BMW of North America (BMW NA) has introduced new dealership and workshop communication technologies that will help BMW Centres and MINI Dealerships in the region to mitigate repair and maintenance time, eventually increasing the workshop efficiency and improving customer satisfaction.

The technologies include the all-new Technical Information System TIS 2.0, along with the Technical Support & Research Assistant TSARA and...

Siemens Digital Industries Software has announced the availability of a new version of its Solid Edge CAD software featuring augmented reality (AR) among other new options.

Dubbed as Solid Edge 2020, the newer edition of the CAD software will help the small and medium-sized manufacturers expedite their product development and manufacturing process.

The Solid Edge 2020 software, which...

The virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) markets may be under something of a strain right now, but the future looks positive – at least according to the latest IDC analysis.

According to the analyst house, global spending on AR and VR is set to hit $160 billion in 2023 – up significantly from the $16.8bn forecast for this year. IDC expects this figure to come from accelerating demand in the commercial and public...

Qualcomm Technologies has announced the new Qualcomm Snapdragon Smart Viewer Reference Design, which is a VR form factor built together with Goertek on the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 Platform. The Reference Design, launched at the Augmented World Expo 2019 in California, helps in decreasing the time taken in product development of both AR and VR smart viewers.

Hugo Swart, head of XR at Qualcomm, said: “The Snapdragon...

How many times have you walked to work and had to pull out your phone to check train times, or been mid-conversation with a friend and gone to look up restaurant options for a brunch you’re planning? Or have you been in a business meeting using the latest virtual tool to include Bob from Ohio and Paula in Beijing, but when it comes to discussing your latest project, that flat digital presentation just doesn’t get the message across?

Scientists at the University of Cambridge say they have built a solution which is claimed to perform better than the ‘gold standard’ tests for Alzheimer’s-triggered dementia.

The scientists developed a VR system that may prove to be a boon for the medical fraternity due to its ability to detect Alzheimer’s at a very early stage. Moreover, the technology was also able to sort patients with early signs of senile...

A number of industry experts in the AR/VR domain foresee convergence of the two technologies into one unique spatial computing solution. However, Digi-Capital has predicted that mobile AR, smart glasses, and VR may in fact be separated in the medium-term from a commercial point of view.

AR is estimated to reach 2.5 billion installed base and $70-$75 billion revenue and VR is expected to hit over 30 million installed base and...

At the recently held 2019 I/O event, Google announced that it is adding a mix of camera and augmented reality (AR) to its search engine that will generate 3D AR models as search results. For instance, users can have look at “realistic” pairs of shoes they are trying to buy online; similarly, shopping clothes online can also be previewed with one’s existing wardrobe. One can also simply put an animated shark in their living room.

A new study conducted by Magid, a consumer-centred business strategy and research company, has revealed that both VR and AR can play a crucial role in enhancing brand perception.

The study, which comprised a series of focus groups in Los Angeles and New York along with tech enthusiasts who had earlier experience of VR, revealed that while VR content was found to drive emotion, the AR content was making more sense for daily...

Consulting company Oz has launched what it has described as a first-of-its-kind application aiming to bring an augmented reality (AR) environment to physician detailing.

AR-Detailing will allow biopharma sales representatives to have a lot more immersive detailing experience with physicians on treatments. It will also educate them on health conditions and diagnostics. This becomes essential for specialised treatments where...

Remember the positivity around Gartner’s recent analysis of the augmented reality market for retail, as this publication outlined earlier this week? A new report appears to have put a dampener on that optimism – at least with regards to user interest and familiarity around the technology.

An optimistic analysis on the augmented reality (AR) market from Gartner: the analyst house has predicted 100 million consumers will shop in AR online and in-store by 2022.

The findings appear in the company’s latest report – ‘Include 5G and Next-Generation Wireless in Roadmaps to Elevate In-Store Retail Customer Experience’ – whose title is more of a command than a comment. Gartner argues...

HTC VIVE has announced that its latest Focus Plus headset will be available for sale from April 15.

The product can be ordered from Vive's website and will cost $799. Vive Focus Plus features the latest fresnel lenses that offers a sharper visual to reduce any screen door effect meeting the needs of enterprise customers. The newly added dual 6DoF controllers help users to blur the lines between reality and VR in addition...

French software firm ESI Group and AR software solutions provider Diota have vowed to solve issues related with factory assembly and in-service maintenance via an end-to-end solution, which leverages digital data to provide improved productivity, quality and traceability, thereby negating operational risk.

The solution, called IC.IDO, is a dedicated VR solution designed to help engineers identify design risks as early as...

The vast majority of technology executives surveyed by global law firm Perkins Coie say they expect immersive technologies of virtual, augmented and mixed reality to become as ubiquitous as mobile devices within six years.

The research, conducted alongside the XR Association, noted the state of investment in the space, which surged in late 2018. Q4/2018 saw spike in global venture capital deal value to $1.7 billion in AR and...

Nissan and NTT DOCOMO have put Nissan’s 'invisible to visible' technology through its field test in a moving vehicle, using DOCOMO’s fifth-generation mobile communications connectivity.

Invisible-to-visible (I2V) is a future Nissan Intelligent Mobility technology that merges the real and virtual worlds. Combining information from sensors outside and inside the vehicle with the data from the cloud helps...

Canadian software firm NexTech AR Solutions has upgraded the user experience (UX) for its patent-pending web-enabled augmented reality (AR) platform.

Users, with the help of the newly improved UX, feel as if they are inside an app through 3D virtual AR objects in a location and then “placed”. As soon as the virtual 3D object is “placed”, users can move their camera left and right whereas the object...

London-based digital agency Brandwidth has created a new Toyota hybrid augmented reality (AR) application for Toyota GB, which will give Toyota customers an inside look of the car brand’s C-HR model.

The application uses AR and objective recognition software to overlap graphics of the inside of the Hybrid drivetrain onto physical vehicles, which will help customers understand the working of the system through an iPad app...

MWC19 Microsoft has announced the launch of HoloLens 2 at MWC Barcelona, with the augmented reality (AR) headset being described by the company as an 'important milestone.'

The headset, which will be available later this year at a price of $3500,  has been launched with focus on three specific areas of improvement; immersion, comfort, and time-to-value. HoloLens 2 has a more than doubled field of view combined with holographic density of 47 pixels per degree of sight, alongside eye-tracking sensors and...

USA TODAY has launched its first entertainment AR experience, called “Oscars AR: The Costumes and Creators”, ahead of the approaching 91st Academy Awards. The technology will allow audiences to get up-close and personal with the costume designers and their creations from major nominated films.

The partnership between USA TODAY’s emerging technology team and USA TODAY’s life team would give viewers...