The AR Roundup: September 2018

Here’s what you missed in augmented reality for September 2018

Numbers

• 46% of business executives said they think VR and AR technologies will become a major part of their organization in three years, while 38% said it may take up to five years to become mainstream according to a new survey from Capgemini (IT Pro UK)
• Unity’s CEO John Riccitiello stated at an event in San Francisco that around two-thirds of all VR and AR applications were built inside the Unity Engine (VentureBeat)
• The GFR Fund published some findings from its Global AR Pitch competition which saw 56% of submissions from North America folloed by 26% Europe with the majority of startups raising Pre-Seed rounds (GFR)
• Crunchbase posted some recent information on AR investments they are tracking which included 90 deals amounting in $900M in capital for H1 2018 (Crunchbase)
• Digi-Capital provided a sneak peek of data it will present at AWE EU 2018 suggesting that the European XR market could pass North America this year to hit 52% of Western XR revenue, growing to 57% by 2022 (even though the US remains the second largest global market, after China)(AWE)

Money

Big News

• Meta Chinese funding fell through due to Trade Wars (Bloomberg)
• Facebook, T-Hub conclude India Innovation Hub Accelerator Program (The News Minute)

Hardware

• Apple acquires Denver-based Akonia Holographics (TechCrunch)

Platforms & Tools

• Jaunt acquires Teleporter, Personify’s real-time 3D AR asset streamer (VentureBeat)

Applications & Solutions

• Meet SelfieCircus and 8 more in Snapchat’s new startup accelerator (TechCrunch)

News

Hardware

• Snap launches new styles of Spectacles that look more like traditional sunglasses (The Verge)
• Synaptics chip paves the way for dual 2K VR headsets with 1,000 PPI (VentureBeat)

Platform & Tools

• Jaunt debuts its 360-volumetric capture system (VentureBeat)
• Sketchfab launches download API in Facebook AR Studio (Sketchfab)
• Facebook to launch multi-player augmented reality games (Engdaget)
• 8th Wall launches mobile web AR platform (Next Reality)

Applications & Solutions

• Two Bit Circus Micro-Amusement Park Opens in Downtown Los Angeles (BusinessWire)
• Epson lets you pilot drones with its Moverio augmented reality glasses (VentureBeat)
• AR app maker Osmo debuts Osmo Super Studio featuring Disney’s Mickey Mouse & Friends (VentureBeat)
• Samsung and BBH tap AR and ‘Family Guy‘ to demonstrate the wonders of smart appliances (VentureBeat)
• ‘The New York Times’ Introduces First Volumetric AR Experience At Fashion Week (MediaPost)
• Facebook and Universal integrate AR into Jurassic World (VentureBeat)
• The Imaginarium partners with Magic Leap (Hollywood Reporter)
• Pizza Hut Features Augmented Reality In NFL Kickoff Campaign (MediaPost)
• Warner Bros. Conjures ‘The Nun’ Snapchat AR Lens to Scare Up Ticket Sales (Next Reality)
• KLM Packs AR Suitcase into iPhone App to Help Passengers Check Luggage (Next Reality)

This update is presented monthly at the AWE Nite meetups in SF, NYC, Chicago, Phoenix and Toronto. Learn more about AWE Nite meetups and get involved here.

Subscribe to the AWE newsletter to get the latest AWE event news and newsletter.