How Tech Is Changing Our Reality During COVID-19 and Beyond

Emerging Tech Roundup — May 21, 2020 from Quantious

This week in tech: Apple’s facial recognition tech gets smarter, an all-female Afghanistan robotics team develops makeshift ventilators, Apple’s AR glasses inch closer to the limelight, Oculus Quest developers can now add hand tracking, Nreal upgrades its AR glasses, and Firefox Reality 10 includes new features.

Apple Offers a Faster Way to Unlock Your iPhone While Wearing a Face Mask

(CNN, May 20)

Apple is inventing a new way to unlock your iPhone while wearing a face mask. Currently, the facial recognition feature only recognizes a user’s entire face, and there’s a delay before the iPhone gives the user the option to unlock with a passcode. The new iOS update that was released on Wednesday allows for the Face ID feature to recognize when the user has a face mask on, automatically jumping to the passcode option. The update also comes with an API, which supports apps created by public health authorities, to notify users when they have come in contact with a person who has COVID-19.

Coronavirus: Afghan Girls Make Ventilators out of Car Parts

(BBC, May 20)

During the global pandemic, Afghanistan’s all-female robotics team has taken initiative to create affordable ventilators using car parts. The country currently has approximately 400 ventilators to serve its population of more than 38 million. So far, the country has had 7,650 confirmed coronavirus cases and over 170 deaths. The girls, aged between 14 and 17, are known as the “Afghan Dreamers.” They built a prototype using a motor from a used Toyota Corolla and a Honda motorcycle chain drive. The girls hope that their efforts will bring temporary relief to patients with emergency respiratory issues when standard ventilators are unavailable.

Apple Glasses: What We Expect, What We Think We Know

(CNET, May 21)

Apple is in the process of releasing a new product to the augmented reality market: “Apple Glass.” The glasses will retail for $499 and will connect to iPhones and Apple Watches to process data. Users can control the interface of the glasses, called “Starboard,” by touching the frames and using gestures. Due to privacy concerns, Apple opted out of putting a camera on the lens, but there will be a LiDAR scanner that allows users to interact with their environment. Apple plans to make an announcement about the glasses in person when the pandemic is over.

Hand Tracking Updates: Accepting App Submissions Starting May 28

(Oculus Developers, May 18)

Facebook’s new Quest software update (v17) was released on May 19th. With it came hand tracking, which allows the use of hands as an input option on Oculus devices. The tracking architecture was updated to reduce jitters, provide efficiency, and enhance each user’s sense of presence and social engagement. Hand gestures now imitate controller behavior, so users can utilize both input options to move around in the virtual world. They also added an educational feature to teach users how to properly utilize the different hand gestures. For developers, apps that include hand tracking can be submitted starting Thursday, May 28th.

Nreal Light AR Glasses Add Multi-User Shared Spaces and WebXR Support

(Venture Beat, May 18)

Nreal is looking to release its Light augmented reality glasses this fall with two new upgrades to its Light Software development kit. The glasses will now support multi-user environments, as well as WebXR. Multiplayer mode allows interaction between multiple headset users inside a shared virtual environment like a collaborative workspace or meeting room. Multiplayer mode can also be used for competitive games. The WebXR update allows web applications to properly display content using the stereoscopic 3D glasses. In addition, WebXR enables developers to offer mixed reality content on the web using a platform-agnostic format that doesn’t require 3rd party gatekeepers.

Firefox Reality 10

(Mozilla Mixed Reality Blog, May 20)

Firefox Reality has released updates, and the list of new features and improvements will be sure to delight XR fans. One of the biggest improvements is that Firefox Reality now supports WebXR. Another exciting feature is Gaze Support, which will allow users to navigate using head movements and the buttons on the headset instead of controllers. Additional updates include improvements to download management as well as privacy settings. This new release will coincide with Mozilla’s new partnership with Pico Interactive, and Firefox Reality 10 will be shipped with all headsets from Pico Interactive.