The market for extended reality products, comprising VR and AR devices, will see a growth of 21% in 2019 to just over 10 million devices, according to the latest forecast from analyst CCS Insight.

Sony has been already on track to record a solid 2019, and Facebook too has started gaining meaningful revenue from its Oculus devices, the company argued in what it descried as a ‘volatile but promising’ market.

According to IDC's latest Worldwide Augmented and Virtual Reality Spending Guide, global spending on augmented reality and virtual reality is forecasted to reach $18.8 billion (£14.5 bn) in 2020.

This figure is an increase of 78.5%, compared to the £8.12bn which IDC expects to be spent in 2019.

The report also shows that global spending on AR/VR products and services...

The New Yorker has launched an augmented reality-based (AR) series of cartoons in addition to its previous campaigns around the technology.

The offering, called ‘Animate Objects’ and part of the revamped New Yorker Today app, allows users to point their smartphones at various everyday items and see an animation in return from New Yorker cartoonist Liana Finck.

The product...

A partnership deal has been signed between Verizon and Snapchat creator Snap, where the former’s 5G Ultra Wideband technology will support the Snapchat’s creator’s AR, visual communications, and content experiences.

Under the agreement, both will work as official 5G innovation partners at the telecom giant’s 5G Labs to develop new experiences, such as experiencing live events in newer ways through...

A new report launched by PwC has revealed that virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) could add £62.5 billion to the UK economy, boosting the GDP by 2.4% by 2030.

The majority of the contribution to the UK economy will come from AR (£44.4bn) with VR providing £18.1bn. VR and AR will also have a major impact on the UK workplace with 1.19% of jobs – coming to just over 400,000 people...

A recent study from Juniper Research has revealed that the number of consumer mixed reality app installs will reach 10 billion by 2024, increasing from the current three billion. Mixed reality overlays interactive digital images and videos on the real world via a smartphone, tablet or smart glasses.

The research, titled 'Consumer Mixed Reality: Emerging Opportunities, Vendor Strategies & Market Forecasts...

First, a confession: I love VR. I became hooked on its potential long before today's affordable, reliable hardware. But as the old adage says, when you have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. And that's dangerous for a tool in its early stages of deployment like VR.

Training is an obvious and useful application of VR. And almost every industry is bad at training.

Audi has introduced its new hyper-reality experience, called “The e-tron room: the Future Paradox”, in Spain to raise public awareness of its electric propulsion technology.

By using the escape room format for the first time, the German automaker is trying to educate participants through an entertaining series of trials and challenges helping them understand the Audi e-tron concept.

Network Rail has introduced an augmented reality-based smartphone application, called ARki, which supports the railway company’s engagement with passengers by allowing them to see the replacement of footbridges at train stations.

The app, developed by London-based Darf Design, highlights 3D visualisations of planned buildings in place helping passengers and local communities to see their future as the railway firm...

Researchers at Rhode Island-based Brown University have developed a new software system which turns smartphones into AR portals, allowing users to position virtual building blocks, furniture, and other objects into real world settings.

The developers believe that this new system, called Portal-ble, has the potential to be used as a tool by artists, designers, game developers and others to experiment with AR.

Verizon is acquiring the technology assets of California-based VR content startup Jaunt, comprising of its VR tech and newer augmented reality (AR) efforts.

As reported by TechCrunch – which is part of Verizon Media – Jaunt has been looking to sell many of its assets and pursue a business...

Augmented reality (AR) can be seen as a major trend – indeed, its potential is set to outstrip that of virtual reality (VR). But a technical challenge lies ahead.

According to a new whitepaper from Adlens, a provider of adaptive focus lens technologies, alongside analyst Greenlight Insights, solving the two key issues plaguing augmented reality could unlock an incremental $10 billion in addressable market value by 2026.

A new report from the University of Nottingham has argued virtual reality (VR) has great potential to improve employee safety at workplaces.

The research, titled “Immersive Virtual Worlds: Multi-Sensory Virtual Environments for Health and Safety Training”, aimed to produce evidence-based guidance for the development and use of virtual environments in engaging and effective training. The researchers conducted...

Opinion ‘Digital convergence’ was the major buzz phrase during the nascent days of what we’ll call ‘mobile content’. In the early-2000s, you couldn’t open a trade magazine (remember those?), visit a tech website or attend a conference without being bombarded with the word and what it would mean for myriad industries specialising in creating content, its means of distribution or the devices for consumption.

Here is proof the virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) market is thriving: WaveOptics, a UK-based designer of optical components for augmented reality devices, has announced an additional $13 million (£10m) in funding to close an oversubscribed series C funding round at $39m.

The company aims to solve three primary problems associated with AR wearables; design, cost, and optical...

Much like Twitter’s original 140 character limit, the vergence accommodation conflict (VAC) is responsible for one of the defining limitations of VR content today, ‘the one metre barrier’.

So what is the problem? It is uncomfortable to spend time up close and personal in a VR environment because of the decoupling of the natural vergence and accommodation responses in our eyes. As objects get closer, our eyes naturally turn...

Virginia-based augmented reality (AR) software as a service platform developer Ario Technologies has raised $2 million (£1.64m) in a recently held seed funding round led by Richmond-based venture capital firm NRV.

The secured funds will be used by Ario to capitalise further on its position as an emerging player in the enterprise AR industry and across the globe, where companies struggle to increase worker efficiency, reduce...

The global market for smart augmented reality (AR) glasses has struggled taking off even after few years of pilots, implementations, and a lot of hype. A new report by Tractica has revealed that smart AR glasses market is gaining traction as it inches away from being a niche product to becoming an industrial and enterprise problem solver.

While consumer adoption is elusive, the market is building its ecosystem, refining...

Researchers at the University of Cambridge are working on a next-generation 3D head-up display that is said to beam real-time safety information in front of the driver’s eyes.

As reported by Business Weekly the research project, which has Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) on board, is...

The Khronos Group has publicly released the OpenXR 1.0 specification, along with openly available implementations and substantial ecosystem momentum.

According to the Oregon-based non-profit industry consortium, the OpenXR 1.0 is a unifying, royalty-free, open standard that provides high-performance, cross-platform access to extended reality, also known as XR, supported platforms and devices.