Why VR providers are pinning their hopes on profiting from ‘Zoom fatigue’

What is the latest marketing strategy for virtual reality software providers? If the Covid-19 pandemic will cause the new normal to become the normal full stop, Zoom and their ilk are not going to cut it long-term.

Meet AfterNow. The California-based startup, which describes itself grandly as 'building the future of human computing with augmented reality and artificial intelligence', is looking to help users against 'Zoom fatigue.'

The company has launched its new...

29 July 2020 | Advertising

‘Bright future’ for AR and VR in 2021 and beyond, says Strategy Analytics

The short-term outlook for virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) may be a struggle, according to Strategy Analytics, but if organisations can ride out this wave then the future looks bright.

The findings appear in the analyst firm's latest report, 'Short and Long-Term Impacts of Covid-19 on the AR and VR Market.' Among the report's key takeaways are:

XR hardware revenues will overtake $28 billion annually in 2025Total XR shipments - combined VR and dedicated AR headsets -...

14 July 2020 | Applications

As Varjo and MeetinVR team up, can VR provide the human touch videoconferencing lacks?

Virtual and extended reality headset manufacturer Varjo has announced a partnership with MeetinVR, providers of virtual enterprise collaboration software, to help deliver more realistic experiences.

MeetinVR will release a dedicated version of their application which supports all Varjo's headsets, from the VR-2, to VR-2 Pro and the XR-1 Developer Edition, as part of the partnership. New buyers of any Varjo headset will receive MeetinVR free for six months for up to five...

28 May 2020 | Applications

NexTech to acquire Jolokia for AR holograms in web conferencing

NexTech AR Solutions announced that it has signed a letter of intent to acquire interactive video solutions provider Jolokia in an all-stock transaction.

According to the deal, on closing, NexTech AR would require an initial payment of 1 million shares in restricted stock priced at $1, with a 12-month earn out if certain revenue milestones are hit of an additional $4 million in restricted stock.

As corporate meetings and events are happening online these days by medium of...

18 March 2020 | Applications

AR to overtake VR as dominant platform for healthcare, finds GlobalData

While healthcare assistance for virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies remains nascent, AR is expected to move ahead over time as capabilities increase.

That’s according to a new report from GlobalData. The paper states that as the technology advances and with the availability of cheaper, more user-friendly VR and AR headsets, the barriers to widespread use in healthcare are beginning to fall. Though the technologies are in their early stage of adoption,...

5 February 2020 | Applications

Pinterest launches AR feature to allow users to virtually try on shades of lipstick

Pinterest has introduced a new AR feature that enables users to try and apply different shades of lipsticks virtually on their smartphone application.

Dubbed as Try On, the application is the first AR filter on the social networking site’s mobile application that will build on its other product discovery tools, such as visual search that can match items in a picture to product catalogues.

To allow its users to “try on” a variety of lipstick shades,...

30 January 2020 | Advertising

Health Scholars raises $17m in funding to continue research for VR tech in healthcare

VR-enabled clinical training firm Health Scholars has successfully completed its series B funding round to the tune of $17 million (£13.1m), which will be used by the company to continue its R&D in new virtual technologies in hospital and public safety market.

The fundraising round was participated by Arboretum Ventures, Venture Investors, Capital Midwest Fund, OSF HealthCare. The raised funds will majorly help Health Scholars to expand its VR content library and further...

28 January 2020 | Applications

Accenture and Qualcomm collaborate to pilot extended reality product for event planning

Accenture and Qualcomm Technologies have partnered with InterContinental Hotels Group to assess a solution that uses augmented and virtual reality to reinvent the event planning experience.

Accenture’s extended reality (XR) practice has developed the XR Event Planner solution in collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies, which will place event planners, buyers and hotel sales staff side-by-side in a virtual reconstruction of an event space, allowing them to remotely envision...

24 January 2020 | Applications

NexTech AR to bring augmented reality to the mining industry with new deal

NexTech AR Solutions has announced that Romios Gold Resources will be using its augmented reality (AR) technology to demonstrate exploration projects. The latter has contracted for NexTech’s 3D/AR omni-channel services to help drive its marketing and client-education activities in 2020.

As reported by Proactive Investors, according to NexTech CEO Evan Gappelberg, its AR technology will enhance Romios to “bridge the gap by showing what actual core samples look like in...

15 January 2020 | Applications

UCI School of Medicine studying psychological effects of AR medical simulation training

The UCI School of Medicine has collaborated with Chenega Healthcare Services and MedCognition to examine the psychological effects of AR medical simulation training.

The study, titled, Assessment of the Psychological and Physiological Effects of Augmented Reality, has been provided with a $1.2 million fund by the Medical Technology Enterprise Consortium.

The two-year study, which began in December, focuses on whether pre-existing psychological traits or past stress...

14 January 2020 | Applications