--- Here’s where you’re probably expecting the sales pitch about how mind-blowingly awesome the demo was. But it’s a little more interesting than that. Yes, I saw something on that optical table I had never seen before--something that only Magic Leap, as far as I know, is capable of doing. And it was pretty cool. But what fascinated me wasn’t what Magic Leap had done but rather what it was about to start doing.
Magic Leap is mustering an arsenal of techniques--some tried and true, others unbelievably advanced--to produce a synthesized light field that falls upon the retina in the same way as light reflected from real objects in your environment. Depth perception, in this system, isn’t just a trick played on the brain by showing it two slightly different images.
Most of the work to be done is in applied physics, with a sizable dollop of biology--for there’s no way to make this happen without an intimate understanding of how the eye sees, and the brain assembles a three-dimensional model of reality. I’m fascinated by the science, but not qualified to work on it. Where I hope I can be of use is in thinking about what to do with this tech once it is available to the general public. "Chief Futurist" runs the risk of being a disembodied brain on a stick. I took the job on the understanding that I would have the opportunity to get a few things done. ---
I think that there's a presumption (that I've shared) that Magic Leap is trying to make AR goggles or glasses. But, as has been extensively commented upon in the past, that's just crazy. We're just barely at the point of doing semi-decent VR (Oculus Rift) and just barely at the point of doing semi-decent wearable heads-up displays (Google Glass). The idea that Magic Leap could in any foreseeable timeframe create a device that has all the virtues of the Rift + Glass + A huge dose of additional technology on top of both is just laughable.
But if they're trying for something much heavier-weight, like the ability to create convincing illusions not in the form-factor of "some goggles," but rather, "a specially prepared room and table," then that's maybe a little more realistic -- and of course less obviously revolutionary.
An "optical table" is to optical technologies as a solderless breadboard is to electronics.
Basically, it's a big, stable platform with lots of threaded holes of a standard size and pitch for attaching lasers, mirrors, etc. Most have some kind of pneumatic isolation or damping to keep vibrations from being transmitted from the floor. Things like interference phenomena are sensitive to displacements of a few nanometers, so you really don't want things like passing trucks to ruin your experiments!
Examples here: http://www.newport.com/Optical-Table-Selection-Guide/140219/...
probably because they's explicitly what they've claimed they're working on in their recent funding announcement. The CEO described their product as a "lightweight wearable".
Wikipedia suggests that he's a sci-fi author, is there a particular reason for his fame, could you recommend some of his works?
The Baroque Cycle for a semi-fictional view of the beginnings of science - the Newton and Hooke era.
Anathem for an interesting take on the philosophy of science disguised as a sci-fi epic.
http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html
Warning: written fifteen years ago, also really long.
I'd recommend his "Mother Earth Mother Board" article (more like a small book, be warned) as the definitive tome on the physical reality of how the Internet is held together across the world: http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass.html
Google Earth was heavily influenced by ideas in his books.
The Kindle was codenamed "Fiona", after Fiona Hackworth, a character in one of his books who uses a super-duper e-book.
Gizmodo would beg to differ: http://gizmodo.com/how-magic-leap-is-secretly-creating-a-new...
I was recently pulled into the wormhole of present day speculations (science??) on this. And wow, sounds like what they are working on may yield real, new understanding on cognition and consciousness.
One of the entertaining reads: "Space, self, and the theater of consciousness" by Trehub http://people.umass.edu/trehub/YCCOG828%20copy.pdf
http://gizmodo.com/how-magic-leap-is-secretly-creating-a-new...
It was only until I clicked "Wizards Wanted" (yes, I get it. Magic.) that I sort of got an answer.
Edit: Actually, the Developers section has some more information. But my point still stands.
Two utilitarian sentences on what your thing is, and then all the literate prose you can produce. But gimme those two sentences.
I wonder how far they are away from going to market? 24 months minimum?
From their site:
>Imagine being able to generate images indistinguishable from real objects and then being able to place those images seamlessly into the real world.
Sounds like you generate a hologram anywhere. And project it into the real world. Think Star Trek holodeck, but everywhere, or anywhere from what they are selling. And the holograms they're projecting would be almost indistinguishable from other objects (I highly doubt that honestly, subsurface reflection takes A LOT of processor horse power with 1 view alone n).
It will be interesting to see what they cook up.
Note that this effect is why 99% of the content in feature-length 3d movies appears at an apparent distance of more than 10 feet from you; the amount that accommodation falls off rapidly with distance, so it's a much less strong effect at that distance.
Guess it plans to sell hype.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/2013/1019/Inventions-tha...
(Source: if you read EVERY page on their mysterious web site, you can eventually suss it out)
Goes back to Carmack's idea presented in one of his Quakecon sessions (although obviously the idea has been in sci fi for a long time).
This is interesting, I have an idea of how it might work:
Producing a synthesized light field could be done with a huge array of tiny mirrors or refractive material (I know stuff like this has been done in the past). By simulating directional rays coming in, I'm guessing your eyes could be tricked into thinking there is depth since the movement of each eye would change the amount of light absorbed (i.e. "focusing" on different objects in the light field). I could be wrong about this, have not thought it through very well.
All that said, they've raised over $500 million from Google Ventures and others, so I'm guessing there is something here, as lacking as the website is.
I say this as someone that is excited about VR, AR and would love to see whatever Magic Leap is cooking up, and is a huge Neal Stephenson fan.
http://io9.com/how-neal-stephenson-is-helping-to-make-snow-c...
Well PCs powerful enough for proper amount of voxels would let us do interesting things. Dwarf Fortress with a voxel-based high-res graphics could be interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8J5BWL8oJY
It starts off kinda weird, you gotta give it a few minutes.
I hope it doesn't end up like the whole "revolutionary CPU maker hires Linus" thing.
There, it ends up precipitating a gigantic MMO war.
Well, no, I'm thinking, who the hell are they. And I can't seem to figure it out from your website.
The Magic Leap technology involves light field projection - kind of like the opposite of light field photography if you remember the Lytro camera.
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/another-kickstarter-game-bi...
I mean, I hear you, but this is more like Arthur C. Clarke joining a spaceflight organization. Yes, he's coming at it from a different direction, but plainly he's got some valid ideas because other people keep implementing them, directly or otherwise.
