AR/VR Today: February 2019 Recap

With some huge announcements this month, let’s take a look back at some of the top stories in the Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality space.

Augmented reality surgical technology unveiled by Philips and Microsoft

At the MWC (25–26 February, Barcelona, Spain), formerly the Mobile World Congress, Philips unveiled a unique mixed reality concept developed in partnership with Microsoft for the operating room of the future.

Microsoft HoloLens 2 augmented reality headset unveiled

Microsoft stated at MWC that HoloLens 2 wearers would find it easier to touch and otherwise interact with graphics superimposed over their real-world views.

Other improvements include filling more of a user’s view and automatically recognising who they are.

Have a look at the HoloLens developer portal here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/hololens/developers

Google is letting some users test its AR navigation feature for Google Maps

At last year’s I/O developer’s conference, Google showed off a new augmented reality feature for Google Maps, which would provide people with directions from your phone’s camera in realtime.

Apple’s future AR smart glasses could help you find things in your house

Apple is working on an AR mapping app for an iPhone or smart glasses, with identification of not just distant locations, but also on a smaller scale, like a car dashboard or items in your house.

Varjo ships $5,995 VR-1 headset with retina display for industrial VR

VR-1’s key selling point is its promise of “VR in human-eye resolution,” a feat it achieves using a unique twin-screen design called the Bionic Display. Each eye gets a 1920 x 1080 micro-OLED “focus” screen with a pixel density of 60 pixels per degree — 20 times the density of any current consumer VR headset.

Oculus YouTube Highlights, February 2019

Oculus announced a bunch of ‘must-play’ games and experiences for their flagship Rift device. The article includes a selection of videos sourced from YouTube showing the best games and experiences on the market this month.