News & Reviews:   Augmented Reality

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, companies around the world have been looking into various ways to help in relief efforts. One of those companies is Snapchat, which has come up with a new augmented reality lens that isn't for fun this time. Instead, this new lens is designed to help people to donate to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVID-19 response efforts.

Snap Inc, the creators of Snapchat has announced that they have unveiled the Lens Studio 2.1 which includes up to 6 new templates, 14 new Landmarkers, as well as various new tools. These new additions to the Lens Studio will not only help users create staggering AR Lens for Snapchat, but also help streamline the entire creative process and share with the community.

In a not so surprise move after Apple brought out their ARKit, Google have announced their ARCore SDK for Android developers to create AR (Augmented Reality) experiences on normal smartphones without any special Google Tango hardware. It will be available with Google Pixel and the Samsung Galaxy S8 running Android 7.0 Nougat and above first, but will spread out to other manufacturers like ASUS, Huawei and LG.

The weekend saw the Mountain Dew ‘Dew Challenge 2016’ gave away cash prizes amounting over RM100,000 ringgit for the two gaming events that was held at Berjaya Times Square – DoTA 2 challenge and the Mobile Gaming Challenge. The grand finals for the two events were held in Kuala Lumpur, where the champions were crowned in front of an excited crowd. 

Virtual reality has been promoted here and there this year, you know what it is, as seen in various companies trying to utilise it such as Samsung, HTC, and Sony in Malaysia, but it seems tat VR is starting to slow down according to DigiTimes, with its collection from a few market research firms have noticed that virtual reality and augmented reality products "have been weaker than expected,".

After the reveal of the high-end HTC Vive and Oculus Rift from Valve, many are feeling that VR is something beyond their reach and means, as the entry point for high-end VR seems to be in the realms of high-end gaming machines. However, a new report states that Microsoft’s own Holographic OS may not need something high end – in fact, the PC at your house right now may already be supported for VR.

According to ASUS's CEO Jerry Shen – the company will be showcasing their first Tango-powered smartphone in next year’s edition of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017 in Las Vegas. It will be the company’s first AR-supported phone in their line-up.

A few hours ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook has told investors that Apple is interested in investing augmented reality (AR) and they have already been in developing and is "high on AR in the long run". This happened after he was asked about his thoughts on Pokémon Go that has stormed the world as the most downloaded app in history.

We've seen quite a few smart glasses, but Microsoft has gone the Augmented Reality way with the announcement of their new HoloLens headset. While no actual tech specs were revealed, the headset allows a 3D augmented reality sort of view of the real world. This includes watching news on a wall with no actual display or playing Minecraft (Holobuilder according to Microsoft) on your coffee table with no actual pieces. We've seen this with the Meta Pro smart glasses before. However, there are still no details as to Malaysia pricing or exact release dates just yet. Microsoft say that we could see it within the year though, but it remains unclear as to when exactly that might be. In addition, Microsoft are also working on the Holo Studio, which looks to be like a 3D design studio connected to a 3D printer, so you can design stuff in the HoloLens and then get it in the real world. Check out the videos in this article for a closer look.

Current smartglasses like Google Glass offer an overlay version of Augmented Reality through an overlapping crystal display but it still is very far off from the computers in Minority Report and Ironman. Taking it a huge step further than all the other smartglasses is the Meta Pro which isn't just sleek and stylish, but also offers a full Augmented Reality platform beamed from a pocket computer. Instead of an overlapping crystal display, the Meta Pro glasses are the display with more than 15x the area than Google Glass. Coupled together with the Intel Core i5, 4GB RAM pocket computer, the entire Meta Pro system tracks your fingers and lets you interact with the Meta Augmented Reality platform. Currently available at $3000 (RM9772) and shipping in June 2014, the company making the Meta Pro already have a number of apps in the works with a developer's kit rolling out soon. Check out the video in this article or go to the Space Glasses site for more very cool information.