Mixed Reality News Features
News: Two Doctors Simplify Spinal Surgery with the HoloLens
True innovation tends to come from the places we least expect as developers. The Microsoft HoloLens is still a very new product, and some of the other headsets are still just ideas, so the rules for mixed reality are not set in stone. That means all the real problems to be solved are yet to come.
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.
News: Microsoft Debuts HoloLens 2 Industrial Edition for Pharmaceutical & Semiconductor Enterprise Users
Ever since the US Army awarded Microsoft's HoloLens a $480 million contract, the battle for enterprise augmented reality has heated up in earnest.
News: Here's Your First Look at the US Army's Combat-Ready HoloLens 2 in Action
Though Microsoft has had trouble keeping up with the demand for HoloLens 2, the company has been able to supply modified headsets to the US Army.
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: Microsoft Adds Spatial App Functionality to Office 365's Teams App, Android & Web Interaction Demoed
Months ago, we showed you some of the powers of Spatial, the HoloLens app that allows groups of workers to collaborate in augmented reality using 3D avatars.
News: Doctors Team Up to Use HoloLens & VR App to Perform Live Surgery from UK, India & US
The HoloLens has become a frequent sight in medical facilities around the world, but a new demonstration shows just how seamlessly it can be integrated into traditional medical procedures to improve the experience for physicians and patients alike.
HoloLens Dev 101: Building a Dynamic User Interface, Part 10 (Scaling Objects)
An incorrectly scaled object in your HoloLens app can make or break your project, so it's important to get scaling in Unity down, such as working with uniform and non-uniform factors, before moving onto to other aspects of your app.
News: VLC Lands on the Microsoft HoloLens with Special New Features
The latest beta of the popular open-source media player VLC just hit the Windows Store, which means it not only runs on Windows 10 and Xbox One, but the HoloLens as well.
News: 360world's Windows Mixed Reality Tools Will Help Air Traffic Controllers See in New Ways
360world, a Hungary-based tech company involved in motion control and augmented reality, released information today about their latest products, the CLAIRITY HoloTower and CLAIRITY SmartBinocular. These tools are designed to bring augmented reality into the hands of air traffic controllers, via Windows Mixed Reality, to greatly improve their workflow over tools already in use.
News: Microsoft Fuels Efficiency at Chevron with Remote Assist App for HoloLens
Four months after unveiling the latest productivity apps for the HoloLens, Microsoft now has a series of compelling real-world use case videos showing how the augmented reality device and its apps are helping oil giant Chevron.
News: Magic Leap Publishes More L.E.A.P. Developer Videos Featuring Insomniac Games, Weta Workshop & More
After publishing two batches of videos from its L.E.A.P. developer conference, Magic Leap has made the session on Seedling from Insomniac Games available to the public.
News: Transform Your Friend into an AR Musical Synthesizer via This HoloLens 2 NFT App
One of the oldest electronic musical instruments is the theremin, a synthesizer that generates sound based on hand gestures, as featured in the classic "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys.
HoloLens Dev 102: How to Create an ImageTarget with Vuforia & Set Up the Camera System
Now that we've set up Vuforia in Unity, we can work on the more exciting aspects of making physical objects come to life on the HoloLens. In this guide, we will choose an image (something that you physically have in your home), build our ImageTarget database, and then set up our Unity camera to be able to recognize the chosen image so that it can overlay the 3D holographic effect on top of it.
Hands-On: Magic Leap One First Hands-On Impressions for HoloLens Developers
In a surprising twist of expectation management, Magic Leap managed to not only ship but deliver the Magic Leap One I ordered on Wednesday by 4 p.m. PT on the same day.
News: Microsoft Shows Off Rare Images of Early HoloLens Prototypes
All those early prototype images Magic Leap is so fond of showing off are great, but they rank a far second when compared to a new set of images just revealed by Microsoft in relation to the HoloLens.
Hands-On: Hands-On with Spatial's Remote Meeting App on Microsoft HoloLens
In recent years, many software publishers have tried to sell the business community on remote meetings via VR, but if social media chatter is any indication, it hasn't taken off in a big way just yet. However, for some, the notion of holding remote meetings using augmented reality, a medium in which you're still directly tied to the real world and not closed off in a blindfold-style VR headset, might be the better solution.
News: Mercedes-Benz Shifts to HoloLens for Employee Training
Luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz has joined the growing list of automakers adopting augmented reality to provide an assist to its manufacturing operations, in this case, via the Microsoft HoloLens.
News: Check Out These Awesome Mixed-Reality Movies Made with the HoloLens
Mixed reality filmmaking isn't a new concept. Disney managed to make it work in 1988 with Who Framed Roger Rabbit, but not without an enormous amount of work. We haven't seen many mixed reality films of that scope since, and perhaps that's because it's still hard to accomplish. Filmmakers don't look through a viewfinder or monitor and see the fully rendered result on screen—but that can change with mixed reality headsets like the HoloLens.
News: Magic Leap Unveils Two New Demos Showing How Spatial Computing Works
The long and slow road toward the actual release of the Magic Leap One appears to be accelerating, with a couple of new demonstrations of how the system works revealed in this week's creator's portal updates along with the company's developer documentation.
News: Microsoft Japan Concept Video Demos How HoloLens Will Help Pilot the Drone Ships of the Future
Although the HoloLens is still primarily the domain of developers and researchers, the device is nevertheless on the cutting edge of showing us what will be possible with augmented reality in the coming years. The latest example comes via Microsoft Japan and a new concept video that shows off how the HoloLens will be used in the relatively near future to pilot autonomous ships.
News: The HoloLens & a Simple Gesture Can Stop a Complex Cyber-Attack
What happens if you unknowingly connect a malicious USB drive and it starts infecting your entire office network? Instead of having a panic attack and working all night to find a fix, you can just put on a mixed reality headset like Microsoft's HoloLens and point.
News: Pokémon GO Will Be So Much Better with a Mixed Reality Headset
Pokémon GO has had an incredible impact on gamers in a way we've never seen before, but you can only do so much in augmented reality on a smartphone. It's clear we're headed for more immersive experiences, but the Amsterdam-based development studio Capitola VR already created a proof-of-concept version of the game that works on the Microsoft HoloLens.
News: Microsoft's HoloLens Is Going to Transform How We Do Work
Mixed reality headsets have limited hardware capabilities and naturally imprecise interfaces. While that works just fine for games and entertainment, can they actually function as a tool for productivity?
News: 'See Through' Walls with This HoloLens Stud-Marking App
The HoloLens can do some pretty crazy things such as create a robot invasion in your walls, but it can also help you do simple stuff, like hanging frames, paintings, or anything else on those walls—after you repair them from the robot attack, of course.
News: Watch Mountains & Rivers Come to Life with This Sand-Based Map
Most sandboxes wait for children on a playground or the occasional zen garden raking. This one combines light, sand, and depth cameras to create a completely malleable topographical map you can alter with a brush of your hand.
News: NBA Announces Partnership with Magic Leap to Bring AR Experiences to Fans
On Tuesday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver joined Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz on stage to unveil a partnership between the two companies.
News: Meta 2 Augmented Reality Headset Available to Businesses Through Dell Starting in February
Following up on a preview of the deal we reported during last week's CES, Dell has officially announced the details around its role as the first company to resell the Meta 2 augmented reality headset.
News: First App for Meta 2 Headset Lets You View 3D CAD Models in Augmented Reality
Augmented reality headset maker Meta Company unveiled Meta Viewer, its first software application, during its keynote at the Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara on Wednesday.
News: HoloLens' First Update Adds Voice Commands, Multitasking, & Much More
Microsoft released a robust version of the HoloLens when shipping the developer kits, but there's still lots of room left to grow. Today, they've released the first update to Windows Holographic, the operating system of the HoloLens, with a whole bunch of cool new features like voice commands and app multitasking.
News: Hollywood Exhibit Uses HoloLens to Transport Fans into the Worlds of 'Back to the Future' & Halo
The potential of augmented reality is often shown in science fiction movies, but a new exhibit marries the genre with very real-world AR technology, to great effect.
News: Magic Leap & Weta Workshop Launch Boosters Game from Dr. Grordbort's Invaders Universe
Magic Leap took years to launch, but when it did, the company managed to quickly become the leading rival to Microsoft's HoloLens (at least when it comes to experimental immersive experiences).
News: 'The Matrix' Movie Effects Pioneer & Former Magic Leap Exec Reveals 'Tragic Story' of Startup's Recent Struggles
Magic Leap has had a rough couple of years, highlighted by high-profile executive departures, lawsuits, troublesome patent shuffles, and massive layoffs.
News: New Magic Leap Videos Show Off Launch Apps 'Create' & 'Tónandi' in Action
Now that the cat's out of the bag, Magic Leap has published videos of a pair of apps that will be available to Magic Leap One early adopters.
News: Meta Appoints Chief Revenue Officer
Augmented reality headset and software maker Meta Company announced today board member Joe Mikhail will serve as the company's chief revenue officer.
News: Microsoft Enlists Rapper/Actor Common to Push Its HoloLens Future During NBA All-Star Weekend
The Microsoft HoloLens has a fairly passionate, yet relatively small group of users pushing the developer-centric device forward, mostly spreading the word about the device through word of mouth and meetups. But this weekend, during the annual NBA All-Star festivities, we got a look at how Microsoft may be planning to market the device if it ever goes truly mainstream.
News: Why Is Most HoloLens Development Happening in Unity?
Autodesk offers some of the most popular software for computer-aided design (CAD) projects, which involve all sorts of 3D rendering. Their tools are clearly suited for use with the Microsoft HoloLens, but so far very little supports HoloLens development outside of Unity. Why is that?
Hands-On: Occipital's Bridge Headset for iPhones Has Magical Spatial Mapping Abilities
In the tech world, when you're a small startup going up against the Goliaths and their massive marketing budgets, you're forced to find and produce something almost magical to help your product stand apart from the rest. And that's exactly what Occipital Inc. has done with their Bridge headset.
News: Magic Leap Acquires Augmented Reality Telepresence Startup Mimesys
Just months after we previewed the augmented reality, volumetric video conferencing powers of Mimesys, the company has undergone a major change — it's now a part of Magic Leap.
News: New Magic Leap Images Appear as Saudi Prince Gets Demo from CEO Rony Abovitz
It turns out that the government of Saudi Arabia has managed to do something last month's Game Developers Conference couldn't — give us a few new glimpses of the Magic Leap One being worn by someone other than Shaq.