Top 5 Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality News đ„ đ„ đ„
4 upcoming projects from Samsungâs incubation lab to watch for this week, the next generation Gear VR may come with controller, Oculus Rift blasts off to space while Zenimax tries to shut down Oculus on earth, the money & investment wrapup, and moreâŠ
1. ALL EYES ON SAMSUNG: 4 PROJECTS TO WATCH FROM THE C-LAB
Samsungâs incubation program, called the C-lab, has backed developer education since 2012, and the C-lab program will be showcasing four of their prime VR/AR projects in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress this week (remember that now-iconic Dystopian photo of Mark Zuckerberg strolling through a crowd of oblivious VR headset-wearing journalists? That was at Samsungâs last MWC in Barcelona last year). Keep an eye out for TraVRer (for 360 degrees of travel experiences), the RelĂșmÄno (a virtual visual aid for the sight impaired), VuildUs (an 3D modeling program for your interior design pleasure), and arguably the most intriguing: the Monitorless. Although suffering from an admittedly bulky moniker, the Monitorless is a glasses prototype that connects your computer or smartphone monitor via wifi and shows it as a heads up display â and lets lets you adjust the opacity. But Samsung isnât stopping thereâŠ
Related Stocks: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd ($005930.KS)
2. THE NEXT GENERATION OF GEAR VR MAY COME WITH CONTROLLER
Although not yet officially confirmed by the Korean company, a recent FCC filing indicates that the next version of the Samsung Gear VR will boast its own controller. The popular Gear VR has moved 5.5M units since its release at the end of 2015 â not bad for a headset that is only compatible with six of the most recent Samsung phones. While we do not yet have a release date for the next Gear VR, it looks like you wonât have to use a 3rd-party controller or the (not great!) touchpad on the side of the head-mounted device anymore. Soon youâll be able to wave around a controller to instruct your virtual worlds, probably like a laser pointer. If youâd say this sounds similar to the Bluetooth-connected controller from Googleâs Daydream, we wouldnât disagree with you.
Related Stocks: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd ($005930.KS), Alphabet, Inc. ($GOOG)
3. OCULUS RIFT ARRIVES TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
An Oculus Rift headset has been modified and certified for use in space by French space agency CNES. ISS astronaut Thomas Pesquet is conducting a neuroscience experiment called GRASP, which will test perception when reaching for virtual objects of someone who is weightless and floating in space. Pesquet will also be sending down some 360 videos heâs been taking on the ISS since arriving there in November. It was not an easy task to get the Rift approved for its space debut, however â â lots of fun flammability and shatter tests had to be done (luckily the lenses are plastic and not glass), and the Riftâs native Constellation tracking system had to be replaced by an adapted European system that has been used in space experiments in the past.
Related Stocks: Facebook, Inc. ($FB)
4. ZENIMAX TRIES TO SHUT DOWN OCULUS
After winning their lawsuit against Oculus, ZeniMax is not satisfied with the mere $500M awarded â now they are really going in for the kill. The creators of Doom are looking to stop Oculus in its tracks, and not just the PC-powered Rift but the smartphone-powered Samsung Gear VR as well. The legal battle is over code developed by John Carmack (an employee of a ZeniMax corporation at the time), who eventually became the CTO of Oculus. If it is granted, the injunction would most likely turn the screws on Facebook to reach into its pockets for a settlement. However, Facebook is filing their own motion to appeal the original verdict â â and those pockets are DEEP. Hereâs a good verdict analysis if youâre interested in the original case.
Related Stocks: Facebook, Inc. ($FB), Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd ($005930.KS)
5. MONEY, MOVES, AND FUNDING
Research firm SuperData released a new consumer VR report that claims the global VR hardware revenue will be $3.6B this year, which is a 142% increase from 2016. The report also says that PokĂ©mon GO brought in the lionâs share of all AR software revenue in 2016 with a whopping 96% of earnings. SuperData also predicts that hardware will keep making more money than software, or at least until 2020. A word of caution: this is the analysis group that was sorely mistaken on their 2016 sales predictions (thanks for that, you so-called âSuperâ Data).
London-based augmented reality company Zappar has announced a $3.75M Series A funding round, led by investment house Hargreave Hale and participation from trade investors You & Mr. Jones and iDreamSky from China. The company has a free AR smartphone app that reacts to âzapcodesâ, along with their flagship content creation tool ZapWorks. The funding will speed up development of several new products as well as more support for ZapWorks, which has been used by companies like Samsung and Vodafone.
Bigscreen VR has announced $3M seed round led by Andreeson Horowitz. The company provides a virtual shared space where you can bring in your computer monitor and work or enjoy content just like you would IRL â but the important thing here is that your remote friends and co-workers can join you and bring their own desktop screen. This opens up the potential for collaboration and entertainment, and the company says they have 150K users, with power users spending 20â30 hours/week in the app.
Bellevue, WA-based company Innovega has raised $3M to hasten development of its augmented reality and contact lens system eMacula (in development since 2008). A unique answer to the hard question of AR, eMacula has a tiny screen embedded in a pair of glasses that youâre able to focus on thanks to a special contact lens that lets you focus on objects half an inch away from your eye. The $3M round was led by Tencent, which is the parent company of the wildly popular WeChat, and this is the first private investment into the company â their total funding is now at $10M and prior investors are entities like DARPA and the National Science Foundation. The eMacula system is currently pending the FDA review process
Related Stocks: Nintendo Co. Ltd. ($NTDOY), Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd ($005930.KS), Vodafone Group Plc ($VOD)
âŠand more
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TILT BRUSH IS NOW AVAILABLE ON OCULUS RIFT, TOO
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This post originally appeared on VRScout.com â if youâd like to get this weekly update of the entire VR/AR industry delivered directly to your inbox, sign up here.
Malia Probst is Director of Brand Development for VRScout, one of the worldâs leading immersive media companies, and host of the VRScout Report podcast â discussing all the news in the VR/AR space. Also check out her interviews with leaders in the virtual reality and augmented reality industry on the Real Virtual Show podcast.
