Tag Archives: augmented-reality

The best VR display I’ve ever seen costs only $6,000

If you’ve ever felt like VR headsets weren’t high-res enough, I’m here to tell you I’ve seen the solution. I’ve finally tried a headset that reached retina display. And you can try it too… if you have $6,000. Up in a hotel suite at the Mandarin Oriental here in New York, I slid on the …

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Toy Fair 2019: Lego Hidden Side is like a tiny AR Ghostbusters escape room

I’m looking at a Lego brick construction sitting on our office table and I don’t know what to make of it. It’s an old mansionlike building that feels Harry Potter-esque. The building’s sides bend down, windows flip open and now it’s a snarling beast. I’m handed a phone, and I aim an app at the bricks. I see virtual ghosts …

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With Magic Leap, your entertainment may get real weird real quick

At the Sundance Film Festival, I unintentionally slayed a rat in a child’s bedroom, summoning experimental pop star Poppy to foment a rodent uprising. I faced an ultimatum to either sacrifice myself or kill a boy held in a cage behind a hidden panel in the wall. Like a live child actor blinking at me from behind bars.  Poppy, the …

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How to use Warby Parker’s new AR feature to try on glasses

As someone who is on his third pair of Warby Parker frames and an owner and operator of an iPhone X, an update this week to the glasses-maker’s app has me excited. Warby Parker added a new Virtual Try-On feature to its iOS app that uses augmented reality and the face-mapping capabilities of the iPhone X, XR and XS.  I …

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Sundance shows off a new trend of AR, VR (The 3:59, Ep. 514)

On this podcast, we talk about: Augmented and virtual reality at Sundance using body movements to make experiences feel more natural. Net neutrality’s day in court. Super Bowl ads with tech and geek appeal.  The 3:59 gives you bite-size news and analysis about the top stories of the day, brought to you by the CNET News team in New York …

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Microsoft could unveil the HoloLens 2 on Feb. 24

This year’s CES wasn’t big on AR news, but Microsoft may be waiting until Mobile World Congress to spring information on the next expected update to its AR headset, the HoloLens. An invite to a press conference on Feb. 24 at MWC suggests the HoloLens 2 might be big reveal.  Sure, the invite itself seems mysterious, with an image of a futuristic Barcelona, …

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Rokid Project Aurora USB

Mixed-reality headsets like the Magic Leap One and Microsoft HoloLens cost thousands of dollars. Even smart glasses like the Vuzix Blade cost around $1,000. At prices like that, it’s hard to imagine augmented reality (AR) headsets ever taking off. Rokid, a China-based AI company that launched a pair of somewhat glasses-like smart glasses at CES 2018 called the Rokid Glass, showed a prototype …

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At CES 2019, VR feels like a dream gathering dust

In January 2013, I used an Oculus Rift development kit for the first time. It felt like someone had traveled back in time and given me the keys to the future. Back then I expected virtual reality headsets would be as common as mobile phones within six years. I expected the technology would evolve so rapidly we couldn’t keep up. …

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How to watch the HTC Vive VR CES press conference, and what to expect

Monday is a massive day of press conferences at CES 2019, and nestled among them is HTC. The company’s livestreaming its press conference on Jan. 7 at 1 p.m. PT (4 p.m. ET, 9 p.m. UK) and CNET will be there. You can watch everything just by staying on this page. HTC has already delivered its own big tease of… …

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Vuzix Blade test

The Vuzix Blade was promised back at CES 2018: The Alexa-connected smart glasses, which I demoed then, were like an updated Google Glass that promised a larger screen and assistant modes. The Vuzix Blade is now the first product I’ve gotten a chance to test in 2019. So far, what I’ve realized is that smart glasses are really here. Whether …

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