Samsung Shuts Down Bixby AR

Recall we looked at Bixby closely here for assistant capabilities in appliance domains. And in particular noted the blending of AR capabilities, though saw no practical examples.   Notable move here.   Still the integration of AR and assistance  functionality should be worthwhile.

Samsung Shutting Down Bixby Vision AR Features After Staff Cuts  By Eric Hal Schwartz in Voicebot

Samsung is shutting down Bixby Vision, the augmented reality feature of its voice assistant. Pulling up Bixby Vision on the camera prompts a notice about a change in the service saying Samsung will end support for the AR features at the end of October. The end of AR is the latest indicator of Samsung’s shifting plans for Bixby during staff layoffs.

BIXBY AR   The augmented reality aspects of Bixby Vision included the ability to measure objects, simulate wearing makeup or placing furniture in a room, and creating AR versions of emoji and stickers. Those are the capabilities that Bixby Vision will no longer offer at the end of the month. Other aspects of Bixby Vision will still work, like the text reader, translator, and the accessibility feature that describes a room for people with impaired vision. The voice commands related to the remaining Bixby Vision features appear to be staying in place as well.

Though it may not be directly related, it’s hard not to see the AR shutdown in the context of Samsung’s decision to close down the Bixby developer marketing team at the end of September. That team worked to recruit Bixby capsule developers, which could include Bixby Vision features. In turn, that news followed stories of other Bixby departures, including Voicebot’s exclusive report from July that Adam Cheyer, Viv Labs co-founder, and Samsung vice president leading Bixby development, had left the company.

VIV LIVES  At the same time, as Bixby’s focus seems to be narrowing, Viv Labs, the acquisition from which Bixby was born, seems to be surviving. Viv still supports a team of engineers and developer recruiters. Still, Bixby deciding to limit its features adds another layer to the rumors of the voice assistant’s possible demise or absorption by Google Assistant ... ' 

Note also: Samsung  Dropping Bixby in favor of Google Assistant.