10 Dec 2018
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Tom Emrich
AR+VR Weekly: VR headset growth, Audi’s 1000 VR Showrooms & 250M ARCore devices
AR/VR Weekly
Catch up on the latest XR highlights, funding news & launch announcements: Week of Dec 10
Image Source: Audi
By Tom Emrich
Highlights
It’s been another busy week in AR+VR! In addition to keeping you up-to-date on the top AR+VR news, funding activity, and launch announcements, here are there three stories you need to know: VR headset growth, Audi’s 1000 VR Showrooms and 250 million ARCore devices
IDC released some new data on AR & VR headsets for Q3 of 2018 indicating the VR market saw 8.2% year-over-year growth in the third quarter of 2018, while AR headsets achieving a smaller 1.1% gain.
Meanwhile, Audi has deployed 1,000 virtual showrooms to dealerships worldwide. The VR Showroom offers a virtual life-sized vehicle configurator to provide potential customers with a more engaging sales experience.
Finally, the number of smartphones that support Google’s ARCore has jumped significantly. Google has indicated that the latest ARCore update, version 1.6, will be rolling out to over 250 million phones compared to the one million reported back in February with ARCore’s initial release. ARCore version 1.6 allows supports more realistic lighting and screen capture.
Funding News
Streem raises more cash for AR-powered home improvement tech, hints at larger vision (GeekWire)
Launch Announcements
Bose opens pre-orders for its augmented audio sunglasses (TechCrunch)
Qualcomm announces the Snapdragon 855 processor for 5G phones (The Verge)
Google launches AR museum app (Gizmodo)
GIBLIB, accredited virtual reality surgery application launches (CNET)
Walmart & Target Unwrap New Augmented Reality Features to Bring in Holiday Shoppers (Next Reality)
Seedling launches as the first paid app for Magic Leap One (Road to VR)
Immersal launches multi-player AR Cloud SDK powering indoor navigation and more (PR Newswire)
Formula 1 Announces Launch Of Fully Immersive 360-Degree Virtual Reality App (Forbes)
VR veterans found Artie augmented reality avatar company (VentureBeat)
Ctrl-labs details Ctrl-kit, which lets users control computers with their brain (VentureBeat)
YouTube to release new VR series from National Geographic (TechRadar)
LEGO’s ARKit Playgrounds app launches with NINJAGO theme (9to5 Mac)
Marriott teams with Pepsi's Lifewtr for in-room AR art displays (MobileMarketer)
