Google backed Magic Leap, the future of Augmented Reality ?

Adam Milton-Barker | Mar 21, 2015 | Virtual, Mixed & Augmented Reality | 2538

 

Google backed Magic Leap is a company based in Florida, USA that appear to be pioneering augmented reality technology. They have released a very cool video that possibly shows the capabilities of their headset entitled "Just another day in the office at Magic Leap". The video starts in a first person view of a user opening up YouTube and opening GMail, checking their emails in a carousel type application before swiping the app shut. The user chooses a games option from another virtual menu then chooses Victory, by Dr Grordbort, an Aether Oscillator manufacturer. Once the game loads you see an assortment of ray guns on a near by desk from which the user selects a gun and issues a test shot before starting the game and robots begin to jump out and attack them. After picking up a few bonuses and a special weapon the user successfully blasts away all the robots, but not without having some of their own blood shed. Just when the user thinks he is safe, out comes a massive tank crashing through the wall and after a few feeble attempts to blow up the tank with the hand sized ray gun, the tank lets out a blast and the video fades out to the logo screen and ends. There is much skepticism about the authenticity of the video as you can see from the YouTube comments. There is very little information about the project to be found on the net. Although the video description states that "This is a game we’re playing around the office right now (no robots were harmed in the making of this video).”, no one actually knows if the video is a demo of the actual technology that Magic Leap has created, or if it is just a promotional video of things to come. Although the game aspect is very impressive, as a developer and not a game player, it isn't that aspect that I am particularly interested in. The potential of this augmented reality hardware and software is massive! With the ability to load applications in thin air and virtually move them around and control them, this technology will without a doubt change the way we live and work immensely, another example of how technology previously only seen in the movies is now becoming reality. As the website states, they are certainly being very secretive about their progress, but if this video is anything to go by, what is coming will be world changing. I look forward to finding out more about the project and seeing more footage in the future! Check out the video to see for yourself just how powerful this technology will be.