Today is the 10-year anniversary of the death of Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs. To commemorate the occasion, Apple has posted a message and a mini-documentary on its website. But beyond Jobs' visionary accomplishments, this anniversary is also an opportunity to peer into the possible future of what Apple has in store in the first decade after the passing of its passionate, trailblazing leader. • Don't Miss: Facebook's Big Smartglasses Mistake—Not Pairing Ray-Ban with Instagram Instead In this area, there's really only one direction in which to look: augmented reality... more

On Monday, the social media giant Facebook suffered a massive outage that, as of this writing, is still in effect. The company's flagship services, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp are all currently inaccessible. But one unexpected development is that this outage is also hurting Facebook's "metaverse" products, including Oculus Quest users and Ray-Ban Stories smartglasses users. • Don't Miss: What Is the Difference Between Facebook Ray-Ban Stories, Snap Spectacles, & Amazon Echo Frames Smartglasses? Currently, if you turn on your Oculus Quest 2 headset, after the device powers on... more

The beginning of autumn has delivered a number of new augmented reality developments, and we're on top of it. This week, NASA launched several major new initiatives that involve AR as an essential piece of the puzzle. Also, Magic Leap's history turned a major new corner, while one mainstream retailer move could hint at an early advantage in the growing smartglasses wars. Speaking of smartglasses, this week we offered a comprehensive breakdown of the leading players, how they stack up against each other, and which ones are right for certain users. Finally, the folks at Vuzix gave the world a... more

Although the enterprise use cases for the Microsoft HoloLens 2 continue to impress, the arts community just can't stay away from the best augmented reality headset on the market. The latest example comes from a new exhibit that highlights one of Earth's most powerful but vulnerable sea creatures: orca whales. • Don't Miss: Microsoft's HoloLens Morphs Paris Museum Model of Mont-Saint-Michel into Masterpiece of AR The exhibit, which is called "Critical Distance," is being hosted by the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. The team behind the new immersive... more

The emergence of Facebook's collaboration with Ray-Ban to launch Stories smartglasses has finally put an exclamation point on a new category of smartglasses: the pre-augmented reality wearable segment. And while the Facebook device isn't particularly groundbreaking in terms of features already explored by other wearables, it does distinguish itself in a few important ways. But how, with an array of smartglasses options now available to mainstream consumers, can you choose the right pair of smartglasses? Glad you asked. • Don't Miss: Snap Unveils Gucci Edition of Spectacles 3, Film Shot via... more

The team at NASA is in full mission preparation mode as they prepare to send a new team to the moon for the first time in decades via the Artemis program in 2024. But one of the key points of interest in that upcoming mission is the fact that NASA will also be sending the first woman to the moon. In conjunction with that mission, the space agency has launched an augmented reality experience to build interest and understanding around the historic event. • Don't Miss: You Can Land & Drive NASA's Perseverance Mars Rover in AR with the Smithsonian Channel's New App The main platform NASA is... more

If you're a normal, non-corporate video conferencing user, you may not have heard of BlueJeans, but in the corporate world, the software has long been a major staple when it comes to remote meetings. Now the company is finally catching up with the rapidly unfolding wearable augmented reality device segment by adding Google Glass to the mix. • Don't Miss: Google Extends Support for Google Meet to Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2 Starting in 2022, Glass Enterprise Edition 2 users will have the option of using a native version of the BlueJeans meeting software. Like other enterprise AR... more

Away from the hype around Facebook's smartglasses, the high-end fascination with the Microsoft HoloLens, and the unending rumors about Apple's AR wearable is the small but powerful darling of the enterprise AR world—Vuzix. Well, now we're getting an inside look at where the wearable magic happens at the Vuzix factory based in unlikely confines upstate New York. • Don't Miss: Vuzix Confirms New, Smaller Smartglasses Model with Fashion-Friendly Design The tour is guided by none other than Vuzix CEO Paul Travers (a member of the NR30), who takes us deep into the component-laced caverns of the... more

As NASA nears the launch of another mission to the Moon in 2024, and a subsequent mission to Mars in the 2030s, augmented reality is increasingly being woven into the normal space operations to test various capabilities. The latest example comes via the current International Space Station (ISS) crew, several of whom are using the Microsoft HoloLens to carry out vital procedures. • Don't Miss: Microsoft's Live HoloLens 2 Apollo 11 Demo Didn't Take Flight, but You Can See It Thanks to Unreal Engine's Video Currently, crew members are engaged in the T2 Augmented Reality (T2AR) project, which... more

As we move toward the end of the year, the wheels of the augmented reality space continue to shift in major ways. Facebook is currently facing yet another round of public and governmental scrutiny over its smartglasses product, but we propose a different scenario that might have helped the social media giant avoid its current marketing issues. Also, as the Oculus Quest 2 gets more attention for its passthrough feature, we just got a peek at what AR gaming might look like on the platform. Over at Google, the inexorable march toward mainstreaming AR continues with a major new addition to its... more

If the importance of augmented reality and VR hardware to Facebook's future wasn't already clear enough, a shake-up in the executive ranks at the company has made it as clear as smartglasses lenses. Late Wednesday, Facebook chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer, who CEO Mark Zuckerberg affectionately refers to as "Shrep," announced that he will transition out of his role to serve as the company's first senior fellow in a part-time capacity. Don't Miss: Facebook Reality Labs Chief Teases AR Coming to Oculus Quest Gaming, Delves into Future Smartglasses Hardware Taking his place will be... more

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. Such is the case thanks to a new Oculus Quest 2 commercial designed to promote a new aspect of the VR dance game Beat Saber. • Don't Miss: Facebook's Oculus Quest Turned into Augmented Reality Guitar Hero Experience via This Developer App The video is designed to promote the new Beat Saber music pack for the game from popular singer Billie Eilish. However, what the highly choreographed video also does is deliver a tantalizing... more

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. That being the case, Google can now bring those landmarks to you in augmented reality. Don't Miss: Hands-On: Here's How Augmented Reality in Google Search Works Google's Arts & Culture team has added 3D virtual tours of 19 iconic landmarks to its Search product, including locations like Tokyo Tower, Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella basilicas in Florence, and the Union Buildings in South Africa. The 3D models are built... more

We usually focus on augmented reality here, but when something important in VR happens, we highlight it as part of the overall immersive computing story. In this case, the momentous event is the debut of a fully developed VR game experience from none other than Netflix. • Don't Miss: Universal Pictures Uses Sound to Trigger Augmented Reality Horror Experience for 'Candyman' Movie The game, which is based on the Netflix series Eden, is called Eden Unearthed and it takes us into the world of a planet where artificial intelligence and robots have taken over, leaving just a single human girl... more

One of the best recent outings in the Marvel universe is the animated series What If...?, which explores alternate universe takes on various superhero storylines that deliver fascinating scenarios if one single factor had been different in the story. Using that framing, I'd like you to take a moment to imagine something in the real tech multiverse that is just as potentially fascinating: What if Facebook had launched Ray-Bay Stories as a partnership with Instagram instead of Facebook? • Don't Miss: Facebook and Ray-Ban Stories Smartglasses Unboxing For those within the tech sector, the... more

This was a busy week in the tech space. After everyone got over the major announcements of Apple's latest, we examined the metaverse through the lens of Hollywood, and then took a closer look at Facebook's first smartglasses. We also took a trip back through history using Snapchat's AR Lenses in Paris, and got a glimpse of China's first big powerhouse AR wearable from wireless giant Xiaomi. Oh, and don't forget to check out our XR industry job alerts, there might be something in there that might be right up your immersive alley... The New 'Matrix' Is Here, What Does It Have to Teach Us... more

It's about that time again: Facebook has announced the dates for its annual Facebook Connect (formerly known as Oculus Connect until last year). Once again, the event will be held virtually, allowing all registrants to attend from the comfort of their home or office. • Don't Miss: Facebook and Ray-Ban Stories Smartglasses Unboxing And while the name has changed, the DNA of the event hasn't, Facebook Connect is all about augmented reality and virtual reality. From the latest developments in Oculus VR, which is continuing to roll out its Horizon social media platform, to the increasing... more

One of the most iconic architectural landmarks on the planet, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, will become a part of augmented reality history thanks to a new project from Snap. The occasion is the launch of Christo Vladimirov Javacheff's posthumous art installation in the center of Paris, decades after the famed artist first envisioned the work. • Don't Miss: Hands-On with the Lego Snapchat Augmented Reality Experience That Lets You Build With Friends Remotely The installation, titled "The Final Christo: Original Works for The Arc de Triomph" is both a physical work, a series of photo... more

As if answering Apple's major iPhone event on Tuesday, Chinese mobile giant Xiaomi held its own product launch event the following day. And while the various smartphone offerings from the tech giant were impressive, it's the smartglasses product that the company revealed that raised the most eyebrows in the augmented reality space. • Don't Miss: How to Get a Pair of Snap's New Spectacles AR Smartglasses The device is called Xiaomi Smart Glasses, and they look like a normal pair of thick-framed glasses. For the fashion nerds, the design is reminiscent of the Cazal luxury glasses made famous... more