New data is backing up Erlich Bachmans recent claim on Silicon Valley that virtual reality is the frothiest space in the valley right now. Nobody understands it but everyone wants in. Any idiot could walk into a fing room, utter the letters v and r, and [venture capitalists] would hurl bricks of cash at them. <\/p>\n
Add augmented reality to that statement and itd be spot on. More than $800 million was invested in AR and VR in the second quarter of 2017, according to Digi-Capital, an AR-VR consulting firm. <\/p>\n
This was a major jump from Q1, when only $300 million was poured into the budding industries. Altogether, there has been north of $2 billion invested in AR and VR in the past year. <\/p>\n
Also Read: Fox Sports Rolls Out Social Virtual Reality for Gold Cup Soccer Tournament <\/p>\n
Most AR and VR investments come during theearly stages of a startup, but there were several major deals between April and June that made it a strong quarter. UK-based VR gaming company Improbable netted more than $500 million at a $1 billion valuation from SoftBank back in May. <\/p>\n
But its more than video games that are drawing investment dollars. In an email to TheWrap, Digi-Capital founder and managing director Tim Merel outlined the five sectors with the most AR-VR investment: tech, video, games, peripherals and smartglasses. <\/p>\n
The report also pointed to an expected uptick in investment, with Apples latest iOS enabling developers to create AR apps with its ARKit. For many in the industry, the move by Apple is going to help bring AR to the mainstream. <\/p>\n
Also Read: Check out the Virtual Strip Club 2 Chainz Created to Promote His New Album (Video) <\/p>\n
Its a huge thing, saidChris Milk, CEO of Within VR, in an interview with TheWrap. Granted, its the beginning of AR through a phone or a tablet. But its introducing people to a completely new concept, and a new form of medium that does not have a storytelling structure. <\/p>\n
With Facebook and Google and not to mention, Snap looking to join Apple in pushing the medium forward, Digi-Capital predicts more than $60 billion in revenue and one billion users of mobile AR in five years. <\/p>\n
And while Q2 was a major leap from Q1 this year, it still lagged behind its peak months from 2016, when $1.2 billion was raised within the first quarter of the year. <\/p>\n
Steven Spielberg's tech-heavy \"Minority Report,\" starring Tom Cruise, is now 15 years old. Considered one of the most prescient sci-fi movies to grace the big screen, it predicted multiple future innovations, including facial recognition, personalize advertising and predictive crime fighting. In honor of the movie's anniversary, click through here to revisit 18 more movies that accuratelypeered into the future of technology: <\/p>\n
We're so used to touch screens at this point -- we use them every day on our smart phones, and even at McDonald's-- that it's easy to forget that Tom Cruise used the technology in \"Minority Report.\" <\/p>\n
Long before Siri, there was HAL. The ominous yet soft-spoken computer system was the antagonist in 1968's \"2001: A Space Odyssey.\" Stanley Kubrick's sinister talking computer ended up turning on itscrew in a Siri user's worst nightmare. <\/p>\n
Tech giant Elon Musk is at the helm of SpaceX, which will send two tourists to space in 2018. But \"2001: A Space Odyssey\" imaginedcommercial space travel decades ago. <\/p>\n
Elon Musk, Google and Uber have been duking it out to bring self-driving cars to the masses, but Arnold Schwarzenegger might have jumpstarted the competition when he took a robot-controlled ride in 1990's \"Total Recall.\" <\/p>\n
\"The Terminator\" predicted military drones in 1984 -- long before they were introduced to police forces and militaries. <\/p>\n
Virtual reality is taking over the tech scene.You can play games in VR, watch movies and experience Coachellaall from the comfort of your living room. But Hollywood predicted we'd have VR more than 20 years ago in 1992's \"Lawnmower Man.\" <\/p>\n
The 1982 cult classic \"Blade Runner,\" starring Harrison Ford, predicted digital billboards, which you can see now all over the country, from Times Square in New York to the Vegas strip. <\/p>\n
Remember when the TSA rolled out invasive body scanners and a lot of people freaked out? \"Airplane II: The Sequel\" imagined airport scanners that revealed a person's naked body to agents. <\/p>\n
Woody Allen's \"Sleeper\" had robots assisting surgeons by offering advice during surgery. Today, doctors use robotics to add precision to procedures. <\/p>\n
The beloved 1960s cartoon \"The Jetsons\" -- which was made into a movie in 1990 -- predicted the use of robots to clean homes. They had a robotic vacuum and a robotic maid.Can you say Roomba? <\/p>\n
In vitro fertilization and at-home genetic testing are common place these days. \"Gattaca,\" with Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, predicted this tech in 1997. <\/p>\n
FaceTime, and Skype before it, are commonplace today. But it was cool new technology in 1989's \"Back to the Future Part II.\" <\/p>\n
There are a ton of different options out there for smart watches. This was predicted in 1990's \"Dick Tracy.\" <\/p>\n
It's so easy to order Domino's online -- you can even watch how far along in the process your pizza is. In 1995's \"The Net\" with Sandra Bullock, they showed ordering pizza online for the first time. <\/p>\n
Tinder, Bumble and OKCupid are only a few of the many, many online dating options out there. But Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks were on the forefront of the online dating trend in \"You've Got Mail.\" <\/p>\n
VR porn is growing in popularity. Or as it's called in 1993's \"Demolition Man\" -- \"digitized transference of sexual energies.\" <\/p>\n
From robotic vacuums to smart watches, Hollywood got these tech trends right <\/p>\n
Steven Spielberg's tech-heavy \"Minority Report,\" starring Tom Cruise, is now 15 years old. Considered one of the most prescient sci-fi movies to grace the big screen, it predicted multiple future innovations, including facial recognition, personalize advertising and predictive crime fighting. In honor of the movie's anniversary, click through here to revisit 18 more movies that accuratelypeered into the future of technology: <\/p>\n
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More here: <\/p>\n
Investors Bet More Than $800 Million on Augmented, Virtual Reality in Q2 - TheWrap<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" New data is backing up Erlich Bachmans recent claim on Silicon Valley that virtual reality is the frothiest space in the valley right now. Continue reading