It’s Glowtime, said Apple, as it introduced the new iPhone 16. Notably, every model in the iPhone 16 series will support the forthcoming generative AI features coming to iOS 18, setting the stage for a major shift in how users interact with their devices. iOS 18 brings over 250 new features and changes, making the iPhone more personalized, capable, and intelligent. Key enhancements include systemwide writing tools powered by Apple Intelligence, new image capabilities, a more capable Siri with richer language understanding, enhanced customization options, and new privacy features like Locked and Hidden apps. Apple Intelligence will debut in beta with iOS 18.1 and initially be available only on newer iPhones, iPads, and Macs with M1 chips or later. This could significantly change how users interact with their devices.
Google has expanded its AI-powered virtual try-on tool to include dresses, allowing users to see how different styles will look on them using generative AI. Available on Google Shopping, this feature lets users visualize thousands of dresses from various brands on different body types. The AI adapts clothing to fit various sizes and shapes, making online shopping more personalized and interactive. Initially launched for tops, this expansion to dresses marks another step in Google’s effort to enhance the online shopping experience through technology, reducing uncertainty for consumers shopping for clothing online.
Gamified NFL Games Come to Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football broadcasts. New AI-driven features will allow viewers to predict blitzes and other plays. AI is integrated with the existing Next Gen Stats to give fans a deeper, more analytical view of the game, highlighting on-field action in real time. Amazon says these innovations are designed to make broadcasts more interactive and engaging, while also appealing to fans who want to understand the tactical elements of football better.
Mighty Coconut’s Walkabout Mini Golf is expanding across platforms, including Quest 3, PSVR 2, and iPhone. The mobile Pocket Edition aims to bridge VR and non-VR players, allowing cross-platform play with friends and family. The game maintains its core physics-based mini golf mechanics and offers new immersive features like “swing-to-putt” for iPhone users. In addition to platform growth, the game continues to release new courses, including upcoming collaborations with arts collective Meow Wolf. The iPhone version enhances accessibility, creating an experience where VR players and mobile users can seamlessly play together
Mighty Coconut has released its 28th course for Walkabout Mini-Golf, titled “Mars Gardens.” This course is set within a biodome on Mars, where players navigate a unique low-gravity environment while putting. Features include a Mars low-gravity toggle, a rideable rover, and a recreation of the Huygens impact crater. A new Discourse system provides additional lore and clues. Players can also access Martian and agrarian-themed avatars, an intractable soccer ball, and robot arms that manage the bio-dome.
Open AI has been giving select artists like Nice Aunties access to its long-form video GenAI tool Sora.
Filmmaker and tv commercial director Dave Clark used the latest Gen AI tools to create this tribute to the classic BMW advertising films that inspired him. “ I wanted to use the latest AI tools to see if we could create compelling branded film content,” wrote Clark, who teaches AI filmmaking courses for Curious Refuge. “I used the newest text-to-video AI model, Minimax, out of China, for most of the video. This test was to see how visually consistent I could prompt it. I used Midjourney, Runway, and Kling to help consistently thread some characters throughout the story. Lastly, I composed the synth wave track using Udio, which served the story’s overall tone.”
This column, formerly called “This Week in XR,” is also a podcast hosted by author Charlie Fink, Ted Schilowitz, former studio executive and co-founder of Red Camera, and Rony Abovitz, founder of Magic Leap. This week our guest is Liam Braza, CEO of Infinite Reality. We can be found on Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube.
