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Augmented Reality (AR)

205 'Augmented Reality (AR)' stories December 2010 - January 2016
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Augmented Reality (AR) is mixing real-world images with artificial ones in real time – sometimes also known as Mixed Reality. This contrasts with Virtual Reality (VR) where the entire image is artificial.

AR has been around for literally decades, but hasn’t yet become a mainstream technology. Google tried to change this with Project Tango, but this required special hardware and didn’t catch on. All this looks set to change, however, with Apple’s promotion of the technology.

Apple has released ARKit, a platform that allows developers to easily create augmented reality apps, and is expected to make this a major focus of the iPhone 8 launch. Google later switched to the same approach, with ARCore.

Although Tim Cook says that Apple is much more excited about AR than VR, Apple is not entirely ignoring the latter. High Sierra is the first version of macOS with support for VR, and Apple has said that it will integrate with Valve, so should be compatible with existing VR headsets like the HTC Vive.

 

Apple hires top virtual & augmented reality researcher Doug Bowman

Avatar for Chance Miller Jan 21 2016 - 6:57 pm PT
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According to a new report out of the Financial Times, Apple has hired one of the top virtual reality researchers in the United States to expedite its efforts in the platform. The report claims that Apple has recently hired Doug Bowman, who most recently was a computer science professor at Virginia Tech before taking a sabbatical. At Virginia Tech, he was the director of the university’s human-computer interaction center for around five years.


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Apple hire of Microsoft HoloLens engineer fuels speculation as it plans AR features for iOS 9

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Aug 31 2015 - 7:28 am PT
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UI concept for VR iPhone case Pinć from Cordon Labs

Apple has recently hired a lead engineer from Microsoft’s HoloLens team, leading to more speculation that it could be working on its own augmented reality project behind the scenes.

Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster first spotted the change of positions for Nick Thompson, who was reportedly previously leading audio hardware engineering efforts for Microsoft’s Hololens augmented reality project:
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Disney unveils the first official Star Wars iOS app w/ lightsaber training, themed selfies, more

Avatar for Justin Kahn Jul 8 2015 - 11:47 am PT
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From 9to5Toys.com:

As we ramp up for Star Wars: The Force Awakens to hit theaters in December, we are getting Storm Trooper Bluetooth speakers, a new mobile RPG and a SW themed playset for the upcoming Disney 3.0. But it looks like it won’t stop there as Disney has just launched an official new mobile app. Simply named “Star Wars”, this is not a game, but rather a new hub app for “breaking news, rich media, social updates, special events, interactive features” and more:

On top of a basic newsfeed that draws content from all the official Star Wars channels and some typical countdown timers to big releases, there are also some interactive elements to the app as well. There are soundboard and GIF features that provide official clips from the films that users can share on message apps and even a SW themed weather function that compares current temperatures with well-known locations from the Star Wars mythos.

You’ll also find Augmented Reality experiences, a lightsaber trainer that makes use of your device’s motion sensor, and the ability to take as many Star Wars selfies as your heart desires. Much like the Show Your Disney Side app, you can choose from a number of popular costumes from the films, settings and the ability to drop other characters in the background.

The new Star Wars app is available to download for free starting right now on iOS. Head over to our daily game/app roundups for all the best discounts and freebies across every platform.

Apple wins patent for 3D iPhone UI w/ motion gestures, reassigns PrimeSense 3D mapping patent

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Dec 9 2014 - 8:51 am PT
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Apple was today awarded a patent for touch-free, motion sensing gestures within 3D GUI concepts just as the company reassigns a patent related to 3D mapping technologies that it picked up through its acquisition of PrimeSense.
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Post-it note app lets you import physical notes into your iPhone or iPad

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Sep 26 2014 - 4:27 am PT
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It’s hard to think of anything lower-tech than a Post-it note: you write on a sticky square of paper and slap it onto a physical surface. But 3M has just launched a clever iOS app that allows you to photograph a bunch of Post-it notes, tap on-screen to select the ones you want to keep and then organize them on your iPhone or iPad before outputting to apps like PowerPoint.

The Post-it® Plus App takes the momentum from your collaboration sessions and keeps it rolling. Simply capture your notes, organize and share with everyone. That way your great ideas don’t stop when the meeting ends.

Getting started is easy. Use the app to capture an image of the Post-it® Notes from your work session. Arrange, refine and organize the notes and ideas on your board anyway you see fit. Then share your organized board with your team and send to your favorite applications —including PowerPoint, Excel, Dropbox and plenty more.

The app recognizes any size Post-it note so long as they are square (and, indeed, even works with Mac OS Stickies if you photograph your desktop). It’s a free download from iTunes.

Google launches augmented reality game Ingress on iOS

Avatar for Chance Miller Jul 13 2014 - 8:33 pm PT
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After becoming available to all Android users back in December, Google this evening finally launched its popular Ingress game on iOS. The game originally launched in a closed beta all the way back in 2012, but has slowly been expanding to gradually larger audiences ever since.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss-Z-QjFUio]


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Stargazing app Star Walk updated for iOS 7 with an all-new design

Avatar for Sarah Guarino Oct 31 2013 - 3:35 pm PT
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Star Walk, the popular and award-winning astronomy app which has previously been featured in Apple’s ads, has just lauched a brand-new version with a redesigned interface for iOS 7. It has the same look and feel as the new OS, with a clean, flat interface. The new Star Walk makes it easier than ever to stargaze. Now you no longer have to deal with reading and interpreting star charts, or twisting and turning in awkward positions to find the objects you are looking for while holding a red light.

Using this augmented reality app, users just need to hold and point the iPhone, iPod Touch or the iPad up at the sky. The app reveals over two hundred thousand stars (in their original color according to the star catalog), constellations, planets, satellites, comets and galaxies. Best of all the device does not have to be connected to the internet or a 3G network to use.


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Liver surgery: now there’s an iPad app for that

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Aug 21 2013 - 7:34 am PT
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A German surgeon has used an iPad with augmented reality software running on it to assist in a liver operation in Bremen, Germany, reports Reuters.

The iPad camera was used to photograph the liver, while the iPad app overlayed a virtual 3D model of the pre-op plan. Want to see what that looks like? Make sure you’re not eating anything before you look at the photos below the fold … 
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Google Voice, Dropbox, Minecraft Reality, Autodesk FormIt, Korg iPolysix, more

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Nov 26 2012 - 8:06 am PT
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2pOpcR7uf5U]

Minecraft Reality: Minecraft developers Mojang officially announced a new augmented reality iOS app yesterday dubbed “Minecraft Reality” allowing players to view their Minecraft creations in the real world. The app was developed by 13th lab with a little help from Mojang using advanced computer vision and augmented reality tech. Users will also be able to save their creations at specific real-world locations for others users to discover:

The app uses your iOS device’s camera to track the surroundings, before projecting creations onto the landscape. You get to view the mind-boggling results on-screen. You can change the size of your object as you please, and even wander around it to view from different angles… Imagine being able to dump your Minecraft creations into the real world for other people to find. You could put an exploding creeper in your school, a cheeky pig in your garden, or a giant enemy crab on the beach, if you like.

Google Voice version 1.4.3:

– Optimized for iPhone 5 and iOS 6
– Bug fixes and performance enhancements
– iOS 4.3 or above is now required

Dropbox version 1.5.7: Dropbox gets a few nice new features today including improved video streaming, support for Password-protected Office documents on iOS 6, Italian and Iberian Spanish language support, and more.

• Improved video streaming
• Italian and Iberian Spanish language support
• Support for Password-protected Office documents (iOS 6)
• Various bug fixes and performance improvement

Autodesk FormIt: A new mobile app from Autodesk will allow you to “Use real-world site information to help create forms in context and support early design decisions with real building data.” In other words, the ability to create building design concepts using a gallery of shapes, a searchable map interface, and satellite imagery to “design directly in the context of your proposed building location.” The iPad app is available for free on the App Store.

KORG iPolysix: KORG is releasing an analog polyphonic synthesizer app today for iPad that uses its “proprietary “CMT” (Component Modeling Technology) to simulate the actual electronic circuits” of the 1981 six-voice Polysix analog polyphonic synthesizer. The app is 50% off to celebrate its introduction.

Sonic Jump version 1.1:
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Surprise: iOS 4.2 Mobile Safari quietly enjoys augmented reality secrets

Avatar for 9to5 Staff Dec 22 2010 - 1:33 am PT
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We just love surprises here at 9to5Mac, from the news that the MacBook Pro is the biggest-selling laptop on Amazon at time of writing (second-best in the UK) to the peachy-keen deals on Apple Protection there, but that’s not what this story is about — this surprise comes from the developers at Occipital who have uncovered secret augmented reality capabilities within Mobile Safari for iOS 4.2, woot!!
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