[La version française de cette veille est disponible sur le site de RA’pro. La traduction est en partie assurée par « Google translate ». No AIs were injured in this production.]
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With over 20 years' experience in immersive technologies, augmented reality (AR) and XR, I'm looking for new challenges to contribute to innovative and ambitious projects.
Through flexible, timeshare or freelance assignments, I offer tailor-made collaborations, adapted to the specific needs of each organization.
If you're looking for a partner to meet your technological challenges or accelerate your innovation initiatives, let's talk! Together, we can bring to life ideas that will make all the difference.After a busy January with CES announcements, here is the news for February 2025 (while waiting for the announcements from the Mobile World Congress). Unsurprisingly, we will still be talking a lot about AI embedded in experiences and glasses since many manufacturers absolutely want to ride the wave. Other « smart » devices seem to be definitively joining the graveyard of good ideas (but not so good in fact). However, to temper hopes, the question of the real uses of glasses remains.
On the corporate side, we have some fundraisings showing that the sector continues to develop. Microsoft is more or less officially handing over to Anduril to equip the US Army with an operational AR system and Niantic seems to want to sell its gaming branch to focus on its platform.
In the hardware section, you will still have a few announcements of new AR glasses 🙂 Besides, why not have yours built directly as a white label? It’s getting easier and easier. Also note for the software sector that PTC has announced the new version of Vuforia and that version 1 of AugmentOS has been released. This system aims to offer a multimodel OS, with Vuzix as the original partner. We will see in the coming months how it will be able to compete with AndroidXR.
The uses of AR remain very diverse, with in particular the implementation by the Japanese company Designium of an intelligent assistant to accompany you on your visit to Tokyo Dome City. The perfect combination of AI and AR! You will also find an interesting article on the uses of AR in retail, which reminds us that there are many successes, but that the diffusion of this technology remains desperately slow.
See you next month!
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The News
Taiwan military seeks assistance from private sector on 3 projects | Taiwan News | Feb. 24, 2025 14:38
Taiwan’s defense innovation task force seeks private sector partners on several projects, including equipping soldiers with augmented reality
Published: February 24, 2025 – 16:36
DeepSeek’s AI models give China’s smart glasses sector a fresh boost to take on Meta | South China Morning Post
DeepSeek’s announcements have not gone unnoticed by Chinese smart glasses manufacturers. The company’s « lightweight » solutions could quickly become the basis for in-car assistants
Published: February 7, 2025 – 5:26 pm
CES 2025: A Year Of AI Hype And Quiet Evolution
Charlie Fink offers his own vision of CES 2025, where XR is still present but seems less important compared to AI
Published on: February 4, 2025 – 5:36 p.m.
CES 2025: Top AR, VR, and MR Announcements
A roundup of the XR announcements from CES 2025 with a view to both hardware and software
Published: February 4, 2025 – 5:33 pm
Barriers to the Adoption of Augmented Reality Technologies for Education and Training in the Built Environment: A Developing Country Context
This is a research paper that examines the barriers to the adoption of augmented reality technologies for education and training in the built environment. Although this study is conducted in a specific region of South Africa, it does include some well-known barriers: cost, complexity, perception, and resistance to change.
Published: February 4, 2025 – 5:12 pm
Strategies, visions and discussions
We don’t need AI devices when we have AR glasses
Glasses are the most natural objects to bring AI assistance to users. Other hardware proposals can’t compete with the simplicity and acceptance of a pair of glasses.
Published on: February 21, 2025 – 9:15 am
What lessons can we learn from CES 2025 for XR and AR? – Grégory MAUBON
As you may have read in the RA’pro article dedicated to CES 2025, the XR sector was well represented there. What does this CES tell us about the evolution of the market? Here are some additional thoughts.
Published on: February 17, 2025 – 3:38 p.m.
What’s next for smart glasses | MIT Technology Review
Google and Meta are both entering the smart glasses market and are building their ecosystems. However, they still need to give developers the tools to easily create experiences.
Published on: February 12, 2025 – 7:16 am
Companies
Fibbl: €3 Million Raised To Advance 3D And AR Technologies For Leading Brands
Swedish company Fibbl announces a €3 million fundraising to develop its AR integration platform for e-commerce sites
Published on: February 26, 2025 – 5:25 p.m.
Behind the $10 Million Virtual Reality Niagara Falls Tourism Blueprint – XR Today
ImagineAR has signed a $10 million contract to create a 2,300 m² immersive tourism experience centre at Niagara Falls in Ontario. The project will feature AR, VR and MR attractions to boost regional tourism. It is scheduled to open in 2025.
Published: February 25, 2025 – 4:15 pm
Pokémon Go maker Niantic is reportedly selling its games division | TechCrunch
Niantic is reportedly close to selling its gaming business to focus on developing its “large geospatial model”
Published: February 19, 2025 – 8:46 am
Anduril and Microsoft partner to advance Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) program for the US Army – Stories
Microsoft is officially handing over the US Army’s IVAS project to Anduril. The company will remain on the project through its cloud and AI tools and will no longer work on the hardware side.
Published: February 14, 2025 – 8:41 am
Startup raises funds to drive development of AR glasses displays …
Cellid has announced $13 million in funding, led by the Development Bank of Japan, to develop its AR glasses and spatial recognition technology.
Published: February 11, 2025 – 8:37 am
From Versailles to Fort Alamo: Histovery raises €4M to impose the French Touch in augmented cultural mediation
Histovery raises €4 million to accelerate its development in the USA
Published on: February 7, 2025 – 5:19 p.m.
Apple cancels project for augmented reality glasses for Mac
At Apple, we are definitely having trouble choosing the right development path for the XR.
Published on: February 3, 2025 – 9:15 am
Hardware & Software
Tecno launches smart glasses with a built-in AI assistant – GSMArena.com news
Chinese company Tecno will present two new pairs of smart glasses at MWC 2025. One model will be equipped with microLED screens (binocular) and the other will not have them.
Published on: February 28, 2025 – 4:31 p.m.
Lumus and Schott aim to make lightweight AR glasses into mainstream products | VentureBeat
Lumus presented at the last SPIE a model of glasses with Schott based on the Z-30 module. The two companies associated with Quanta Computer are preparing a robust production line for mass production
Published on: February 26, 2025 – 8:07 am
Samsung develops metalens tech for lightweight XR headsets – SamMobile
Samsung has developed a new “metalens” technology for lightweight XR headsets in collaboration with POSTECH. This allows for shorter focal lengths and reduced size/weight while eliminating chromatic aberration. This technology could be used in Samsung’s future XR devices like the Project Moohan.
Published: February 25, 2025 – 8:36 am
PTC Launches Vuforia Engine 11 with New Enterprise AR Features
PTC today announced the release of version 11 of its Vuforia development tool, including enhancements to object tracking, spatial navigation, and cloud for large-scale deployments.
Published: February 24, 2025 – 4:53 pm
Cellid to Exhibit Self-Developed Spectacle-Type AR Glasses at MWC Barcelona 2025 – The Malaysian Reserve
As part of the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Cellid will showcase its “reference design” of smart glasses and hold demonstrations. The company’s goal is to recruit partners interested in developing their own OEM hardware.Published on: February 21, 2025 – 9:10 am
Revolutionizing the Consumer AI Camera Glasses Market: Our Exclusive 2025 MTK-Powered Smart Glasses
Want to build your own smart glasses in OEM mode? Today it’s possible with TopaiGlasses
Published on: February 18, 2025 – 12:16 pm
Vuzix Supercharges AI-Ready Augmented Reality Smart Glasses for Frontline Workers – XR Today
Vuzix launches V1 of AugmentOS in partnership with Mentra. This open source OS aims to provide a simple development system for augmented reality glasses.
Published on: February 13, 2025 – 4:15 pm
AI AR Glasses – Comparison and Guide based on CES 2025
XR bootcamp offers a comparative study of the different models of glasses presented at CES 2025. The article covers both the software and hardware part
Published on: February 6, 2025 – 7:41 am
ASUS AirVision M1｜Wearable｜ASUS USA
ASUS AirVision M1 glasses are now available for purchase, targeting the gaming market with a high-quality remote display.
Published: February 6, 2025 – 7:40 am
Lumus Launches Z-30 Optical Engine for Consumer AR Glasses
Lumus is launching its Z-30 model, which is derived from the Z-50 but with a smaller field of view, particularly suited to consumer glasses.
Published: February 3, 2025 – 10:18 am
The uses
Augmented reality brings ‘The Gates’ back to NYC
20 years later, Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Central Park experience, The Gates, is back thanks to augmented reality.
Published on: February 24, 2025 – 4:59 p.m.
Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Launches “Rangers Wanted” Augmented Reality App – TheMinotVoice.com
The “Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library” is launching an AR app with Niantic to encourage kids to explore nature.
Published: February 24, 2025 – 4:39 pm
[2501.16505] Just stop doing everything for now!: Understanding security attacks in remote collaborative mixed reality
The issue of security in AR experiences is often overlooked. Researchers at the University of Virginia (Virginia Tech) propose a method to study users’ reactions to these attacks.
Published on: February 19, 2025 – 9:02 am
AR shopping stalls in standalone apps
Without being a wave that sweeps everything in its path, augmented reality is consolidating its position in shopping applications. However, there is still plenty of room for new uses!
Published on: February 17, 2025 – 10:53 am
HoloToyz partners with Mattel to play dress-up with AR
HoloToyz partners with Mattel to bring augmented reality experiences to Barbie and Hot Wheels lines
Published on: February 13, 2025 – 4:19 p.m.
Designium Launches Innovative AR Agents Service to Enhance User Engagement
Japanese company Designium is launching an augmented reality virtual agent service to accompany you on a tour of a link. The Area Scale AR Agents service combines AR navigation, AI-powered NPCs as tour guides, daily missions with rewards, and immersive AR content. The first deployment is at Tokyo Dome City.
Published: February 13, 2025 – 4:03 pm
Splashtop Releases AR Virtual Support System – XR Today
Splashtop is launching a remote support tool, based on Teamviewer, in partnership with Realwear. A new product that confirms the commoditization of remote expertise.
Published on: February 3, 2025 – 10:23 am
‘Turn on the Lights’: DAVD Display Helps Navy Divers Navigate Undersea Conditions | Office of Naval Research
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has been developing the Divers Augmented Vision Display, or DAVD, since 2016, which enhances divers’ ability to operate in challenging underwater environments. The DAVD includes a head-up display that can be attached to any diving helmet. The system creates detailed 3D models of dive sites using sonar imagery and allows divers to receive a variety of data to aid in navigation and communication.Published: February 3, 2025 – 9:16 a.m.
Jobs ( list )
- [Internship] Robotics & Augmented Reality for Medical Applications – ZEISS – Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen February 20, 2025
- [Internship] Unity Programmer in Virtual Reality – Champs-sur-marne – Gustave Eiffel University February 19, 2025
- [Alternation] Digital learning designer – Les Ulis – Pharmaceutical group February 19, 2025
- [Work-Study Program] Professionalization contract – Master in Emerging Technologies for Education and Training February 13, 2025
Upcoming events ( list )
- XR EXPO 2025, May 8 to 9 2025 – Stuttgart
- Augmented Reality Workshop – Saint-Étienne-Vallée-Française – March 11, 2025
- Immersive Days – JeDI – April 6-8, 2025 – Lyon
- Laval Virtual 2025 – April 9-11, 2025 – Laval, France
- Chicago XR Summit – June 4, 2025 – Chicago
- XRSalento 2025 – June 17 – 20 – Otranto (Italy)
- International XR-Metaverse Conference 2025 – June 25 to 27 – Maastricht
