Market Reality: Magic Leap App Makes Waves, Norm Glasses Push Smartglass Future, & Facebook's Mind-Powered Controllers

When it comes to the business of augmented reality, companies that aren't already introducing new products or apps are focused on producing the AR technology of the future. But in the realm of real products and apps, Magic Leap continues to show off what its headset can do, this time via a new app that transports users to the ocean's depths.

Meanwhile, startup Human Capable appears to have succeeded where Google Glass failed with consumer-grade smartglasses. Elsewhere, Facebook and its research partners have made strides in brain control interfaces (BCI), which could revolutionize how users interact with AR content, and Adobe has built a prototype transparent AR display that previously only existed in science fiction.

Magic Leap's Undersea App Succeeds at Plunging Users into Aquatic Worlds

The latest immersive production from Magic Leap Studios finally got its debut on Monday at Siggraph, during which the company also released the app to the general public, so we took it for a spin.

It's called Undersea, and its goal is to submerge you in a virtual environment that makes it seem as though your surroundings have been suddenly sunken to the bottom of the ocean.

Continue reading for more on what you can expect from Undersea and our impressions on its execution...

REALITY BITES: Another graduate of the Magic Leap Independent Creators Program is preparing to release an AR experience for Magic Leap One. But there's a catch, as developer Preloaded has partnered with major player BBC Studios to create BBC Earth - Micro Kingdoms: Senses. The app will be designed to bring users up close and personal with insects and other tiny creepy crawly things. However, a partnership with a mainstream media entity would seem to fly in the face of the program's "independent" creator focus, wouldn't it?

Facebook-Funded Research Results in Real-Time Message Decoder

Who's ready to let future Facebook augmented reality smartglasses read their brain? Well, ready or not, the tech giant is making progress in the area of brain control interfaces (BCI) by funding research.

This week, Facebook shared some of the progress its Facebook Reality Labs research and development team along with university research partners have made.

Read further to learn more about the progress made by Facebook and its research partners in BCI and how close the technology is to commercialization...

REALITY BITES: Facebook subsidiary Oculus will hold its annual developers conference, Oculus Connect 6 at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center on Sept. 25-26. Among the AR topics: Bridge Virtual and Real Worlds with AR, Career-Connected Curriculum for Tomorrow's AR/VR Developers, Technological Tethers: How AR + VR Connect Us to the World, and Women in AR/VR Research.

Hands-on with Norm Glasses, a Better Looking, Less Creepy Google Glass

What if, back in 2013, Google Glass had launched not as a Star Trek Borg-like eyepiece, but as a pair of seemingly normal shades, with the augmented reality lens and camera hidden within the frame?

Google Glass has been almost permanently tagged with the "glasshole" moniker, so we'll never know if a sleeker version would have succeeded. But a new wearable called Norm Glasses is offering a solution that may answer the question above for consumers today.

Keep reading to learn more about the capabilities of Norm Glasses and our hands-on impressions...

REALITY BITES: Snap, Inc. has had a good run so far in 2019. So much so that CEO Evan Spiegel has pulled the trigger on selling $50.1 million of his shares in the company. The average price of the shares was $18.01.

Adobe Makes Transparent AR Displays Reality via Project Glasswing Prototype

It appears that the Project Aero 3D content development tool isn't the only augmented reality project that Adobe has in the works.

The software company recently provided a peek at its Project Glasswing, a prototype transparent display that the Adobe Research team will present at Siggraph 2019 this week.

Read further to find out what Project Glasswing can do and what the prototype represents regarding the future of AR computing...

REALITY BITES: Apple has reportedly shifted software program manager Kim Vorrath to the company's augmented reality team. According to unnamed insider sources, the move was made to bring some order to the team, which develops software, hardware, and content of the AR/VR variety.

Every Friday, Next Reality reviews the latest headlines from the financial side of augmented and mixed reality. This weekly Market Reality column covers funding announcements, mergers and acquisitions, market analysis, and the like. Check out previous editions of Market Reality for more news you may have missed.