome web browser, you can find out.
News: Devilish Lil Nas X AR Experience Debuts on Jadu App
Who had Lil Nas X, blood-drop Nikes, and satan worship on your 2021 bingo card? In a story that's stranger than fiction, the "Old Town Road" rapper has ruffled some feathers with the video for his new single, "MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)" filled with demonic imagery usually reserved for death metal bands.
News: Google Adds New AR Galleries & Audio Guided Tour to Arts & Culture App
With NFTs taking the art world by storm, it's a bit refreshing to know that you can enjoy world famous masterpieces in the comfort of your own home via augmented reality without emptying your cryptocurrency wallet.
News: Niantic Previews the Future of AR Gaming with Codename: Urban Legends Demo
As if teasing its own smartglasses weren't enough, augmented reality gaming developer Niantic gave gamers a glimpse of how 5G speeds can revolutionize how they play mobile games in the near future.
News: Google Maps Expands Live View AR Navigation Capabilities to Airports & Shopping Malls
The AR walking navigation feature in Google Maps, which is arguably one of the most useful mobile augmented reality to available to consumers, is about to get even more indispensable for travelers.
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.
News: Snapchat's Body Tracking AR Tech Lends Hand for Organ Donation Education
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.
News: Google Arts & Culture Drops AR Synth Exhibit That You Can Play
Museum curators typically frown upon visitors touching paintings, sculptures, and artifacts, but not when those exhibits are displayed in augmented reality.
News: USA Today Teams Up with 8th Wall to Launch AR Basketball Game for March Madness
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.
News: Google Adding Stereo Depth Support for Dual Cameras to ARCore Starting with Pixel 4 & 4XL
In response to Apple's implementation of LiDAR sensors in iPad Pro and iPhone 12 Pro models, Google is looking to leverage the dual-camera setups in recent flagship devices as depth-sensing components.
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: Prehistoric Creatures Return to Life via New iPhone AR App from Celebrity Historian David Attenborough
Apparently, we learned nothing from Jurassic Park, as scientists are still working on bringing extinct species back to life. Until that day comes, you can interact with long-lost animals through augmented reality...if you have a newer model iPhone.
News: You Can Land & Drive NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover in AR with the Smithsonian Channel's New App
Two years ago, the 50th anniversary of the moon landing gave flight to a handful of Apollo 11 augmented reality apps and experiences, including one from the Smithsonian Channel.