Augmented Reality

Nexus Studios presents an amusing short promo film for its goofy iOS augmented reality app. The sole purpose of HotStepper is to superimpose a confident, pear-shaped dancing dude into real world surroundings, giving you a virtual companion wherever you may travel.

This unique lamp has a built in projector, computer, and sensors which allow for the creation of interactive, augmented reality apps on any tabletop. It can recognize objects based on shape, size, and color as well. Keep in mind that the version on Kickstarter is for developers.

Intel is working on augmented reality eyeglasses designed mainly to show information. The Vaunt looks like a normal pair of glasses, and have no cameras or hardware controls. It projects a small red display directly to your eyes, just below your line of sight.

AstroReality offers a set of colorful 3D printed models of the Solar System’s planets – plus Pluto. Each sphere measures about 1.2″ in diameter. Get AstroReality’s augmented reality app and to view add-on effects like Saturn’s rings or the Earth’s atmosphere.

Arvind Sanjeev’s Lumen is a portable augmented reality system in the form of a flashlight. The idea is for it to automatically recognize objects and enhance their function, provide information, display video or animation and more.

GJS Co’s follow up to Ganker. Like it’s predecessor, the GEIO is a combat robot that’s controlled via a mobile app. But it has sensors that enable first person view, auto-targeting and augmented reality features. It also has conquest, scavenger hunt and race modes.

The best furniture augmented reality app we’ve seen. Housecraft for iOS 11 is incredibly responsive and has resizable furniture and plants. You can save layouts and load them in other places. Or just see what it would be like if you had a dozen couches.

IKEA’s Place is a new app that takes advantage of iOS 11’s exclusive augmented reality features. Scan a space, then browse for furniture. Your chosen product will pop up on your iOS device’s screen, accurately scaled to your room. You can even go around and zoom in on the furniture.

Using projection mapping and a mix of tracking systems, creative studio THÉORIZ shows off a slick prototype which projects 3D images that dynamically adapt to movements, creating a sort of Holodeck version 1.0. Everything you see was captured live, with no post-production.

Developer Abhishek Singh wanted to see what kind of stuff he could do with Microsoft HoloLens, so he decided to replicate World 1-1 from Super Mario Bros. in augmented reality. If you thought people wearing Google Glass looked silly walking around…

Real life Arms. Jabii is a spring-loaded toy boxing glove designed to be safe enough for children. It also has a premium variant that has an accelerometer and Bluetooth chip that works with an augmented reality app.

Microsoft’s HoloLens tech is one of the most promising augmented reality systems we’ve seen. KennyWdev shows off a version of Portal that’s been modded to work with the goggles in the real world. It’s not perfect, but it’s a cool glimpse at the shape of things to come.

If you want to try out a tattoo design before committing to get inked, you can get a temporary tattoo, or you can use Ink Hunter. It’s an augmented reality app for iOS that lets you upload designs, project them on your body and edit and share the photo.

Inspired by his own holochess board from Star Wars, Academy Award winning effects wiz Phil Tippett is working with HappyGiant to create Hologrid Monster Battle, an augmented and virtual reality board game with collectible cards and battles between Tippett’s creatures.

The second in a series of videos called Polygon Graffiti. Made by Japanese collective AUJIK, the series is a conceptual look at the potential of augmented reality for artistic expression. First video here.

The young team at Frants Innovators claims it’s working on an augmented reality computer that translates English audio into text in real time, providing closed caption for daily life. The display is worn on eyeglasses frames while the rest of the computer is in a pocketable case.

The Yamaha PES2 is an electric motorcycle concept that has two electric motors – one under the tank and another one inside the front wheel – for two-wheel drive. It also has a crazy augmented reality helmet that overlays data from the bike’s cameras and other sensors.

Disney researchers have developed a method which lets kids (or adults) fill in a coloring book and see their creations mapped into 3D space via augmented reality. It works in real time on an ordinary tablet, and can even account for the curvature of the book’s pages.

The Verge goes inside Industrial Light & Magic’s virtual and augmented reality lab. Their efforts are helping moviemakers visualize spaces, and may someday allow us to jump right into the worlds of Star Wars, Jurassic Park and more.

Currently in development, ScopeAR’s Remote AR is an augmented reality app that will let experts solve problems remotely. Sketches or icons can be placed in real time over the user’s point of view to make instructions clearer.

Based on Word Lens, the Google Translate app’s visual translation feature now deciphers texts from 27 languages. To show off its versatility, Google matched the app with the lyrics to the rock & roll classic La Bamba.

Microsoft showed off its augmented reality headset HoloLens by demonstrating a new version of Minecraft made especially for the device. It will let you play on a virtual flat display on walls or project a 3D world on your desk.

Microsoft wants to take augmented reality to a whole new level, with see-through goggles which can project full color interactive 3D objects into your field of vision. It’s still a prototype, but early hands-on users are impressed.

Following up on their IllumiRoom concept, Microsoft’s RoomAlive tech surrounds users with video, and allows them to interact with content. Sadly, it requires multiple projectors and Kinects, so we doubt it’ll ever be produced.

This promising virtual reality system can be used with HDTVs, gaming consoles, PCs and anything that has an HDMI output. It also has a clever controller that can be used as a gun, a joystick, a gamepad and a motion controller.