The top AR and VR companies in the USA

 

1. Facebook/Oculus VR

Facebook shelled out $2 billion for Oculus even before the device shipped, which should indicate its potential. Unfortunately, it’s been a rough ride for Oculus, with lawsuits over contributions made by John Carmack, the highly respected gaming developer who left his game company to join Oculus. The game company’s parent company alleged his contributions were made while still an employee of his former employer. Plus, a plan to sell headsets in Best Buy fizzled, there were problems with early shipments of headsets and the company was dinged for locking games behind exclusive deals.

2. Google

Google started out in VR with a $15 headset made of cardboard called, what else, Google Cardboard. Cardboard is designed specifically for using VR apps on Android smartphones. It has since come out with a sturdier headset called Google Daydream View, which is similar to Google Cardboard in concept and will run you $79. You still put your phone in the headset and it functions as your display. The headset is primarily a pair of lenses that separate the screen into two images.

3. Microsoft HoloLens

Microsoft’s virtual reality headset is still in development but already expanding to include mixed reality, or augmented reality, where virtual images are superimposed over real-world objects. While HoloLens is still in development, Microsoft is showcasing an increasing number of both games and practical applications for the headset, such as architectural engineering and CAD design.

4. Magic Leap

Magic Leap is a very secretive startup that has raised over $1.5 billion in funding, so it has a lot to deliver. Its head-mounted virtual retinal display superimposes 3D computer-generated imagery over real-world objects by projecting a digital light field into the user’s eye. This allows for placing 3D objects in the user’s field of vision of the real world instead of a 100% virtual vision like other headsets. It still has yet to ship its product as of June 2017.

5. HTC Vive

Currently selling for a hefty $799, Vive is a complex system of a headset, two hand-held devices and sensors you place around your room so it can track your movements. HTC partnered with Valve to create “room-scale” games, so you don’t just sit on the couch to play the game, you get up and move around. The box comes with 16 different components, making setup a little daunting.

6. Samsung Gear VR

Samsung’s Gear VR was designed with Oculus as a consumer device for $199, and it works just with the newest generation of Samsung phones. In fact, you slide a Samsung phone into the headset holder and it acts as the computing device. The headset is meant for consumers and the only apps on it so far are games from third-tier developers.

7. WorldViz

WorldViz is a virtual reality company that makes 3D interactive and immersive visualization and simulation solutions aimed at universities, government institutions, and private business alike. Its software allows customers to build 3D models for product visualization, safety training, and architectural visualization. The company claims customers save about 90 percent of the costs involved in making real physical models by making full-sized virtual displays for layouts of buildings instead.

8. Apple

People are saying that if there’s one company which can truly place Virtual Reality at the desired position then it can be none other than the Great Apple. When Facebook acquired Oculus in 2014 then people were buzzing that Apple has missed the boat. You may find Apple’s name in this list of Leading Virtual Reality Companies to be a bit fictitious.

9. Magic Leap

Leaving apart some big names like Google, Microsoft, Sony, and Samsung, the entire VR market is being driven by Startups. Magic Leap is the most secretive one out of all Virtual Reality Companies! It has already grabbed millions of dollars in investments from Google, Alibaba and Qualcomm. Though not much information is available about its future business plans insider reports says it is involved in Mixed Reality.

10. Unity Technology

Unity Technologies is a San-Francisco based company, founded in

2004. It’s a leading developer of 3D Game technology. It provides an ultimate development platform for developing VR Games. Unity Technologies is the developer of Unity which is regarded as one of the most popular game engines till yet. As per Gartner, worldwide video game market is projected to reach $128 billion by 2017. More than 31% out of the 1000 grossing top mobile games use Unity. More than 600 million gaming aficionados throughout the world are playing games developed in Unity. It has over more than 4 million registered users.