Bloomberg details Apple’s dual device strategy for augmented reality, starting with a gaming-focused headset in 2022
Today, Mark Gurman at Bloomberg released a comprehensive rundown on the dual device strategy, which will start with a headset scheduled for 2022 release. The headset will roughly resemble an Oculus Quest, but be much more technically advanced.
According to the report, the headset aims to combine the best of AR and VR to offer industry leading gaming and content VR experiences, whereas the slim and light glasses will be AR only and focus on overlaying data like maps navigations over what the user is seeing in the real world.
Bloomberg reports the codename for the headset is N421 and could be announced in 2021, whereas the ambitious ‘Apple Glasses’ initiative will take longer to be finished, citing a launch timeframe of 2023 at the earliest.
The headset will reportedly feature high-resolution displays and a ‘cinematic speaker system’, which should make it difficult for the user to notice the differences between real life and the virtual reality experiences the headset will provide.
See the Bloomberg report here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-19/apple-team-working-on-vr-and-ar-headset-and-ar-glasses
Revry Teams With Littlstar For First LGBTQ+ Virtual Reality Channel
“Littlstar is excited to partner with Revry to redefine how LGBTQ+ audiences view content,” said Tony Mugavero, CEO & Co-Founder of Littlstar. He adds that viewers can interact with each other remotely in virtual reality. If there is no VR headset available they can live stream it directly to their TV via PlayStation 4.
Littlstar is the largest global platform dedicated to immersive virtual and augmented reality content and is one of the most used non-gaming applications on the PlayStation 4 with plans to roll out the content to other major devices later this year.
See the full story here: https://deadline.com/2020/06/revry-littlestar-lgbtq-virtual-reality-channel-vr-1202959839/
UC Berkeley, Intel Researchers Developing AI System to Stitch Wounds
An autonomous robot would have to consider the amount of tissue it grabs, the tension on the tissue and how tight it would pull the suture, Dr. Amling said.
See the full story here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/uc-berkeley-intelresearchers-developing-ai-system-to-stitch-wounds-11592472601
The World’s Biggest A.I. Conference Is Going Virtual, and Finally Becoming More Inclusive
Organizers announced this week that NeurIPS, now the world’s best-known A.I. conference, would be completely virtual this year, and with considerably cheaper tickets.
NeurIPS became a pillar of the world’s conversation on cutting edge A.I. research following the A.I. boom that started in 2012, after a team of Canadian researchers proved a fringe technique called deep learning outperformed many other forms of A.I. Tech giants began flocking to the formerly academic event, spending millions to sponsor the conference and recruit the next wave of star PhDs.
The exorbitant cost of conference travel and lodging, as well as visa denials, meant many researchers from around the world simply couldn’t attend, furthering the industry’s homogeneity.
In response, organizations like Black In AI, LatinX in AI, and Women in MLhave created spaces for groups that are underrepresented at NeurIPS, holding their own workshops centering women and people of color, as well as awarding travel grants.
Africa’s largest A.I. conference, Deep Learning Indaba, was also created in part to build a community for those who couldn’t attend NeurIPS, which has almost always been held in North America.
Going virtual, in addition to a “significantly reduced” registration fee, will make the conference more accessible for those who haven’t been able to attend before. In addition to removing travel and lodging costs, the conference lifted its attendance cap.
See the full story here: https://onezero.medium.com/the-worlds-biggest-a-i-conference-is-going-virtual-and-finally-becoming-more-inclusive-81dc5ff554ec
Bose gives up on its augmented reality sound project
Bose is giving up on its augmented reality project, two years after debuting the idea at SXSW. As first reported by Protocol, employees working on AR at the company have left or were laid off; Bose’s partners were told their apps would stop working in the coming weeks; and the company scrubbed mentions of AR from its website in addition to closing its public AR SDK in April. The main proponent of AR at the company, SVP John Gordon, also left last summer.
Bose’s AR focused on sound rather than visuals. It established a $50 million fund for Bose AR developers, and initially worked with 11 software partners including Yelp and TripAdvisor. The company launched its Frames sunglasses in January 2019 for $199, which played audio from the arms. It also featured a microphone and embedded button, as well as app functionality. The AR feature relied on a smartphone’s GPS and a motion sensor to determine where a person was looking and standing. The idea was that the glasses could provide information on whatever someone was seeing.
Announcing the RLab Accelerator Spring 2020 AR/VR Cohort
We’re thrilled to introduce the startups in the Spring 2020 RLab Accelerator. Selected by RLab and resident venture capital firm Super Ventures through a competitive global open call, these five startups represent an exciting range of consumer and enterprise applications for spatial computing, XR and related technologies in healthcare, architecture, engineering, fashion and art.
The companies convened in New York City in early March to begin a 3-month residency at RLab. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the program has moved online, and includes weekly curriculum sessions, mentorship and support to help startups navigate growth in the emerging XR ecosystem amid the unprecedented disruption of the global pandemic.
See the full story here: https://medium.com/@therlabnyc/announcing-the-rlab-accelerator-spring-2020-cohort-c81a0c25c853
