Imagine you and your child turning your doctor’s waiting room table into a battlefield for a tower defense video game only you two can see. Later this year, Facebook will begin releasing the tech that’ll make it happen. Welcome to augmented reality, an emerging technology that Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg touted Tuesday at his …
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VR is about to get a creative filmmaker’s touch. Ridley Scott’s RSA Films production company is launching a new imprint “dedicated exclusively to the creative development and production of VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality) and mixed media.” It’s called RSA VR. RSA VR’s first project is a VR Experience for “Alien: Covenant,” in partnership with Twentieth Century Fox and …
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Technically Incorrect offers a slightly twisted take on the tech that’s taken over our lives. Enlarge Image No, not a headless chicken. Samsung/YouTube screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET On Wednesday, Samsung managed to release a new phone with no gremlins attached. So let’s talk ostriches. Slipped into the Galaxy S8 launch entertainment was an extremely arresting Samsung ad. An ostrich walks …
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Now playing: Watch this: Apple’s AR world could be getting closer 1:30 Apple is assembling a top-notch team of engineers to bring augmented reality, or AR, to the masses. More details about the people the company’s been hiring emerged Monday in a Bloomberg report. The team, which includes some notable Apple insiders, is also being bolstered by expertise from a …
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Now playing: Watch this: Google Tango will change how you shop 1:59 As a kid, I always wanted to be on the TV show “Supermarket Sweep.” In the middle of a Lowe’s store in 2017, my dream almost came true. The home improvement retailer is rolling out an augmented-reality app that tells you the fastest way to find items on …
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Going to a new country is fun, but trying to make sense of foreign menus isn’t so great. Fret not, gaijin in Japan: Carrier NTT Docomo wants to help all of those visiting The Land of the Rising Sun. The company’s Food Menu Translation AR app, though not conveniently named, uses your phone’s camera to scan menus and conveniently translates …
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Now playing: Watch this: Is your body ready for VR arcades? 1:15 It was life or death. Human or dinosaur. I didn’t hesitate. I stuck out my actual, flesh-and-bone human leg, and kicked a virtual dinosaur in the face. It was kind of dumb and kind of exhilarating at the same time. Dumb, because the dino crumpled as soon as …
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Who would have thought that augmented reality‘s best pitch would be puking rainbows and candy-colored camera glasses? Augmented reality — and its more advanced cousin mixed reality — overlay digital information onto the visible world. Typically, this is where I’m supposed to reference Pokemon Go, last year’s mobile gaming phenomenon that popularized AR through the digital monsters that popped up …
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Want a sip of water? With most VR headsets, you’ll need a straw. But LG’s new prototype has a clever solution: the entire visor flips right up. LG is perhaps the biggest, best-known company to totally screw up virtual reality on its first try — take it from us, the LG 360 VR was terrible. But it seems the company …
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People are surprisingly willing to try goofy-looking VR headsets. They’re just not ready to buy. Facebook, owner of Oculus VR, is hoping that may change with a new lower price. On Wednesday, the company announced a permanent $100 price cut for each of its $599 Oculus Rift headset and $199 Touch motion controllers. They now cost $499 and $99 respectively, …
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