Our round-up of interesting immersive news this week

1. Snap chat has reported record engagement levels during the current pandemic.  Video, voice calls and group chat have seen a dramatic increase in time spent with AR often being incorporated during calls.  The social platform has also seen increased ad engagement compared to last month which is good news for advertisers. Engagement with AR lenses is also up 25% month on month which offers advertisers and publishers another way to engage and entertain consumers as they are stuck at home during lockdown.
   
   Users are looking to stay informed during the current crisis leading to big increases in traffic to news and financial sites. Ladbible is one of the publishers who are making the most of this and using their influence to remind users to #stayathome during lock down with their Snap lens which went live last week. More here

2. Another week, another Apple AR rumour. This one seems to have a little more weight behind it as news spreads that Apple Inc are close to acquiring NEXTVR a specialist in live events in VR for $100m.  The motivation behind the move is said to be NEXTVR’s technology that upscales video streams, but apparently they also hold more than 40 other technology patents. Watch this space!

3. Is lockdown playing havoc with your love life? Casie Milhouse a VR/AR enthusiast living in lockdown in Singapore has turned to VR to find love during the coronavirus.  During her 8 week challenge, Casie will be having 2 hour dates in VR. Find out more and schedule your date here

4. Pokemon Go creators Niantic have acquired 6d.ai and they will move forward together to build ‘a dynamic 3D map of the works so we can enable new kinds of planet-scale AR experiences’. According to Matt Miesnieks, 6D.ai CEO, ‘this is just the beginning of making our vision for the AR cloud a reality’. Exciting news - read more here

5. Last week Japanese footwear brand asics held its latest sneaker launch in VR for the first time. The launch was due to take place in Tokyo but instead, the company recreated the presentation in VR invited journalists from around the world to join them in VR, shipping Oculus Quests to those who needed one. In the current global pandemic, will we see more brands turn to VR and AR for branded experiences?

Feeling inspired? If you want to get started in the immersive space, we can help you find the best AR/VR/XR creators to help. Whether it's for an AR effect for social media or a full scale VR training solution we have someone who can help. Visit Blend Market for more information or get in touch hello@blend.media