Virtual reality film provider Jaunt has announced it is moving away from the space, saying its future lies in augmented (AR) and extended reality (XR).

“Today, we announced that Jaunt will be focusing efforts on further developing technologies that allow for the scaled creation of AR content,” the company wrote

A technology partnership has recently been announced between Deutsche Telekom and Niantic Inc., creator of leading AR games Pokémon GO and Ingress PRIME. This partnership will bring Niantic’s Real World platform for AR gaming to Deutsche Telekom’s MobiledgeX Edge servers and 5G network.

Niantic’s Real World Platform combines the physical and digital worlds via advanced functionalities like...

Finnish tech startup Varjo has announced a $31 million Series B investment to introduce the world’s first human-eye resolution virtual reality and mixed reality (VR/XR) product, which is aimed at industrial use.

The product holds the potential to transform complex and design-driven industries, such as architecture, engineering and construction, simulation and training, engineering and construction, aerospace, and industrial design.

The Helsinki-based firm now has a total of $46 million in accumulated...

Enterprises are enhancing their business operations with the help of AR and VR technologies, claims a report, titled “Augmented and Virtual Reality in Operations: A guide for investment”, published by the Capgemini Research Institute.

More than 700 executives in the automotive, manufacturing and utilities sectors having knowledge of AR/VR initiatives in their organisations were surveyed for the preparation of this...

Mozilla has launched Firefox Reality, a mixed reality (MR) browser compatible with Viveport, Oculus and Daydream, to be designed from the ground up for standalone virtual and augmented reality.

Features of the browser include voice-activated search, built-in private browsing, and resize capabilities. Users can also move between 2D and 3D, as well as activate a movie-speicifc mode. The browser also feature Mozilla's new Quantum engine for smooth and fast performance.

The browser is designed not only for...

There are high hopes for the potential of VR, AR and mixed reality applications, with a stream of organisations from startups to more established names announcing plans for the technology. Indeed, the UK Government announced investment of up to £33 million in the space as part of its Industrial Strategy earlier this year.

Requirements for ultra-low latency and reliable, high-speed data connections mean that the full potential of these applications has yet to be realised.

Fortunately, 5G is set to...

The Virtual Reality Industry Forum (VRIF) has announced that it will be exhibiting its latest VR innovations at the IBC2018 event in Amsterdam. At the VRIF Future Zone booth, visitors will be able to witness all the cutting-edge interactive demos from companies such as Qualcomm, Nokia/Fraunhofer HHI, and Imeve.

Demonstrations by the abovementioned companies include Imeve’s high-quality live streaming VR360 solution,...

Immersive computing solutions provider, Sixense Enterprises, and Sisu, a developer of intuitive robot systems, have announced the former’s STEM technology will be deployed in the latter’s VUDU system for industrial robot programming.

The advanced motion tracking technology from Sixense has enabled Sisu to launch its most intuitive system yet, that helped in mitigating programming time from days or hours to just...

Virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiences are being used to attract customers by retailers – as new case studies have shown.

One Toronto-based business, The Slanted Door Art Gallery, Café, and Lounge, has become a part of the new frontier in eCommerce. This trendy café has introduced an interactive 360° virtual tour for its visitors who can actually study and purchase pieces of art via their...

Digi-Capital, an augmented and virtual reality consulting firm, has announced the launch of a new analytics platform which will serve as a dashboard for startups, corporates and venture capitalists (VCs).

The platform aims to provide encyclopaedic information in AR/VR/XR, with more than 500,000 data points across hardware, software, platforms, products/services, business models, categories and countries. It also covers leading AR/VR/XR startups, founders, corporates, VCs, valuations, deal flows and...

Meet VERSES. The Los Angeles-based startup aims to ‘create a new economy for tradeable and transportable digitised assets that combines the virtual with the physical.’

VERSES has showcased its virtual and augmented reality protocol to power ownership, monetization, geolocation and tradability of digital goods, holographic avatars and connected experiences. VERSES creates a new economy for tradable and transportable...

It has certainly taken its time – but Magic Leap has finally taken the leap and announced the availability of its augmented reality (AR) headset.

The Magic Leap One Creator Edition, in the words of the company, is ‘a spatial computing system that brings digital content to life here in the real world with us. Its unique design and technology lets in natural light waves together with softly layered synthetic lightfields, enabling creators to build unbelievably believable interactive experiences and...

Augmented reality (AR) is making waves in the consumer market through apps such as Snapchat and Pokemon GO – but hardware is still struggling to break through.

A new series of reports from analyst firm Strategy Analytics, one focused on AR device market and outlook and another from forecast by device type until 2023, notes that slot-in AR devices will account for the majority of shipments and users today, but binocular units, such as HoloLens, will increase in importance as the market evolves towards...

Switzerland-based scanning software provider Scandit has raised $30 million in a series B funding round led by GV, along with existing investor Atomico, and NGP Capital – a venture capital arm of Nokia Corporation.

The accrued funds will be used by Scandit to expedite its process of expanding the business across the world, and further develop its mobile computer vision platform to support advanced capabilities across any camera-equipped device. It will also help the company to boost its long-term vision...

In its latest review into global market tech trends, international technology M&A advisory Hampleton Partners has said that manufacturing, retail and healthcare industries are at the forefront of integrating augmented, virtual and mixed reality into the workplace to eradicate some of their complex challenges.

The Hampleton Partners M&A report on AR/VR predicts the global market size of the VR sector to grow at a CAGR of 44.5% to $17.8 billion in 2022. On the other hand, AR is expected to grow at...

Virtual reality may help assuage those who have a fear of heights, according to a new report.

According to research published in The Lancet Psychiatry Journal, following a randomised controlled trial of 100 people, it was stated that VR could help people with a clinically diagnosed fear of heights overcome their fear.

Though at a nascent stage, the use of VR technology was successfully conducted as a treatment without a therapist that provided a proof of concept for how some psychological interventions might...

Digital Catapult is allowing 10 early-stage VR and AR businesses to join its Augmentor programme, which aims to expedite business adoption and investment in the immersive sector in the UK. Under the 10-week long programme, these businesses will receive technical and business guidance, access to state-of-the-art facilities and backing for confidently pitching their ideas at an exclusive investor showcase in September 2018.

The companies are: HoloMe from London; KageNova from Guildford, Lume VR from London UK;...

Augmented reality (AR) will be majorly adopted in the retail sector - but not in the way many have predicted, according to a new report from ABI Research.

The analyst firm said that interest in AR will be driven by the retail workforce and online shoppers.

AR experiences can be of extreme use for online customers who are unable to interact with the physical products they plan to buy. For in-store employees, AR promises to deliver operational efficiencies and increase the quality of the service...

Opening its World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) this week, Apple announced a string of updates to its AR (augmented reality) framework ARKit - a key development in a field the tech company is pitching its long-term success on.  

The update comes after Apple announced that 13 million apps had been downloaded using the framework since its debut in September 2017, with some 47% of that figure driven by a surge in the popularity of

International Data Corporation (IDC) Canada has announced the latest release of its IDC's Worldwide Semiannual Augmented and Virtual Reality Spending Guide forecasting Canada's hardware, software and services spending on the two technologies combined is set to total C$602 million by 2018, increasing to $8 billion by 2022 at a CAGR of 90%.

Consumer, healthcare, and retail, powering immersive and realistic images, sounds, and experiences that simulate physical presence in a virtual environment will lead...