Category: #AugmentedReality

Jurassic World Comes Alive. #VR #AR #APPS #JurassicWorld

Bringing the virtual world into the real world is rapidly growing in popularity with the global market predicted to be worth approximately £100 billion by 2021. Augmented reality (AR) is undoubtedly one of the most exciting technological innovations around and games like Pokémon GO have inspired more developments in this sector.

Recently Jurassic World Alive was released in the UK and brings monster hunting to a whole new level. Instead of searching for cute creatures, players are tasked with saving dinosaurs from extinction by collecting DNA samples and creating new hybrid species in a lab. The game, developed for both android and IOS, is loosely based on Pokémon Go and only time will tell if it will have the same global success.

Will Jurassic World Alive Become The Most Downloaded App?

A recent survey conducted by mobile app agency, The App Developers showed that Social Media & Communications Apps are the most popular type of app downloaded (31%), with entertainment apps (Games, Streaming & Music Apps) are not far behind (27%). However, when looking at the top grossing mobile apps in the UK, 8 out of the top ten apps are games.  

Jurassic World Alive is free to download, but does contain in-app-purchases. The survey found that this was a good approach as 74% only download free apps with 68% saying they don’t make in-app purchases. Jurassic World Alive, like many gaming apps, offers ways of getting around making in-app purchases and the survey found that 38% would watch “unskippable” ads and 33% would answer survey questions to continue playing for free.

AR Technology Used in Apps  

34% of app users are 18 – 34, and since the release of Pokémon GO by Niantic, AR technology has become more popular. Other franchises have picked up on Niantic’s success and Jurassic Park Alive produced by Ludia, is only the second game to join this trend. Many more AR games are predicated to be released into the marketplace, such as Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and the App Developers could see this happening.

The App Developers, explain: “Both VR and AR technology have been around for a while now; but have still not really exploded into the public consciousness. 2018 and the next couple of years are expected to see a big change in this. Part of the problem with VR has been the low number of quality apps being developed, but this is now turning into a huge growth market. Particularly now developers and businesses are starting to see the potential”.

About The App Developers

The App Developers are an award-winning mobile led design & development agency, working with corporates & start-ups across multiple sectors. All products are created adopting a user-first methodology, and solutions are designed taking an expert think-tank approach to business pain points and objectives.  Everything is built with ROI in mind. The App Developers have worked with brands such as Fujifilm, Exxonmobil, Sainsbury’s, Walkers & many emerging and disruptive start-ups.

Survey Methodology

The App Developers surveyed over 300 men and women within the UK between 07/02/2018 – 12/02/2018 to discover their thoughts and opinions on mobile apps. Respondents were asked 10 questions regarding which apps they use the most, whether they spend money downloading apps or in-app purchases and if they are concerned about apps using their data for marketing. The App Developers then analysed the results.

xDroid introduces the first truly gamified RC car. #gamified #AR #Coding #tech #kickstarter

xDroid bring the fun and excitement of video racing games to the real world,they enhance RC cars with interactive elements from video racing games, creating a completely new gaming experience. Making xDroid the first truly gamified RC car. In contrast to Augmented Reality, it brings the fun off the screen to the physical world and make it social.

The rush, the adrenaline, the dynamics of video racing games has now arrived in the real world. xDroid is introducing the first truly gamified remote controlled car. Destruction derby, capture the flag, drift and many more — with xDroid you can now play your favorite racing video games outside in the physical world.

All you need is the xDroid rc car, the interactive checkpoints “xPoints” and the xDroid app. The virtual vehicle is replaced by the 1:16 smartphone controlled xDroid — equipped with precise sensors, a high performance engine with 4 wheels-drive and a robust suspension system. If you want you can also upgrade your existing rc car with the xCore. Bonuses, scores and power-ups, just like in video games, can be collected by covering the xPoints.

In contrast to augmented reality like Pokemon Go, where the real world gets a digital overlay on the screen, xDroid wants to bring the fun off the screen. “With xDroid we take away video games from the screen and put them into the real world. We enhance rc cars with interactive game elements, to maximise the gaming experience.” explains CTO Roman Khazankin.

 

The xDroid app, available for iOS and Android, is the heart of the ecosystem, providing games, controller and a social gaming platform in one. It connects via an innovative Wi-Fi mesh network to xDroids and xPoints. It controls the xDroid with incomparable accuracy and gives you audio and haptic feedback during the game.

You can play xDroid in different modes, which makes it fun from young to old:

  • Single-player: Master your driving skills in the free drive or stunt mode.
  • Multiplayer: Capture the flag, destruction derby, domination, gold digger, catch up, and many more coming up
  • Parent-child: Delegate only partial control to your kid, this makes xDroid fun for even the smallest kids.
  • Droid mode: Learn coding with our graphical coding language and let your car drive autonomously.

In the future players will be able to create their own game modes and share them with other gamers. “We are not only creating a product, but are building a strong and motivated community.” says CEO Victor Rodionov.

Support them over here on KICKSTARTER

 

 

Unboxing the ZEISS VR One Plus Virtual Reality Headset. #VR #AR #Tech #ZEISS

Pretty cool looking it is and great to see something different rather than the many generic VR headsets we have out there today, The ZEISS VR One Plus headset has dropped in with thanks to the good guys at ZEISS.

Today we have a quick unboxing and walkaround before we check it out and see how good it is which I am looking forward to, I If you have any questions in the meantime please ask below or on Social Media.

There is several apps you can download on Android and iOS to enjoy the experiences ZEISS have to offer. The VR ONE Plus’ lenses offer a sharp picture over the entire field of view of 100°. No manual adjustments necessary. And it even works for wearers of spectacles. The headset can be purchased  HERE 

STM Goods & Element Case Enhance the Customer Experience . #AR #CES2018

The Australian-based designer and producer of inventive bags, cases, and tech accessories has unveiled its use of augmented reality (AR) at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

At the world’s preeminent exhibition of new products and technologies CES2018, STM Brands has showcased the latest products from the parent company’s two arms, STM Goods and Element Case. They’ll use groundbreaking technology to give consumers an entirely new way to explore the features and benefits of their backpacks and mobile phone cases.  We have been reviewing and using STM products for some time now and find their products notable and also robust and they last well and in fact serve us well still to this day.

 

Using computer-generated sound, video, and graphics to enhance a real-world setting, AR creates an interactive “experience” for the user.

“AR will change the way people interact with our products,” said STM Brands chief executive Ethan Nyholm. “Backpacks have traditionally been one of the toughest products to showcase in stores, unless a trained salesperson is there to demonstrate the special aspects of the merchandise which typically isn’t the case. Now, thanks to AR, individual customers can see a demonstration of a product’s key features come to life before their eyes.”

 

AR is also the ideal way to exhibit and explain the intricacies of Element Case products—premium protective cases for mobile phones that have numerous detailed features. 

 “Element Case is all about advanced engineering, high-grade materials and touches that maximise user convenience,” Nyholm said. “By bringing an interactive experience with the cases to the customer, we can take detailed and often complicated messaging about a product’s attributes and make it an easier-to-grasp, visual explanation.”

The STM augmented reality experience operates through a specially-created app that customers can download from iTunes. Different apps have been created for the STM Goods and Element Case brands. 

“Point of sale product marketing has always been about what you can print to make for an eye-catching display and how to support that with informative collateral” Nyholm said. “We’re leveraging today’s technology to go beyond what’s long been the expected in the shopping aisle and at the rack. It’s the future of marketing and we want to be at the cutting edge.”

For full information on the apps for STM and Element Case please head to: http://www.stmgoods.com.au/stm-app

https://www.elementcase.com/

 

What’s in store for enterprise messaging in 2018? #AI #AR #VR & #IoT top of the list.

The past few years have been transformative for enterprise messaging. Organizations across the world are embracing team communication and collaboration platforms such as Flock and realizing efficiency gains.  Flock’s CEO Bhavin Turakhia shares his predictions for the year ahead.

Plus, with distributed teams becoming more common, enterprise messengers have become virtual meeting grounds and office spaces for teams everywhere. And with the launch and availability of APIs for almost every service, it’s become much more easier for enterprises to use and customize messaging apps. Bots have also become a key component of messaging platforms – both for personal use and in the enterprise.

All this however, is just the preamble to the sea of change that is upon us. I see the year ahead bringing in even more changes and improvements to the way we communicate and work together.

New technologies – AI, AR, VR and IoT

New technologies such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality and the internet of things promise to usher in new ways of communication in the workplace. Meetings in a virtual room, AI-enabled data analysis within messaging platforms, bots that do more than send notifications, and IoT-based automatic attendance systems – the potential is unlimited.

Customer-centric development

A side-effect of the Uber-isation of apps and services is that customer retention is more important now than ever. Product development is now shifting towards a customer-led approach, where customer feedback is key to the development of new features. Companies are spending more effort on enabling customer success to retain users. This is a trend that will continue to influence the enterprise messaging space in 2018 and beyond. Put simply, customer-centric enterprise messengers are more likely to succeed.

Third-party integrations

Efficiency is a magic word for any enterprise, and one of the ways enterprise messengers are increasing efficiency is by integrating third-party apps and services within the messaging tool. This saves customers the hassle of switching between multiple apps at work, and gives them time that can be put to better use. For example, one of the most popular apps in Flock is Shared To-Dos, which allows users to create and assign tasks to team members, and track their completion. It’s really a simple idea that reduces the usual runaround between a company’s messaging and task management tools, and gives users time to do more.

Custom integrations for enterprises are going to be bigger and better in 2018, giving users more out-of-the-box functionality in their enterprise messaging tools.

Process and workflow automation

SOPs are the daily drivers of almost every function in a business. Consider the processes we follow for expense reimbursements, or for hiring and induction – there is a certain method to the madness, and these processes often require repetitive human intervention at multiple stages. Process and workflow automation aims to solve the problem of repetitive human effort in such use cases.

Enterprise communication platforms that can integrate with existing HR and Finance systems, and automate some processes will lead to jumps in efficiency and productivity for the entire organization.

The adoption of AI and a host of technologies such as AR, VR and IoT, customer-centric development, better third-party integrations and process/workflow automation are key trends to look out for. I expect them to make a big difference to the evolution of enterprise messaging, leading to better communication and collaboration in the workplace.

Ultimately, the best enterprise messengers will adopt these new technologies, making life simpler for teams working on the next great thing.

Unboxing, Review and set up of the #VIZORGO VR / AR headset from @Menkind #VR #AR

VR will be on many people’s shopping list this year even though it has died off somewhat there is still interest and people will be testing this out for the first time too and gift like this would make an ideal stocking filler too if you are stuck for something to purchase for your partner or family member, Menkind UK have sent us over this VIZOR GO VR headset to check out which is a nice package overall and offering a case to protect the unit when not in use and it has a unique way of closing up by folding it to make it space friendly which also comes in its own carry case which is really neat.

Check out the image gallery below and video review and if you have any questions fire away below or hit us up on social media and stay tuned for more news coming your way very soon.

  • Compact VR and AR headset flattens for portability
  • 96° field of vision with capacitive touch button on Vizor
  • 200g lightweight design with adjustable head straps and lenses
  • Suitable with most smartphones 4.7 inches to 6” inches
  • Measures approx. 18cm x 10cm x 4cm

Prepare yourself for an amazing VR experience wherever you are with Vizor Go foldable headset. Suitable for most smartphones, this miniature headset is perfect for VR lovers who don’t want a huge bulky headset taking up all their space.

BUY HERE 

Reach Robotics Introduces #MekaMon, A real life gaming robot. #Gaming #AR #Robots

The MekaMon robot is unique as you can use it simultaneously in both the physical and virtual worlds. In doing so, it moves gaming into a new category, one that combines augmented reality and robotics. Inevitably comparisons will be made to Pokemon Go – but this is an entirely different experience and turns a sitting room into a fighting zone as the MekaMon robot goes to battle in front of you.

Reach Robotics, the augmented reality gaming company developing the ‘future of gaming,’ today announced that their flagship product, MekaMon, the world’s first real-life gaming robot, is now available on Apple.com, select Apple stores in the US and UK, as well as MekaMon.com for £299.95.

By incorporating augmented reality into a robot, Reach Robotics has created a new branch of gaming – one that totally immerses the player by putting their four-legged robots into battle in both the physical and virtual worlds.

“We’ve created an entirely new video gaming platform,” said Silas Adekunle, CEO of Reach Robotics. “MekaMon straddles both the real and virtual worlds while taking the gaming experience beyond a player’s screen and turning their sitting room into a limitless robotic battle zone. MekaMon represents a quantum leap forward in the leveraging of augmented reality. Players can whip out their smartphone to battle their multi-functional, connected battlebots in the physical and virtual worlds at the same time.”

Beyond creating an entirely new category of entertainment, gamers also get to benefit from the MekaMon robot’s unprecedented and sophisticated degree of movement.

MekaMon Specs and Features: Smartphone Compatibility: MekaMon can be enjoyed on updated iOS and Android devices and uses the phone’s camera and infrared sensors for precision game-play.

Portability: Each robot weighs approximately 2.2lb, is 11.8in x 11.8in x 5.9in in dimension and has a removable, rechargeable battery for at least one hour of non-stop play-time.

Bluetooth and Infrared Battlezones: Powered by the smartphone app, MekaMon robots connect to each other via infrared signals and players’ phones connect to each other over Bluetooth, allowing friends to battle against each other as well as offering arcade-style and co-operative game-play.

Choose your World: Gamers choose whether to play in the real world or augmented reality – once battles starts, the robot is free to move and use any object in the room (e.g. tables, chairs, other toys, etc.) to block and/or hide from attackers!

Customisability: A MekaMon robot can be customised to suit a user’s individual playing style, adding weapons or shields to create more aggressive, defensive and technical capabilities.

Additionally, MekaMon will feature full compatibility with Apple’s Swift Playgrounds coding app, allowing users to control their robot with real Swift code. With Swift Playgrounds, users can learn and implement fundamental coding concepts to control Mekamon’s startup, shutdown and movement capabilities, custom reactionary animations and more. This not only gives users the chance to learn how to put together more complex coding commands but allows each person to define completely unique behaviours in their MekaMon.

 

“As the world’s first premium gaming robot, MekaMon fits neatly into the emerging category of smartphone-enabled, augmented reality products,” added Adekunle. “By fusing robotics, reality-bending technology and competitive play, we’re offering players a new twist on hardware and video games – a premium robotics product that’s easy to play but very difficult to master.”

Review – Virtuali-Tee. Bring learning to life. #VR #AR #Kids #Science #Curiscope

Of late the VR scene has died and people are more so focused now on AR which is a different approach but one which requires no headset or cardboard stuck to your bonce but they are very useful ideas and its a shame to see the VR interest dive so much over the last year and being a huge fan of it I hope it turns around, There is though some things going on and its in a good sector to and moving away from the norm. Science and health is a great place to apply both VR and AR and this T-shirt does this and all you need is your smart phone and if you have a VR headset its an added bonus for a much closer look at things.

UNBOXING AND FIRST LOOK

What I really like about this is its simplicity and how much your child and you can learn with just a t-shirt, Yeah a t-shirt, and a smart phone which every household would have these days. It’s also simple to set up and better again it can be shared to a large audience for free which is cost-effective for the masses.I have tested a unique VR headset which was primarily aimed at the classroom before but this cost money and each child had to have the same equipment and that was some 250 quid where this t-shirt is buttons compared to cost.

 

Once you download the app you just go through some simple set-up processes as you would do and its point at the t-shirt and let the magic happen its that simple. You can wear the t-shirt or your child or place it on a doll or bear should neither want to wear it to begin with to get the workings of it going but its really straight forward as seen in videos above and below..

 

 

To simply point your device at an object and get the anatomical working of the human body right there on your phone is quite unreal and it shows how far things have come over the years and its not done in a gorey fashion either as one might think. Its really enjoyable and fun to watch and also educational for any age,not just kids and as mentioned above you can get in deeper by using a VR headset or cardboard offering and jump in deeper and there is a friendly voice over to describe what is going on too which makes it really relaxing and enjoyable.

Compatibility 

iPhone 5s, 6, 6s, 7 or later. iPad 3 (2012) or later. iPad Mini 4 (2015) or later. Samsung Galaxy S5 or later. Note5 or later. A3 or later. J3 or later. Tab A, Tab E, Tab S, Tab Pro. Huawei Honor 6 or later. Mate 7 or later. G7 or later. P6 or later. Nova. Google Pixel. HTC U and One. LG Q, G3 or later. Motorola Droid Turbo, Moto X, G, M, Z, E4 or later. Sony Xperia Z3 or later. M4 or later. C4 or later. E5 or later.

The Virtuali-Tee, the AR t-shirt that retails for £25 ($29)

On launch Ed Barton, CEO & Co-Founder said

“We’re super excited to get this product out to the public at scale and continue our pursuit of bringing magic and wonder into the world around us, literally bringing learning to life. It’s an incredibly exciting time for AR and Mixed Reality and we’re excited to be at the forefront of making these technologies accessible to everybody,”

The new investment has allowed Curiscope to launch The Virtuali-Tee globally and develop further product lines across AR and VR. With the launch of IOS11 and ARKit by Apple, bringing positional AR to over 200m devices, a number of new products will be announced across the final quarter of 2017, further cementing the position of Curiscope as leading innovators in the mixed reality space.

BUY HERE 

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First look at Virtuali-Tee #AR #VR #Eductaion #Curiscope

VR/AR has kind of nosedived the last year and hopefully this will turn around and I am a huge fan with lots of headsets an testing apps quite often. One great use of VR /AR which is now getting some attention is in education which is useful and also fun and for kids its really a good way of learning rather than looking at boring pictures in a book or again drawings on the blackboard,this kind of technolology puts it in your face and I find it has a longer lasting effect which is much better..

 

Two recent things for example in this area is INVIVO and VEATIVE which I have tried and tested and continue to test with VEATIVE which is edcuational VR for the classroom.. This new product from Curiscope is a simple genuis idea and can be shared via Airplay and Chromecast to the masses and its cost effective too and I have started testing it out with my child here and she loves the idea and not only does it use AR it can work with VR headsets. Check it out below and if there is any questions in the interim drop us a note below or get us on social.  You can also follow the guys below on the links provided..