Cisco recently released its annual forecast for global mobile data traffic, predicting that mobile traffic will experience tenfold growth during 2014-2019. By the end of that period, Cisco expects that 69 percent of the world’s population (5.2 billion people) will be mobile users. The company also anticipates 4.6 billion smartphones, compared with 3.1 billion feature phones by 2019. The study, which also addresses connected tablets and Wi-Fi-enabled laptops, suggests that 97 percent of worldwide traffic will come from smart devices. Continue reading Cisco 2019 Forecast: 5.2 Billion People Will Be Mobile Users

LG is the latest company to introduce a portable virtual reality headset. The ‘VR for G3’ is a simple plastic headset, which will be given to new buyers of the LG G3 smartphone for free. The headset’s design models that of Google Cardboard. While powered using LG’s smartphone, the headset uses Google Cardboard software and other readily available VR experiences on the Google Play Store (a VR game will be included as a promo). There has been no mention of whether the headset will be independently sold.   Continue reading LG Introduces Virtual Reality Headset That Works with the G3

The developers of “Assassin’s Creed” have teamed up with Tobii Tech to provide gamers with the ability to control the camera in the game with their natural eye movement. Tobii Tech calls it an “infinite screen” experience, tracking the user’s gaze at 50 frames per second. Users don’t have to even move their mouse to get the camera to pan or click pause when they look away from the screen. The “Assassin’s Creed Rogue” PC game will be one of the first to include this new technology when it launches early next month. Continue reading “Assassin’s Creed Rogue” Game Integrates Eye Tracking Tech

Hewlett-Packard is reportedly planning to introduce augmented reality and 3D technologies to tablets and laptops to provide consumers with a more immersive mobile computing experience. In addition to interaction between mobile devices and 3D printers, HP intends to bring AR to real-world applications. HP’s Sprout desktop PC, featuring Intel’s 3D RealSense camera, enables scanning and 3D printing. At CES last month, the company also touted its 23.6-inch Zvr virtual reality monitor that projects 3D images. Continue reading HP Developing AR and 3D for Interactive Tablets and Laptops

The Smithsonian Institution has developed an iOS app called “Skin & Bones” that uses 3D animation and augmented reality to help bring fossils to life for children visiting Bone Hall at the National Museum of Natural History. In addition to the 3D animations and related information, the free app offers detailed maps of the museum. Complimentary Wi-Fi is available on-site so visitors can easily download the app. The approach is another example of how organizations are exploring compelling use of immersive technologies. Continue reading Museums Bridging the Gap Between the Digital and Physical

At CES in Las Vegas, DJI introduced a really well thought out production tool — the new Inspire 1 flying platform. With a transforming aerodynamic shape, the ship moves the landing gear up and away from the camera allowing the operator an unprecedented motion-compensated, unobstructed view of the scene below. The modular camera/gimbal support system can be removed for transport and future upgrades. It can even be used with an accessory hand mount to become an instant steady camera system. Continue reading DJI Inspire 1 Flying Platform: 4K Dual Control Drone System

Several augmented reality devices debuted at CES this week, but Epson’s Moverio BT-200 offers one of the more complete experiences to-date. The glasses run Android 4.0 from a wired smartphone-like controller and provide a full-color image in the center of the user’s field of view. Sensors for the device include a camera, accelerometer, gyroscope, microphone and compass. The product is not consumer ready, but priced at less than half that of Google Glass ($699.99), it is a promising platform for developers to build an app library for AR. Continue reading Epson Moverio BT-200 Making Strides Toward Immersive AR

Polaroid has unveiled its portable Zip device, a 6.6-ounce photo printer, less than one-inch thick, that creates 2×3-inch prints using the company’s ZINK zero-ink technology and adhesive-backed ZINK paper. The pocket-sized device enables users to print photos from Bluetooth-enabled smartphones and tablets. The Zip includes a free mobile app available for iOS and Android, and an array of editing options such as adding filters, frames, stamps and stickers. Users can even make business cards. The Zip is expected to ship this spring for about $130. Continue reading CES: Polaroid Demos New Pocket-Sized Mobile Photo Printer

Sony demonstrated its SmartEyeglass product during APPNATION VI at CES, held at The Cosmopolitan Hotel. The augmented reality glasses use two forward-facing projectors built into see-through glasses to overlay data at a controlled stereoscopic distance in space onto the real world. Sony will sell the glasses at “a high price point” to consumers in a few select markets starting this quarter. More importantly, they hope to interest and involve developers worldwide and build out an ecosystem of apps over time. Continue reading SmartEyeglass: Sony Demonstrates AR Glasses at APPNATION

IC Real Tech is showcasing a consumer-friendly and affordable VR camera solution at CES this week. Using new video stitching technology, the Allie camera line (pronounced “All-ee,” like a “selfie” in all directions) can create a 720-degree view by combining two 360-degree camera feeds into an “all-D” image. Users have the ability to control perspectives in recorded videos and can stream live footage. IC Real Tech debuted its Allie Play, Home and Pro video cameras at CES, which will range from under $500 to $3,000. Continue reading Allie Cameras Can Live Stream 720-Degree Virtual Reality Video

A new iOS shopping app and social network offers a compelling way to make money from selfies. Stylinity encourages its users to record “Shoppable Selfies,” tag the fashionable items featured in the image — such as clothing, beauty products, and furniture, and then upload it to a marketplace where others can browse and make purchases. When shoppers purchase a brand’s product from one of your selfies, you earn points redeemable for cash, clothing, “exclusive experiences,” or “fun products.” Continue reading Shoppable Selfies: Earn Cash and Rewards with Your Images

With its Android Auto software arriving in 2015, Google is already focusing on its next project, one that would allow drivers to make use of Android in their cars without a smartphone. As of now, the use of smartphone auto tech, including Android Auto, requires the presence of a smartphone inside the vehicle. For Google, part of the challenge moving forward will be in convincing automakers to adopt software that would potentially be an integral part of a car’s brand identity. Continue reading Google Developing a Standalone Android System for Vehicles

Sony has announced a possible competitor to Google Glass, essentially a module that clips onto eyewear to make them smart. The company’s lightweight, single-lens display module attaches to glasses, sunglasses, goggles, or other eyewear to add a color OLED micro-display and connected camera. The module weighs a mere 40g and can be removed when not in use. Sony is expected to showcase a prototype at the 2015 CES in Las Vegas next month under the name “SmartEyeglass Attach.” Continue reading CES: Sony to Demo Module That Makes Any Glasses ‘Smart’

Oculus, the virtual reality company picked up by Facebook in March, has acquired two startups that may bring hand-tracking and better mapping of 3D interiors to the Oculus Rift headset. Nimble VR (formerly 3Gear Systems) is the startup behind Nimble Sense, a camera that connects to the headset and uses Kinect-like technology to track a user’s hands and sync movements to the user’s VR experience. Oculus also bought 13th Lab, a computer vision and augmented reality firm focused on 3D reconstruction. Continue reading Oculus Acquires Nimble VR for its Hand-Tracking Technology

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have created a camera that can capture how light moves as it goes through and around objects. The camera may be used to observe body processes, study quantum phenomena, and eventually develop invisibility cloaks. Compressed Ultrafast Photography (CUP), as the technique is known, achieves an incredible speed by converting photons to electrons and recording the time and space data needed to create an image. Continue reading Fastest Camera Ever Captures 100 Billion Frames per Second