Apple has been working on integrating augmented reality capabilities in its devices for quite some time now, and naturally, that's led to talk of Apple making some kind of augmented reality headset of its own. Rumors of such a headset have persisted for years at this point, and after all that talk, we may finally see Apple's AR hardware launch at some point next year.
You'll probably only really remember the company name Jaunt XR if you've been reading about VR (and the like) for the past half-decade. They're the people that made it possible for Paul McCartney to release a "VR" experience in an app, allowing people to view a video of a song VIA a rig of cameras from onstage. It was basically like your head was attached to a pole during a live concert - sorta neat! Now Verizon owns what Jaunt XR made.
A USPTO patent application was made public today as filed by Apple back in March of 2019 for a so-called "Display Device." This device is also described in the patent as "an augmented reality headset." The details of this patent - the drawings, the methods - aren't nearly as important as the patent's filing details. Let's take a peek at where Apple's at when it comes to working with augmented reality holograms in a pair of smart glasses.
Mobile horror game Five Nights at Freddy's will arrive for augmented reality this fall. The hit game originally launched as an indie title in 2014, introducing players to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza shop and the animatronic robots that perform shows for guests. As players came to learn, these animatronic animals aren't so entertaining for the store's nighttime security guard.
Today we're taking a peek at a couple of new LEGO sets in the company's newest line: Hidden Side. This new LEGO line Hidden Side stars with some spooky setups and enhances play with a smartphone app. The sets themselves are akin to past releases with monsters, haunted houses, and Halloween in mind. Given their release of this series here so far in advance of Autumn, we must assume that the ghoulish attraction of the month of October is spread beyond its Roman Calendar confines at last!
Samsung's newest Galaxy Tab S6 may seem unique for having two cameras, one of which is has a wide-angle lens, but it's hardly the first tablet to have more than one sensor on its back. Google's Project Tango tablet had a handful of sensors, all of which work in concert to give the device "AR eyes". It seems that Apple will be taking a similar path but with a simpler and less expensive solution, a single 3D Time-of-Flight sensor for its next iPad Pro.
It probably should be much of a surprise that there's a lot of interest about Minecraft Earth. Not only did Pokemon GO prove that there's definitely a market for augmented reality games, but Minecraft Earth is able to leverage the best selling video game of all time. While the closed beta for Minecraft Earth launched a few weeks ago, it's only been available for iOS thus far, leaving Android players out in the cold.
This week the folks at Google responsible for the newest magical features in Google Maps expand availability of Live View. This is an augmented reality feature that, until now, was only available for testing by Google insiders, Local Guides, and the Pixel community. Now they're pushing the feature to Android and iOS devices that support ARCore and ARKit.
Today we're running down the just-released details of Oculus Connect 6. This event will take place at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, California. Dates for Oculus Connect 6 are September 25 and 26, 2019. The event promises to be a major moment in the history of both Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality with keynotes, presentations, and talks with big names like John Carmack and Respawn Entertainment. Given the latest notes from Carmack, this event promises to be a shock to the senses.
A bit of analysis from TF Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested this week that Apple's 2020 collection of iPhone devices could use ToF sensors on their backs. But wait, you might be saying, isn't Apple going to bring the rounded-corner circle of cameras to the iPhone in the year 2019? You'd be right about that amalgamation of cameras, more than likely, but the ToF (Time of Flight) sensor is apparently not going to be in the mix this year at all.
This next generation in mobile 3D scanning hardware was revealed today by the folks at Occipital. They've shown the Occipital Structure Sensor Mark II, a device that's 50% smaller than their previous sensor, with a whole lot more power and precision. This new unit has a new set of custom optics, an onboard IMU, a new depth processing chip, and a new ultra-wide vision camera. All of this rolls with compatibility for iOS devices - with an eye for your iPad, more than likely.
Niantic Labs' third smartphone-based AR game didn't exactly bring in as many players or revenue as Pokemon GO but the Harry Potter franchise still has enough fans to get the game by at least by word of mouth. That could be giving developers at Microsoft-owned Mojang some anxiety over their own still upcoming title. To whet Minecraft fans' appetite and, at the same time, publicize the game, Microsoft is dropping a few more tidbits about how Minecraft Earth will play out once the the Closed Beta rolls out next month.