Augmented Reality

Three years after finally launching its debut AR headset, Magic Leap has outlined plans for a follow-up. The announcement comes as it reveals a fresh round of funding to the tune of US$500 million, and continues a shift toward the enterprise market.

A new smartphone app is using augmented reality to help reduce a person’s fear of spiders. In a study published in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders the app was found to significantly reduce feelings of fear and disgust after a two-week program.

Swimming is one of those sports in which stopping to check a smartwatch can be quite disruptive. Because of this, we've recently seen a number of performance-tracking goggles. One of the newest, known as Holoswim, is now on Kickstarter.

Smart specs don't always need to be packed with tech to be useful – like the new NXTWEAR G from TCL, which are powered by a smartphone, tablet, or laptop and act as an external screen for that device, one that can reach a virtual size of 140 inches.

We saw the first pair of Snapchat Spectacles in 2016, and now Snapchat parent company Snap has come out with its most advanced wearable yet: a pair of glasses with full augmented reality capabilities.

Location-based augmented reality games are expanding into all kinds of avenues. Eastern Market Murder tasks players with solving a century-old true crime mystery in the actual locations where it all went down. New Atlas hit the streets to try it out.

Microsoft has won a 10-year contract to build advanced augmented reality systems for the US Army, giving infantrymen videogame-style super-soldier capabilities. A new production contract will net the company up to US$21.88 billion over ten years.

Facebook has taken the unusual step of revealing its next-gen augmented reality gear at a working prototype stage, including a staggering neuro-motor controller that reads nerve impulses in your wrist at single-neuron resolutions.

Video calls are handy, but you lose that sense of presence. To make remote meetups a bit more personal, Microsoft has unveiled Mesh, a “mixed reality” platform that lets people work and play together as virtual avatars overlaid on real-world spaces.

Coming later this year, the Cognixion ONE headset is promising something extra on top of the regular augmented reality experience: a brain computer interface that can turn thoughts into commands for the device.

One display just isn’t enough for most people. If you’d rather not clutter up your desk with a whole bunch of screens, Lenovo has unveiled ThinkReality A3, a pair of augmented reality glasses that can project up to five virtual displays around you.

Augmented reality has previously allowed us to place furniture in a room before buying, bring photos to life and go gaming on the streets. Now you can have a life-like avatar perform an upbeat version of a Beethoven classic in your front room.