This Week In XR: Juicy Apple AR Rumors, Wave Catches $30 Million, Snap Summits

Last Friday, June 5th, a new Apple patent revealed the tech giant may be planning to disrupt the old fashioned optics industry by tackling vision correction with AR glasses. The patent describes a see-through display flexible enough to adjust to correct the wearer’s vision based on activity and light conditions. 60% of the people in the world wear corrective lenses. It’s a $210 Billion business. And vision correction hasn’t changed much in the last 400 years. Take a big grain of salt with this, because a patent is not a product. By itself, it doesn’t mean a lot. Apple has many teams working on wearables. And when they do tackle XR there may be more than one product. We like this one because it takes what we are already wearing on our face and makes it better.

Wave raises $30 Million for its virtual concert platform. In another sign that the COVID-19 crisis has helped the XR industry, the investment comes mostly from existing investors, who are embracing the growing opportunity for live entertainment in VR.

Interactive movie watching app Whatifi raises $10 Million. Whatifi lets you and your friends all watch a movie together and decide what happens next. The founders of Whatifi are riding the success of Black Mirror’s interactive film Bandersnatch. Currently there are two films available on Whatifi and the app is free.

Snap’s annual partner summit took place this Make no mistake. Snap is the world’s leader in smartphone AR for consumers. 170 million users access augmented reality features on a daily basis, and over 1 million lenses have been created. The summit was virtual this year, and utilized augmented reality to put its keynote speakers on a bright sunny stage. Snap announced new features including voice search, Local Lenses, and apps.

Following the Wave’s substantial round, and the epic success of Travis Scott in Fortnite, Fatboy Slim, Carl Cox, Jamie Jones will headline in VR at The Lost Horizon Music and Arts Festival July 3rd. The venue is Sansar, recently sold by Linden Lab (Second Life), which never found the PC VR audience it had hoped for. Linden Lab initiated the pivot to music venue shortly before the sale. Entry is free, but there are premium tickets, which gets you some swag, with proceeds go towards good causes–Amnesty International and the Big Issue.

Johns Hopkins surgeons perform first surgery using augmented reality. The surgery involved a spinal fusion and was completed with the aid of a Microsoft Hololens.

Blockdown blockchain conference to be hosted virtually in Breakroom by Sinespace. In April, over 1000 paid attendees joined a pilot Blockdown virtual conference inside Breakroom, a virtual meeting space built using Sinespace. Taking place June 18-19, Blockdown will feature keynotes from speakers such as Akon, roundtables, networking events, a tradeshow floor, and an afterparty with live DJ. Tickets are available both for free and with paid VIP upgrades. 

Baobab Studios releasing new VR film Baba Yaga. The new film from the award winning studio will premier June 15th at the 2020 Annecy International Animation Festival held virtually from June 15-30.

Kat VR launching kickstarter later this month for new VR treadmill. The Kat Walk C is the latest omni directional treadmill from Kat VR. Like their other offerings, the Kat Walk C uses a bowl shaped depression and slippery shoe slip-ons to reduce friction. Users strap onto a harness that holds them in place so they can walk, or run, in any direction. The Kat Walk C will be available for around $700 via its kickstarter page. Not an endorsement. I was on my knees after using this at IAAPA. Try before you buy.

Boeing using Varjo VR headset to train astronauts for Starliner mission to ISS in 2021. NASA has been using VR to train astronauts since the 80s, but the retina resolution Varjo headset allows astronauts to see small details on the complex instrument panels of the Starliner. VR also allows astronauts to train for emergency scenarios not feasible in physical simulators. 

What’s up at HTC? The company classlessly blamed the pandemic for layoffs. In other press HTC admitted it was more of a strategic move. New CEO Yves Maitre isn’t in an enviable position, boxed in by Sony and Facebook, with every division needing investment, amidst a horde of hungry, better-funded competitors. This makes HTC just about the only player in VR who is not in abetterposition because of the stay-at-home crisis. Rumors suggest a (stumbling) strategic retreat back to China, where HTC remains one of the biggest players.