The AR Roundup: June 2020

Here’s what happened in augmented reality between June 1–30, 2020

Source: Apple

Numbers

Forecasts

• Sensor Tower estimates that Roblox player spending passes $1.5bn on mobile (GamesIndustry.biz)

Survey Results

• Nearly a third of all [manufacturing] companies polled (29%) said they are realizing more than a 25% increase in productivity efficiency. Additionally, more than half (61%) said they are realizing as much as a 20% savings in costs as a result of leveraging AR/VR technologies according to a survey by Grid Raster. (Design News)

Reported

• Snap Says 170 Million Use Its Augmented Reality Tools Daily (Bloomberg)
• Research by Apartments.com and Redfin respectively, reveal listings with AR technology walkthroughs see 49% more leads and sell on average 10 days faster and close $50,100 higher than comparable homes in the same market. (CMSWire)
• Consumers spent nine minutes on average using ModiFace to test out hair colour or foundation tones on themselves, up from two minutes before the crisis according to L’Oreal. (Financial Times)

Featured Video: Location Anchors make their debut in ARKit 4

Source: Twitter — _bschmidtchen

Money

Funds & Grants

• Apple commits $100M to its new Racial Equity and Justice Initiative (TechCrunch)
• Kaleidoscope launches Black Realities and Activist Lens grants (Kaleidoscope)
• HTC’s Vive X incubator backs 7 new startups, focuses on enterprise XR (VentureBeat)

Hardware

• Seattle startup Proprio raises $23M to build high-tech surgical navigation system (GeekWire)
• Google acquires North (Google)
• Lululemon buys at-home exercise startup Mirror for $500 million (CBS News)

Platforms & Tools

• Mapillary has joined Facebook on the quest to improve maps everywhere and for everyone (Mapillary)
• Admix raises $7M to bring more ads to games, VR and AR (TechCrunch)
• Virtual Concert Platform ‘Wave’ Secures $30M in Series B Funding (Road to VR)
• Fortnite Maker Epic Games Nears Funding at $17 Billion Value (Bloomberg)
• 3D Visualization software startups PreVu3D raises $2.5M Seed Round (BetaKit)

Applications & Solutions

• Lockheed Martin invests in Red 6, developer of augmented reality flight training, dogfighting (FlightGlobal)
• Apprentice raises $7.5 million to expedite lab work with AI and AR (VentureBeat)
• Mobile enterprise collaboration startup Librestream raises $24M (SiliconAngle)

Featured Tweets: Machine learning magic using the new SnapML

Source: Twitter — 2020cv_inc

Source: Twitter — pedrocruzio

News

Hardware

Launch Announcements

• Intel RealSense D455 doubles depth camera accuracy (SlashGear)
• Panasonic Enables Immersive Experiences for Live Entertainment and Events with Suite of Projector, Professional Display and Professional Video Solutions (Digital Signage Connection)
• Apple is bringing spatial audio to AirPods Pro (TechCrunch)

Updates

• HoloLens 2 now on sale for everyone at the Microsoft Store (Windows Central)
• Bose shuts downs the Bose AR program (Protocol)
• After A Year In Court, Magic Leap’s Case Against Nreal Has Been Dismissed (VR Scout)
• Facebook Portal gets updated with new AR effects and stories for Story Time (Facebook)

Rumors, Patents & Relevant Research

• Apple’s Secretive AR and VR Headset Plans Altered by Internal Differences (Bloomberg)
• Apple’s future AR pieces hid in the corners during a virtual WWDC (CNET)
• Apple Glass patent shows modular system for future hero tech (SlashGear)
• Auto-adjusting ‘Apple Glass’ may not need prescription lenses (Apple Insider)
• Apple has been granted a major Patent Relating to Gaze Tracking used in VR/AR Head Mounted Devices (Patently Apple)
• New algorithm speeds up calculations for head-up-display holograms by 56 times (LaserFocusWorld)
• Google’s 46-camera ‘light field videos’ let you change perspective and peek around corners (TechCrunch)

Platforms & Tools

Launch Announcements

• Apple’s ARKit 4 introduces new depth capabilities and expands face tracking to more devices (VentureBeat)
• Apple Opening U1 Chip to Developers With New ‘Nearby Interaction’ Framework (MacRumors)
• Google Maps Platform gaming solution now available to everyone (Google)
• Google launches ARCore Depth API as part of ARCore 1.18 (Google)
• Snapchat boosts its AR platform with voice search, Local Lenses and SnapML (TechCrunch)
• 2020CV partners with Snap on new Lens Studio Machine Learning platform (2020CV)
• TikTok launches TikTok For Business for marketers, takes on Snapchat with new AR ads (TechCrunch)
• Threekit 3D and AR is live on the Shopify App Store (Threekit)

Updates

• Apple updating RealityKit with video textures, scene understanding using LiDAR and Location Anchors (Apple)
• Apple’s Messages gets better group replies and Memoji updates, including face coverings (TechCrunch)
• AR Foundation support for ARKit 4 Depth (Unity)
• Adobe Aero augmented reality creation tool goes multisensory with spatial audio (Cult of Mac)
• Snap lets you play as your Bitmoji in third-party games (TechCrunch)
• Fifteen companies including Amazon, Boots, and AS Watson have added L’Oréal’s virtual try-on technology called ModiFace to their websites and apps. (Financial Times)

Rumors, Patents & Relevant Research

• Researchers demo VR finger tracking that recognizes air-drawn passcodes (VentureBeat)
• Reconstructing 3D human figures in unprecedented level of detail and quality from a single image (Facebook)
• Disney Research neural face-swapping technique can provide photorealistic, high-resolution video (TechCrunch)

Featured Creator: XR activist Nancy Baker Cahill uses AR as a powerful public art medium

Source: Twitter — 4thWallApp

News

Applications & Solutions

Consumer

• Snapchat brings in a new AR lens to add or remove the beard (Digital Information World)
• Snapchat Plans AR-Enabled Original Series (Hollywood Reporter)
• Google now lets you see dinosaurs in the real world through augmented reality (The Verge)
• Google Creative Lab Launches ‘Lines Of Play,’ An Open-Source Experiment To Showcase ARCore’s Depth API (Forbes)
• Pokémon Smile turns brushing your teeth into an augmented reality adventure (The Verge)
• Mozilla Releases Firefox-based ‘WebXR Viewer’ App for Browser-based AR on iOS (Road to VR)
• IKEA’s AR experiments show the potential of Apple Glass (Wired)
• Canvas is the latest app to use the iPad Pro’s lidar sensor (CNET)
• Osmo launches Osmo Live for education (VentureBeat)
• Valo Motion launches new AR-based climbing game, Hullaballoon (Blooloop)
• UC Berkeley and UCLA use WebAR to help students celebrate graduation (Twitter — 8th Wall)

Enterprise

• Emerson bolts on AR solution for improved remote maintenance capabilities (International Mining)
• TeamViewer Pilot Leads App Innovation with New Google ARCore Depth API (DisplayDaily)
• Microsoft Huddle is a new Mixed Reality meeting place for the HoloLens (MSPoweruser)
• Johns Hopkins Neurosurgeons Perform First Augmented Reality Surgery (CBS Baltimore)
• Amazon’s ‘Distance Assistant’ uses augmented reality to show workers if they’re far enough apart (GeekWire)
• Airports use LiDAR to make sure travelers stay 6 feet apart (TechRepublic)

Marketing

Social AR

• Gucci’s New Snapchat Filters Let Users Try & Buy Sneakers Virtually (Footwear News)
• Bollé Launches the First AR Try-Out Experience (ARpost)
• The Advocate teams up with Snapchat on “Champions of Pride” experience (Twitter — The Advocate)

WebAR

• 1–800-Flowers unveils AR experience for Jason Wu bouquets (Mobile Marketer)
• Louis Vuitton is the latest brand to use AR to help preview furniture in your home (Twitter — ARstories)

Other

• Lexus gamifies preview of new car with AR app (Mobile Marketer)
• Etsy updates its app to use augmented reality (Forbes)

Music & Art

• Niantic partners with Sleep No More creator to build immersive AR theater experiences (The Verge)
• Christina Aguilera Wants You To Try The ‘Bionic’ Face With An AI Lens Filter (The Things)
• Pandora Teams Up With Snapchat on Music Shapes AR Lens for Pride Month (AdWeek)
• Jung launches AR-Studio app (Dezeen)

Human Impact & Ethics

• Microsoft won’t sell facial recognition to police until Congress passes new privacy law (The Verge)
• Facial recognition has always troubled people of color. Everyone should listen (CNET)
• IBM to withdraw from facial recognition market out of profiling fears (CNET)

Follow me on Twitter @TomEmrich. Got news to share or have feedback on “The AR Roundup”? Email me at tom@tomemrich.com.

Read my latest post “How to Measure Augmented Reality Experiences”.