The AR Roundup: April/May 2021

Every month I roundup the activity in the augmented reality space. This month's post is a special edition as it covers 2 months worth of news: April/May.

Here is what happened in AR between April 1 - May 31, 2021.

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Numbers

Forecasts

• "Because the pandemic has forced many people to work, socialize, study, and shop at home, they’re using XR experiences to replace in-person ones. This year, 58.9 million people in the US will use VR at least once per month, and 93.3 million will be monthly AR users." (eMarketer)
• "When Snap launched the first version of its AR Spectacles back in 2016, just 7.6% of all US social media users (14.2 million) used AR, per our estimates. This year, we expect 22.7% of US social media users (48.9 million) to use AR." (eMarketer)
• "Apple is on track to sell more than 100 million wearable devices in 2021. That total represents nearly 40% of the number of iPhones that will be sold during the same time period." says Above Avalon's Neil Cybart (Above Avalon)

Reported

• Google touts 850M ARCore-compatible devices (9to5 Google)
• Google says people use Google Lens to translate over a billion words every day (Twitter)
• AR in Google Search has been used more than 200M times says Google (Twitter)
• Snap now has 500 million MAU, 170M+ of Snapchatters use Scan every month, more than 250M Snapchatters use the Snapchat map monthly and more than 200M Snapchatters engage with AR everyday (LinkedIn)
• Customers that use AR Lens are 2x more likely to purchase says Snapchat (LinkedIn)
• "Zuckerberg opening the earnings call by talking about AR/VR. Said it accounts for the vast majority of R&D budget growth. R&D spend was $5 billion in Q1 alone" according to Alex Heath at The Information (Twitter)
• According to Dior, the Lens and Snapchat advertisements alone nearly quadrupled the brand’s return on ad spend at 3.8x, and promoting the experience in the platform’s Lenses Carousel saw return rocketing up to 6.2x. This move alone generated more than 2.3 million views of its AR Lens. (Yahoo Finance)
• On the use of Snapchat for American Eagle: "By the end of the run, American Eagle had sold $2 million in products from the store and had 50 million engagements." (Bloomberg)
• C&A WebAR experience made for Big Brother Brasil saw more than 50,000 users in 20 seconds (8th Wall)
• Huggies Malaysia WebAR experience sees massive pack scan rate of 5.2 percent and an average engagement time of 1:03 minutes (8th Wall)
• MTR Foods used WebAR to reposition the Indian classic rasam to a younger audience which drove 7x engagement (Twitter)

Survey Results

• Branded AR experiences increase the likelihood to purchase, particularly in categories like home decor (73%), product personalization (73%), virtual try-on (72%) and product demonstration (70%) according to survey by Alter Agents, Snap and Publicis (PRNewswire)
• More than half of people aged 13–49 claimed to have used AR in the past, and nearly one-third have used branded AR according to survey by Alter Agents, Snap and Publicis (PRNewswire)
• More than three in four believe AR technology will play a role in how people shop in the next five years according to survey by Alter Agents, Snap and Publicis (PRNewswire)
• By 2025, nearly 75% of the global population and almost all smartphone users will be frequent AR users according to survey by Deloitte Digital and Snapchat (Snapchat)
• 73% of people successfully identify AR when they see it, but when talking about it, they have a hard time defining or describing what it is according to survey by Deloitte Digital and Snapchat (Snapchat)
• AR is generally seen as a “toy,” but 76% of people expect and desire to use it as a practical “tool” in their everyday lives according to survey by Deloitte Digital and Snapchat (Snapchat)
• Interacting with products that have AR experiences leads to a 94% higher conversion rate according to survey by Deloitte Digital and Snapchat (Snapchat)
• Forrester Research survey of Bankers found Banks worldwide plan broad use of augmented reality in (32%) Customer Service; (32%) Data Analytics and (28%) Brand Information (American Banker)
• 45% said they would give augmented reality guidance a try when attempting to set up, install or repair their technology according to CGS Survey (Enterprise Times)

Featured Video: Brigham Young University demos "3D printer for light"

Inspired by the displays of science fiction like the holodeck from Star Trek and the Princess Leia projector from Star Wars, a BYU electrical and computer engineering team is working to develop screenless volumetric display technologies. (Source: BYU on YouTube)

Money

Funding

• Snap Creative Challenge fosters ecosystem of AR researchers with $100,000 in funding per team (Snap)
• Snap launches GHOST AR Innovation Lab designed to support the next generation of augmented reality products (Snap)

Hardware

• Snap is buying its AR display supplier, WaveOptics, for more than $500 million (The Verge)
• Apple is giving a laser company that builds some of its AR tech $410 million (The Verge)
• Apple $45 Million Corning Investment Shores Up iPhone Display Supply, Opens Up Investment AR Innovation (Next Reality)
• Intel to invest $600 mln to expand chip, Mobileye R&D in Israel (Reuters)
• Finland-based augmented reality glasses maker Dispelix secures €10 million (TechEU)
• Campfire raises $8 million to advance AR/VR for product design (VentureBeat)

Platforms & Tools

• Augmented reality NFT platform Anima gets backing from Coinbase (TechCrunch)
• Arcturus raises $5M for holographic imaging in games and entertainment (VentureBeat)
• Emotion-detection software startup Affectiva acquired for $73.5M (TechCrunch)
• Walmart acquires virtual clothing try-on startup Zeekit (TechCrunch)
• SightCall raises $42M for its AR-based visual assistance platform (TechCrunch)
• Avatar startup Genies scores $65 million in funding led by Mary Meeker's Bond (TechCrunch)
• Epic Games Secures $1B Investment to Build Its Unreal Engine-powered Metaverse (Road to VR)
• Google acquires 3D audio startup Dysonics (Protocol)
• Snap has acquired Pixel8earth, a 3D mapping developer, for $7.6M (TechCrunch)
• Private equity firm Apollo to buy Verizon Media assets for $5B (TechCrunch)
• Inpixon acquires AR, computer vision and 3D reconstruction technologies from Visualix (Seeking Alpha)

Applications & Solutions

• Heru sets sights on virtual reality eye tests and therapies with $30M round (Fierce Biotech)
• Proximie raises $38m for augmented reality surgery (Sifted)
• The Last Gameboard raises $4M to ship its digital tabletop gaming platform (TechCrunch)
• New Zealand augmented reality app homeAR has raised $750k from local and international private equity to take its market-leading real estate tech global (NZ Entrepreneur)
• Leo AR, user-facing marketplace for 3D objects, raises $3 million seed round (TechCrunch)
• AR Edtech startup PlayShifu raised $17M in Series B funding (Inc42)

Featured Tweet: Creative Coder Brielle Garcia gives us a sneak peek of the Tilt Five AR gaming system

(Source: @Tacolamp on Twitter)

News

Hardware

Launch Announcements

• Snap’s new Spectacles let you see the world in augmented reality (The Verge)
• Lumus' latest Maximus boasts 2Kx2K per eye, 3000 nits, 50-degrees FOV (Karl Guttag)
• DigiLens Forges Reference Design for Smartglasses with 50 Degree Field of View (Next Reality)
• Campfire Hi Res XR Design System Emerges From Stealth (Forbes)
• Iristick announces new Iristick.H1 head-mounted Smart Glasses to serve wider range of frontline workers (Auganix)
• LetinAR releases T Glasses evaluation kit (Twitter)
• Google's Project Starline Promises 3D Video Conferencing Like We've Never Seen Before (Next Reality)
• Volkswagen Offshoot Cupra Born Electric Vehicle Debuts with Impressive AR Features (Next Reality)
• Kia reveals EV6 electric crossover vehicle with augmented reality windshield, remote parking (USA TODAY)
• 2022 Audi Q4 E-Tron EV debuts Sonos audio, augmented-reality head-up display (Roadshow)

Updates

• Deutsche Telekom Opens Early Access to Tooz Smartglasses via Dev Kit (Next Reality)
• Vuzix Introduces one of the World's Tiniest and Most Advanced MicroLED Display-Based Projection Engine at SID 2021, Inclusive of a New Technology Video Overview (PRNewswire)
• Dispelix and OQmented form strategic partnership for the development and commercialization of Dispelix LBS waveguides and OQmented LBS MEMS solution (Dispelix)
• Mojo Vision Details Low-Power Chips for Augmented Reality Contact Lenses (IEEE Spectrum)

Rumors, Patents & Relevant Research

• Lightform unveils its Project LFX research platform for steerable projected interfaces (Twitter)
• Microsoft's Alex Kipman Confirms HoloLens Consumer AR Smartglasses Being Developed & Describes How It Can Happen (Next Reality)
• Magic Leap CEO Peggy Johnson: A new headset is just months away (Protocol)
• University of Rochester researchers combine freeform optics and a metasurface to avoid ‘bug eyes’ in AR/VR glasses (University of Rochester)
• Two of Apple's iPhone Lens Suppliers have been working on First-Gen AR/MR Headset Camera Lenses (Patently Apple)
• Apple's AR could use invisible markers on iPhones and make a 3D model of your finger (AppleInsider)
• Apple Reveals work on a 'Lenticular Display' that's used in context with a next-gen TV and their Apple TV+ Service (Patently Apple)
• Apple reportedly developing an Apple TV with a built-in camera and speaker (The Verge)
• New Apple patents reveal next-gen immersive conferencing described as 'Multiuser Extended Reality Environments' & much more (Patently Apple)
• Disney Developing Augmented Reality System Capable of Virtually Lighting Real-World Objects (WDWNT)
• Kuo: Apple expected to ship 20 million units of first foldable iPhone in 2023 (9to5 Mac)

Platforms & Tools

Launch Announcements

• Snap Releases Lens Studio 4.0 with 3D Body Mesh & More, Upgrades Scan as Fashion Assistant (Next Reality)
• Niantic Expands Developer Platform and AR Tools with Niantic Lightship (Niantic)
• TeamViewer introduces new ‘lifeAR’ Augmented Reality remote connectivity app for consumers (Auganix)
• Apple previews powerful software updates designed for people with disabilities (Apple)
• Apple Music announces Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos (Apple)
• Polycam announces Polyworld, a platform for creators to share and explore Polyscans (Twitter)
• Matterport Now Available to Billions of Android Customers in 175 Countries (PRNewswire)
• Spatial unveils web browser collaboration in 3D workspace and NFT virtual galleries (VentureBeat)
• Samsung is back in the augmented reality game with new AR Canvas app (SamMobile)
• Zoom launches Immersive View to unify participants in the same virtual room (VentureBeat)
• SK Telecom launches AR app in US (Korea Herald)
• Depthkit Studio pilot program launches with volumetric livestreaming (Twitter)

Updates

• 8th Wall's AR Engine gets its biggest upgrade resulting in 50% improvement in accuracy of its SLAM system and increased frame rate of up to 70% on some devices (8th Wall)
• Apple Clips adds new, easy-to-use AR video effects (Cult of Mac)
• Google ARCore update brings new ARCore Raw Depth API and ARCore Recording and Playback API (Google)
• Facebook Upgrades Spark AR Platform for Instagram with Segmentation & Marker Tracking Capabilities (Next Reality)
• Google Maps Live View will show floating pins over locations to identify areas of interest (9to5 Google)
• Google is bringing its first Lens feature to the web (Android Police)
• Google Gains Ground in Remote Video Race with Virtual Video Backgrounds in Google Meet (Next Reality)
• Magic Leap’s Integration with NVIDIA CloudXR Technology (Magic Leap)
• Jigspace launches Snap Lens (Twitter)
• TikTok teams up with teamLab in Japan for latest AR effect (Twitter)
• Dent Reality now testing its AR Indoor Navigation in M&S Westfield London (Twitter)

Featured Creators: Snap features AR Artists and Creators as part of the Spectacles 4.0 launch

Snap debuts Spectacles 4.0 featuring AR Artists who were given early access to the new device to create for the platform: Don Allen III, Kat V Harris, Leighton McDonald, Clay Weishaar, Lauren Cason, Zach Lieberman, and Matthew Hallberg. (Source: Spectacles on YouTube)

News

Applications & Solutions

Enterprise

• ?KODA AUTO tests augmented reality glasses for production line maintenance and technical training (Volkswagen)
• NexusBioAg Takes Wheat Growers Underground with a WebAR Demonstration of Its New Inoculants (8th Wall)
• Microsoft uses HoloLens augmented reality for remote data center audits (Data Center Dynamics)
• UC San Diego Health Is Region’s First To Use Augmented Reality In Spine Surgery (Science Magazine)
• Goodyear Drives Global Remote Collaboration with RealWear and Microsoft Teams (RealWear)

Toys & Games

• LEGO now has a multiplayer AR brick-building lens in Snapchat (CNET)
• Rovio Reinvents Angry Birds as Web-Based AR Tower Defense Game for Burger King Campaign (Next Reality)
• Netflix Fantasy Franchise 'The Witcher' Opens Early Access to AR Game Called Monster Slayer (Next Reality)
• Google Adds Pac-Man, Hello Kitty & More Japanese Anime & Video Game Characters to AR Search (Next Reality)

Marketing

• Disney PhotoPass Service x Snap: Announcing New PhotoPass Snapchat Lenses and Can’t-Miss Surprises for the Walt Disney World 50th Anniversary! (Disney Parks)
• Airstream reveals augmented reality caravan browser (Camping Trade World)
• Design Full Rooms In AR With The IKEA Studio App (VRScout)
• Hulu, Coinbase, Ray-Ban & Captain Morgan Unlock Advertising Gold with Interactive AR Ads (Next Reality)
• Magnum invited customers to indulge in its first augmented reality experience (8th Wall)
• Oppo uses WebAR to launch latest phone campaign (Mumbrella)
• Revisit the world’s first Apple Store as it appeared 20 years ago with augmented reality (9to5 Mac)
• Tactic Takes Almondmilk Back to its Roots with App-less AR Experience for Blue Diamond Almond Breeze (LLB Online)
• National Geographic and Hyundai Want You to Explore National Parks in AR Instagram Series (AdWeek)
• BMW Opens Augmented Reality Showroom for Plug-In Hybrids on the Web (Next Reality)
• Frederick Wildman & Sons Launches Augmented Reality Experience for Italian Fine Wines Brands (Yahoo Finance)
• Morton Salt’s Packaging-Based AR Experiences Seek to Erase Food Waste (Packworld)
• Ben & Jerry's Teams With Snap for Peace Pop On-Pack Festival Activation (AdWeek)
• Leading Web-Based Augmented Reality Provider 8th Wall Joins IAB’s Augmented Reality Board of Directors (Yahoo Finance)
• Verizon Media NewFront offerings include Out-of-home and augmented reality activations (AdAge)

Featured Quote: Evan Spiegel on mobile AR and the long road for AR glasses for the mainstream

"“I don’t believe the phone is going away,” he told The Verge in an interview this week. “I just think that the next generation of Spectacles can help unlock a new way to use AR hands-free, and the ability to really roam around with your eyes looking up at the horizon, out at the world.”"~Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap, Inc.

(Source: The Verge)

Fashion & Beauty

• Burberry invites customers into the World of Olympia with its latest Augmented Reality Experience (Burberry)
• Bobbi Brown Launches New Virtual Makeup Consultation Service (Retail Touchpoints)
• American Eagle, Zenni Optical among retailers adopting augmented reality (Bloomberg)
• Snapchat boosts AR try-on tools: Farfetch, Prada dive in (Vogue Business)
• Snapchat users can now buy Mac products through Shoppable filter (Independent)
• Burberry, Louis Vuitton and JW Anderson are testing pop-up shops that pull in customers using tech like augmented reality (Vogue Business)
• COACH uses WebAR to present its latest collaboration with Disney (Twitter)
• Vogue Arabia Launches Augmented Reality Experiences (VOGUE Arabia)
• Darragh Dandurand is Creating AR-Enabled Clothing (Bustle)
• Arcturus and Japanese Clothing Brand ANAYI Help Redefine Online Shopping (Yahoo Finance)
• Estée Lauder launches augmented reality foundation make-up try-on with Snapchat (MobileMarketing)
• Carolina Herrera launches new WebAR ecommerce experience (8th Wall)
• C&A launch new fall/winter Collection with AR-enabled magazine (Twitter)

Music, Film & TV

• NBCUniversal Rolls Out New Ad Formats, Augmented-Reality Shopping Gateway (Deadline)
• C&A Brings Interactive Shopping Experience to Big Brother Brasil's 167 Million Viewers (8th Wall)
• Snapchat Lens by Artiphon Turns Real-World Objects Into AR Instruments (VRScout)
• Verizon Aims to Give Oscars Viewers Virtual Backstage Access (Variety)
• Marvel Studios Tosses 'Falcon & the Winter Soldier' AR Game to Fans in Time for Finale (Next Reality)
• TikTok announces six new interactive music effects for Creators (TechCrunch)
• Snapchat Pumps Out Billie Eilish, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift & the Beatles (Next Reality)
• Devilish Lil Nas X AR Experience Debuts on Jadu App (Next Reality)
• Liam Payne Teases His Augmented Reality BAFTAs Performance (Billboard)
• See a new Kurt Cobain Augmented Reality mural honoring the Nirvana Icon (LoudWire)
• Diddy Beams Into Son's 23rd Birthday Party Via Hologram (Billboard)

Art

• Augmented reality mural series celebrates women, space and science (Space.com)
• Edgar Plans Spotlights His "Animal Hero" In Limited Edition Augmented Reality Artwork (Hypebeast)
• AR pioneer and artist Helen Papagiannis' AR NFT artwork wins Nreal Challenge (Twitter)
• Snap Teams with LACMA & LA Artists to Launch Location-Based AR Art Monuments Around the City (Next Reality)
• Google Adds New AR Galleries & Audio Guided Tour to Arts & Culture App (Next Reality)

Sports

• AT&T and NBA Launch Mobile AR Experience via Chicago Bulls App (Next Reality)
• UFC Lets You Pick the Winners in AR via Snapchat Lens (Next Reality)
• Marvel Heroes Invade ESPN's NBA Broadcast of Warriors vs. Pelicans Game via AR (Next Reality)
• Lay’s and Pepsi Max Team Up with Lionel Messi, Lieke Martens and Paul Pogba to Bring Joy Through Football (8th Wall)
• Google launches new athlete AR search results starting with Megan Rapinoe, Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles (Twitter)
• Get a front row seat at the Indy500 with this WebAR Portal (Twitter)

Human Impact & Ethics

• Augmented self - The effects of virtual face augmentation on consumers' self-concept (Journal of Business Research)
• ‘Coded Bias’ Is the Most Important Film About AI You Can Watch Today (VICE)
• Snapchat is building a more inclusive camera (Twitter)
• Augmented reality app for kids going into surgery launched at Surrey hospital (CTV News)
• AR mural in Vancouver looks to spark dialogue on mental health (City News)

Read my "21 Augmented Reality Trends for 2021" post here.

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