–Nintendo’s smash hit Pokémon Go is augmented reality’s first viral hit, blending the digital and physical world and exciting Silicon Valley players who are backing the technology. “We think it is a gateway to the whole new future we’re building,” said Magic Leap CEO. Via the Wall Street Journal.
–By percentage of users installing the app, catching Pokémon is already more popular with smartphone users than Netflix, Pandora, Twitter and Tinder. Via Fortune.
–Malls and restaurants are already using Pokémon Go to drive new foot traffic, while developer Niantic hopes to add location-oriented ads, says Motherboard. Meanwhile, The Next Web has found a clue that a McDonald’s partnership may be in the works.
–Dutch designer Iris van Herpen created a line for couture week in Paris based on visualizations of sound waves. The line also included a dress made from thousands of hand-blown glass bubbles intended to create a “bioluminescent prism around the body.” From Fashion and Mash.
–Ohlala, the “Uber for escorts” is already here. The Verge asks: “Will dating join the on-demand economy?”
–The Disney Channel’s first Latina princess, Elena of Avalor, makes her small-screen debut July 22, according to New York Magazine.
–New 3D cameras are “so tiny they can be injected into your brain,” and have fascinating potential for medicine and surveillance. Via Fast Company.
–The “world’s chicest cult” is also a highly Instagrammable lifestyle destination that celebrates “the feminine and ancestral ways,” writes Harpers Bazaar.
–Coverage of recent shootings in the US demonstrates the staggering potential of live-streaming video to overtake cable news. The New York Times investigates.
–Mattel is launching the first all-female, all-Barbie political ticket. Via the Wall Street Journal.
–The Atlantic‘s Julie Beck sets out to determine whether or not an app like Happify can actually improve one’s emotional state (spoiler alert: no).
–Meet the art student turning Alexander McQueen’s DNA into human leather goods. Via Dezeen.
–Low-alcohol beers are on the rise as consumers look for healthier beverage options, says Fortune.
–We’re all ears! Bustle explores the latest makeup trend of earlobe art.
–Lowe’s and Google are teaming up for an AR home makeover through an app that visualizes new furniture in your home. Fast Company investigates.
–New York City is getting a new museum: the Museum of Ice Cream. Via Eater.
–A San Francisco startup has engineered the first AI toy robot that even children can program, and Wired has the details.
