AR

We now live in a world that revolves around digital objects but we still naturally have to deal with physical ones. Bridging the two have never been easy nor seamless but a lot of technologies, like augmented reality or AR, try to narrow the gap. But while AR brings digital objects to the real world to some extent, a new app goes the opposite direction and lets you clip and drop real-world objects into your digital canvas.

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The Nintendo Switch game Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is a masterpiece of simple yet extraordinary at-home gaming fun. It combines good game design with the magic of successfully bridging the gap between reality and virtual reality with one of the most ideal implementations of augmented reality we've experienced so far. One considerable limitation is the size of the physical space in which one hopes to race. Is that limitation enough to avoid buying and playing the game at all?

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Sony Electronics has officially unveiled its new Spatial Reality (SR) Display, which is made using the company's Eye-Sensing Light Field Display. The display was shown off at CES in January and doesn't require a VR headset. Sony says that the display enables creators in various industries to bring their ideas to life in three dimensions.

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On the eve of Apple's big iPhone reveal event for 2020, a new leak is claiming that the rumored HomePod mini and Apple TV will be host to some impressive tech. Specifically, the leak tells us that both of these products will act as Ultra Wideband (UWB) base-stations. When used in tandem with other devices using Apple's U1 chip, the HomePod mini and the new Apple TV will be able to track where those devices are.

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The United States Army Research Laboratory's Research Office has provided funds under the Small Business Innovation Program to develop prototype AR goggles for dogs. The project aims to provide technology that makes for safer canine scouting missions by enabling human handlers to better communicate with their dogs remotely. Among other things, the goggles enable humans to see exactly what the dog is seeing.

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Many of the augmented reality or AR apps we have on our smartphones are often used for transient things, from whimsical AR stickers to arrows and directions you'll probably only need once. Augmenting the real world digitally, however, becomes even more interesting when such virtual objects stick around, ready for the next time you return to the exact same spot. That's what ARCore's Cloud Anchors API is for and Google is now opening it up to more developers to empower them to craft more persistent AR experiences.

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Bixby is the AI-powered assistant nobody asked for at a time when Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa were already neck and neck in that market. It did bring at least one feature that even Google Assistant has yet to acquire but the rest of its capabilities have mostly duplicated what's already available in more devices and platforms. Now Samsung is retiring some of the features related to its Bixby Vision but while some still remain, it could be a slippery slope.

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For many people these days, Google Maps has become an indispensable tool for navigating the real world. Not everyone, however, finds it easy to use even a digital and advanced map and prefer visual cues to orient themselves. Google developed its AR-based Live View precisely for that purpose and it is now announcing a few new improvements that will hopefully make locating your destination and your friends a lot easier, especially for those who feel overwhelmed by maps.

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Mario Kart is one of the most beloved Mario Bros. "spin-offs" and is present on almost all platforms Nintendo has touched. But while Mario Kart's smartphone incarnation has been widely regarded as a disappointment, the company surprised fans last month with the announcement of a completely new take on the game with Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit. Nintendo is now revealing more of the game's secrets that will probably have Switch owners and Mario Kart fans scrambling to get one in about two weeks.

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Today, Facebook announced that it's diving into the world of augmented reality glasses. This may have been the obvious direction for Facebook given its ownership of Oculus and the array of VR headsets it makes, but we now have official confirmation that the first pair of AR glasses is on the way. Before we can get those glasses, though, Facebook has to build out the tech they'll use, and the company plans to do that through a new research process called Project Aria.

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Google revealed a statue for the release of Android 11 this week, complete with an augmented reality experience for your phone. Google used to make a slightly bigger deal of revealing a special statue at the launch of each new version of Android, each with their own unique desert. The donut, the Oreo, the Nougat, and so forth. The latest statue is... the number 11.

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It's almost impressive how Niantic Labs was able to quickly adapt to a new world where going out and walking around has become discouraged or even disallowed in some countries. That mechanic is, of course, the lifeblood of Pokemon GO but the game continues to have a strong and active following thanks to changes that made it possible to play indoors. With that crisis far behind it, Pokemon GO is moving forward with its next big features, including one literally big feature taken straight from the mainline game.

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