Mozilla’s latest product launch now allows its users to sign into Firefox Reality with their Firefox Account credentials, which means that users will now be able to get the benefits of new features that includes Bluetooth keyboard support and the ability to share history, bookmarks, and tabs between devices. Users who want to avoid bookmarking and directly send an active tab from another device to their Oculus Quest, can now do so without any hesitation.

Defence contractor Raytheon and airline simulation technology provider CAE have both made recent launches showcasing the potential of virtual reality (VR) in terms of employee training in the aerospace sector. Raytheon has the launch of a VR version of its portable V-22 trainer.

If you think of the oil and gas industry, then BP, as one of the seven ‘supermajors’, will feature prominently in many people’s thoughts. The company has in place, from artificial intelligence to blockchain, yet mixed reality – the co-existence of physical and digital worlds, utilising virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) – is among its most interesting. For oil and gas companies – in such a particularly complex industry – technological innovation can be found whether it is upstream, midstream, or downstream. While the latter is more about production and distribution, the former is more about exploration, finding and producing crude oil and natural gas. BP is using Microsoft HoloLens in its upstream activities, both for research purposes.

The market for extended reality products, comprising VR and AR devices, will see a growth of 21% in 2019 to just over 10 million devices, according to the latest forecast from analyst CCS Insight. Sony has been already on track to record a solid 2019, and Facebook too has started gaining meaningful revenue from its Oculus devices, the company argued in what it descried as a ‘volatile but promising’ market. CCS Insight also noted that the variety of VR devices is growing and it expects new products in 2020 from HTC, Oculus, among others.

According to IDC's latest Worldwide Augmented and Virtual Reality Spending Guide, global spending on augmented reality and virtual reality is forecasted to reach $18.8 billion (£14.5 bn) in 2020. This figure is an increase of 78.5%, compared to the £8.12bn which IDC expects to be spent in 2019. The report also shows that global spending on AR/VR products and services will continue this strong growth throughout the 2019-2023 forecast period.

Facebook has announced the acquisition of Beat Games, the developer of VR rhythm game Beat Saber. According to the details of the acquisition, Beat Games studio will be operating independently, but it will be a part of Oculus in Prague. The company will be continuing to ship content and updates for Beat Saber across all currently supported platforms with greater support from Facebook from now on. “Beat Saber is a perfect example of why VR is so exciting – VR reimagines old genres and invents new ones,” Mike Verdu, director of content at Oculus, confirming the news. “Beat Games’ accomplishments are already impressive, but Facebook and the Beat Games team know that there is so much more that can be done across VR, games, and music. “They have.

The New Yorker has launched an augmented reality-based (AR) series of cartoons in addition to its previous campaigns around the technology. The offering, called ‘Animate Objects’ and part of the revamped New Yorker Today app, allows users to point their smartphones at various everyday items and see an animation in return from New Yorker cartoonist Liana Finck. The product utilises Apple’s ARkit to provide the object detection required to both recognise items in a user’s environment, as well as pin the animation across the environment.

LIV, a mixed reality game streaming platform provider, has announced it has raised $2.6 million (£2.06m) in series A funding led by Hiro Capital. The company said it will be using the funds to accelerate its technology and integrate more third-party game studios. Established in 2016, LIV was founded by gaming professionals AJ Shewki, known as Dr. Doom, and Steffan Donal among others, who tried early VR HMDs and became convinced of VR’s huge potential in the future of entertainment and eSports.

A partnership deal has been signed between Verizon and Snapchat creator Snap, where the former’s 5G Ultra Wideband technology will support the Snapchat’s creator’s AR, visual communications, and content experiences. Under the agreement, both will work as official 5G innovation partners at the telecom giant’s 5G Labs to develop new experiences, such as experiencing live events in newer ways through Snapchat and include premium sponsorship placements within Snap Originals video series. Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband’s low latency, fast speed and high bandwidth help Snap’s AR innovation grow through advanced applications, including Landmarker tech, which creates location-based entertainment experiences and Portal Lenses that transports fans backs.

A new report launched by PwC has revealed that virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) could add £62.5 billion to the UK economy, boosting the GDP by 2.4% by 2030. The majority of the contribution to the UK economy will come from AR (£44.4bn) with VR providing £18.1bn.

A recent study from Juniper Research has revealed that the number of consumer mixed reality app installs will reach 10 billion by 2024, increasing from the current three billion. Mixed reality overlays interactive digital images and videos on the real world via a smartphone, tablet or smart glasses. The research, titled 'Consumer Mixed Reality: Emerging Opportunities, Vendor Strategies & Market Forecasts 2019-2024', identified, social media and games as the key app categories that will drive adoption. It forecasts that these categories will account for over half of the global mixed reality market value by 2024. The data also showed that 75% of the consumer mixed reality market, value, would be attributable to in‑app purchases by 2024. Howev.

First, a confession: I love VR. I became hooked on its potential long before today's affordable, reliable hardware. But as the old adage says, when you have a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. And that's dangerous for a tool in its early stages of deployment like VR. Training is an obvious and useful application of VR. And almost every industry is bad at training. I’m particularly interested in small to medium sized manufacturers. The Manufacturing Institute states that “80% of manufacturers report a moderate to severe shortage of skilled resources.” Many skilled manufacturing workers are also approaching retirement age. This makes effective training for new hires essential. And that looks like an opportunity for VR. Effective traini.

Audi has introduced its new hyper-reality experience, called "The e-tron room: the Future Paradox", in Spain to raise public awareness of its electric propulsion technology. By using the escape room format for the first time, the German automaker is trying to educate participants through an entertaining series of trials and challenges helping them understand the Audi e-tron concept. Participants entering the algorithm-powered escape room are clad with HTC Vive Pro VR glasses and motion sensors that interpret their movements in real-time and builds a full-scale avatar of the players, allowing complete body immersion.

Network Rail has introduced an augmented reality-based smartphone application, called ARki, which supports the railway company’s engagement with passengers by allowing them to see the replacement of footbridges at train stations. The app, developed by London-based Darf Design, highlights 3D visualisations of planned buildings in place helping passengers and local communities to see their future as the railway firm deploys its next generation of signature footbridges named The Beacon, The Ribbon, and The Frame. Sahar Fikouhi, founder of Darf Design and developer of ARki, said: "Our vision is to allow designers to share their 3D models in the real world.

Silicon Valley and Hollywood has joined forces to invest $11 million (£8.6m) in Sandbox VR to help its rollout across the US. The company’s goal is to provide an immersive experience where, by using full body motion capture and virtual reality, players can ‘go anywhere together with their friends.’ The California-based startup has just opened in Los Angeles and will soon expand to New York, Austin, San Diego, and Chicago with 16 total locations planned by the end of 2020. The funding round was led by David Sacks of Craft Ventures and the Andreessen Horowitz Cultural Leadership Fund.

Researchers at Rhode Island-based Brown University have developed a new software system which turns smartphones into AR portals, allowing users to position virtual building blocks, furniture, and other objects into real world settings. The developers believe that this new system, called Portal-ble, has the potential to be used as a tool by artists, designers, game developers and others to experiment with AR. Jeff Huang, an assistant professor of computer science at Brown who developed the system with his students, said: "AR is going to be a great new mode of interaction.

A University of Virginia (UVA) Health interventional radiologist believes that virtual reality can offer physicians a better way to educate and expedite the adoption of innovative procedures. By leveraging the simulated experience technology, UVA’s Zia Haskal, MD, has created a 11-minute video with an aim to increase the availability of a less-invasive treatment option for thyroid patients. Haskal’s educational video features one of his colleagues treating benign thyroid nodules with ablation -. removal or destruction of material from an object by. erosive processes – to around 200 physicians wearing VR headsets at the Symposium on Clinical Interventional Oncology in Miami that was held recently. Thermal ablation of benign thyroid nodules is

Varjo Technologies has launched two new advanced headsets, which are part of the company’s ‘Resolution Revolution’ product line that aims to deliver human eye-resolution (over 60 PPD) and fidelity to the most demanding sectors in today’s professional market. The new VR-2 and VR-2 Pro headsets expand the Resolution Revolution range and set a new standard in visual clarity, making it feasible for enterprise usability of the VR technology.

A new study conducted by the Neurosurgical Simulation and Artificial Intelligence Learning Centre at the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (The Neuro) and McGill University has found that machine-learning algorithms can precisely evaluate the capabilities of neurosurgeons at the time of virtual surgery, indicating that AI-powered VR simulators can be very useful tools to train surgeons. The study recruited 50 participants from four stages of neurosurgical training: neurosurgeons, fellows and senior residents, junior residents, and medical students.

Verizon is acquiring the technology assets of California-based VR content startup Jaunt, comprising of its VR tech and newer augmented reality (AR) efforts. As – which is part of Verizon Media – Jaunt has been looking to sell many of its assets and pursue a business focused more on AR.