News & Views #Ben Delaney

Providing hands-free Augmented Reality (AR), Smartglasses are expected to overtake smartphones by the end of the decade. The unprecedented pandemic’s impact on the global economy forces reevaluation of projections, revisions to forecasts of units sold, revenue, and profits through 2030. ImmersivEdge Advisors has revised their breakthrough report on smartglasses to take into account the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With August’s news that they had collateralized a funding round with their patent portfolio, we regret to inform you that this looks like the beginning of the end, or maybe even the middle of the end, for Magic Leap. Having raised approximately $2.6 billion, including April’s Series D round of $280 million, it seems that Magic Leap may soon join a long list of over-hyped and under-delivering xR companies stretching back to VPL Research’s stunning bankruptcy in 1992.

Varjo™ Technologies, a leader in industrial-quality xR headsets, has announced general availability for its XR-1 Developer Edition HMD.

Rune Jensen, Microsoft’s General Manager for HoloLens, gave us the opportunity to “crawl around inside the device.” The conversation got deep, literally looking into the construction design constraints and choices and the performance enhancements that HoloLens 2 provides.

Big Data is a big deal these days. With an ever-growing multitude of devices and websites collecting and collating data ever minute, many organizations are looking for better ways to use this data in business decision-making and planning. However, sometimes it still takes a human in the loop to find the insights and revelations that the data promises to provide.

Aircraft de-icing is a critical aspect of winter operations in cold-weather climates. A system developed by the Lithuanian VR developer Inlusion, trains airport workers to correctly de-ice aircraft.

Having identified a vital services gap in the rapidly expanding xR business sector, several Bay Area Virtual and Augmented Reality experts have launched ImmersivEdge Advisors, a new consultancy to provide strategic services for businesses in immersive technology. With a team history of results for clients on four continents, advising companies ranging from Apple to Xerox, ImmersivEdge has the ‘Tomorrow Now’ expertise needed by start-ups and rapidly growing companies.

xRS Week 2019 xRSWeek.com) wrapped up October 18, 2019 in San Francisco. More than 300 business leaders saw and herd about new applications for xR in every aspect of business, from visualizing key data to training for welders.

Varjo is releasing two new HMDs before the end of 2019, which may further shake up the head-mounted display marketplace. The Varjo VR-2 and VR-2 Pro once again raise the bar for all other HMD manufacturers.

AARP has an Innovation Lab and an xR program, AlcoveVR (www.alcovevr.com). Alcove currently includes content from AARP, the Dolphin Swim Club, Rendever, Parkline Interactive, VArtisans, and VR Health.

As virtual worlds become more common, and we spend more time in them, what mores and morals should we expect? this panel discusses that question, and more.

Some veterans of VR in the '90's talk about what worked, what didn't and how amazing the entire experience was. From AWE 2019, Santa Clara