The AR Round-up: February 2018

Here’s what you missed in the AR+VR space for February 2018

Numbers

• Digi-Capital released its latest AR/VR report stating that the AR opportunity which includes both mobile and smartglasses is expected to reach $90 Billion in revenue in 5 years compared to $15 Billion expected from VR in the same time period (Digi-Capital)
• ABI Research estimates the energy and utilities sector will account for 17% of global smart glasses shipments in 2018. Total AR market revenues for the energy and utilities industry are expected to grow to US$18 billion by 2022, with platform and licensing, and smart glasses hardware comprising the majority (PRNewswire)

Money

Big news

• Walmart acquires virtual reality startup Spatialand as part of its tech makeover (Recode)
• Pokémon GO creator Niantic buys Escher Reality AR startup (TechCrunch)
• Axel Springer invests in Magic Leap (TechCrunch)

Platforms & Tools

• 8th Wall Closes $8M Series A Funding Round (FINSMES)
• GV leads $25M investment in Hover, a computer vision startup that digitizes your home (TechCrunch)
• Vreal Closes $11.7 Million Series A Funding, Chet Faliszek Signs on to Board of Directors (Road to VR)
• Occipital closes $12M more as it strives to build a ‘perception engine’ (TechCrunch)

Hardware

• VirZOOM Closes $5.5M Seed Funding to Develop Second Generation of VR Bike Kit (Road to VR)
• Positron Closes $1.4 Seed Funding to Develop Next Gen of Its VR Motion Chair (Road to VR)
• Light Field Lab raises $7 million for Holodeck-like holographic displays (VentureBeat)
• Oxford University spin-out Bodle scores £6M Series A for its low-powered ‘reflective’ display tech (TechCrunch)
• RealWear rakes in $17M in investment (The Columbian)

AR+VR Content

• Tencent invests in film and VR maker Skydance Media (VentureBeat)
• Reality Reflection raises $5 Million Pre-ICO (VR Focus)

News

Hardware

• Intel debuts stylish smartglasses Vaunt (The Verge)
• Deutsche Telekom and Zeiss Create Smart Glasses Startup Tooz Technologies Inc. (Bloomberg)
• Vive Focus Standalone VR Headset Launches in China (Road to VR)
• Hasbro’s launches new Hero Vision AR toy (The Verge)
• Chinese police testing smartglasses with facial recognition (Wareable)

Software

• Google brings an AR mode to its Motion Stills app on Android (TechCrunch)
• Snapchat unveils web-based tool for creating custom AR lenses & filters (Next Reality)
• Facebook brings animation tools to its Quill VR painting app (TechCrunch)
• Audi launches Quattro Coaster iOS app with AR feature (Next Reality)
• Dreamscape Immersive debuts group VR experience at Westfield Mall (VRScout)
• Meta Adds SOLIDWORKS Integration To View 3D CAD Models In AR (VRFocus)

This update is presented monthly at the AR Bay Area meetup. Join here on Meetup.com.

Subscribe to the AWE newsletter to get the latest AR+VR news.