Magic Leap
Yahooo is working on a virtual reality product. So, it should come as no surprise that Google (et al) is working on one too, or at least investing in one to the tune of half a billion dollars. To get an idea of what the investors are thinking check out this video. In the video below, you never see the scare, just the reactions.
In the video the people know they are in VR. Imagine putting on augmented reality glasses, a Google thing already, and having the scary monster in the room with you…
Cierra Anatine, at SLUniverse, points readers to an article about that project. The article has quotes from people in tech and entertainment. I think they have been reading the comments about Oculus Rift and are subconsciously quoting… all sounds very familiar.
You can follow Magic Leap, Inc. on Twitter, #MagicLeap. This is the company where the investment money is going. Their open positions/people wanted is impressive.
Richard Taylor, co-founder of Weta Workshop, best known for its works on the Lord of the Rings films, and now on Magic Leap’s board, says about Magic Leap’s technology, “What [Magic Leap CEO] Rony [Abovitz] and the Magic Leap team have created is nothing short of remarkable and will forever change the way we interact with images and information,” said Taylor, who is now on Magic Leap’s board of directors. Continuing, “We are now at the threshold of giving people a dynamic image interface that harmonizes with their senses in a completely natural way…”
Speculation is Magic Leap will be building a platform more than a product… does that mean a creative space? I don’t get that impression from the rumor mill. No one is going there. People also speculate it will use glasses and be somewhat augmented reality.
The home page of the Magic Leap site has a cute video that may give some idea of what the company and investors are thinking..
Of course for us there is the question of how this will affect Second Life and SL2/SLNG? There are no answers, only speculation. I think the tech is very ambitious. That means it will take some time to develop. It appears they are going for cinematic quality and usually means professionally made content with a very high degree of polish. To me that suggests we will see SL2 well before we see Magic Leap’s VR or augmented reality. But…
Whatever it is, it isn’t going to happen for a long time. I don’t think it will be all that commercially friendly verses the Oculus Rift, as they’ve boasted about not using “off the shelf parts”