Augmented reality is growing, thanks to Facebook. "The main point Mark Zuckerberg tried to get across in his Facebook F8 conference keynote was that we don’t need to wait for augmented reality glasses," writes Tech Crunch, which delves into the advantaves of AR over virtual reality

Like some other tech giants, Apple has been working on a self-driving car. One of its cars finally has been spotted on the road in California. Like other autonmous vehicles, this one has a roof full of technology to help guide it along. 

Virtual reality has been expanding well behond gaming and now it's even branched out into a hotel bar. The bar in the lobby of the Old Aldwych hotel in London now has the option of using a virtual reality headset to see how one of its cocktails is made and even virtually view the Scottish Highlands. 

Much talk of the future, at least as it relates to transportation, often involves the idea of self-driving cars. Now Uber is actually looking at the concept of a flying car. The four-passenger air vehicles would have to be tested, of course, as well as pass regulatoray muster., two very high bars.

Anyone interested in the life of Burt's Bees co-founder is getting the chance to see it in full virtual reality view. The company worked with Google to create a digital view of inside the Maine founder's lifestyle. The founder of Burt's Bees died in 2015 but his VR legacy lives on.

Innovation seems to have no boundaries around the Internet of Things. Now South Korea's LG has partnered with Kohler Novita to launch the country's first connected bidet. The electronic gadget can be controlled via remote control. Security presumably is built in.

Voice activated functions are rapidly expanding into cars. In the latest example, Mercedes-Benz plans to tap into digital voice assstants of both Amazon and Google. All new models now contain the capability, meaning car owners can use their home voice assistant to remotely lock or start ther car. Mercedes-Benz announced today that all of its 2016 and 2017 vehicles in the US can now connect with both Amazon and Google’s digital voice assistants. Starting today, Mercedes owners can instruct their Google Home or Amazon Echo to remotely start or lock their vehicles, as well as send addresses …

Driverless cars are coming but likely quite a ways down the road. Chipmaker Intel wants to be involved, at least as one of the many technology providers likely to be needed to make an entire system of autonomous driving work correctly.

The world of virtual reality keeps expanding to new limits. Now an amusement park in New Jersey is going to equip riders of its high-speed drop ride wiht VR goggles so they can experience something different as they drop at speeds of up to 90 miles an hour.

Google says its Home smart speaker can now distinguish between different voices. “Up to six people can link their Google accounts to one Home device, then train Google's Assistant to recognize their voices,” Engadget reports. “Once that's done, it'll be able to distinguish you from your spouse or other family members and give you pertinent info, like your schedule or traffic on your usual route.”