[WalterBlack]

Magic Leap's mysterious augmented reality headset is ready for a reality check

Quote:

After eight years, more than $2.3 billion in funding, and astronomical hype, Magic Leap is finally shipping its first augmented reality headset.

But only a few people will get one.

The Magic Leap One, Creator Edition will cost $2,295 and may disappoint anyone expecting the seamless blend of computer graphics and reality shown in the company's promotional videos.

That's because the Creator Edition is an early version created specifically for software developers, not consumers. The rig includes a set of black goggles with translucent lenses, a disk-shaped computer, and a hand-held controller. It's available only in a few cities, including New York, San Francisco, Los Angles and Seattle, and will be hand-delivered by someone who will help set it up. Think of it as an elite Geek Squad.

The system creates an altered, or augmented, version of the space around them, rather than the immersive computer-generated world of virtual reality headsets. The glasses project light into your eyes, creating the illusion of 3D objects inches or feet away. An early demo video showed a user holding a tiny (virtual) elephant in the palm of their (real) hand. The relatively small number of people who have tried it say the the technology excels at seamlessly combining the computer images with real-world settings.

Yet Magic Leap remains one of the most secretive tech companies in the United States. It has been very selective about who experiences its technology, preferring to release slick videos of what its "Magicverse" could look like. Technical details about how its "light field" technology works have also been in short supply.

None of that stopped investors from pouring money into the startup. In fact, it's probably part of its allure. In 2014, Google led a $542 million round of funding. Magic Leap raised another $793.5 million in 2016, and $502 billion in 2017. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia's investment fund put in $400 million. (CNNMoney's parent company AT&T announced an investment and content partnership in July, but did not disclose the terms.)

The company found itself with a $6 billion valuation, near mythical expectations, and, for the longest time, nothing to ship.

Until now.

"It feels like a pressure valve has been opened," said Stephanie Llamas, vice president of strategy at Super Data Research. "There are certainly concerns that the company is over-valued, but part of that sentiment comes from a resentment over their secrecy and early (misleading) marketing."

The Magic Leap One's specs are similar to those of Hololens, the augmented reality glasses Microsoft unveiled in 2015, says Brian Blau, a VR and AR analyst at Garnter. That leads him to believe it remains far less than what Magic Leap has been promising.

"When you compare them from a spec standpoint, all the billions that Magic Leap has taken in, all the fake videos they ever produced, all the hype they've generated is the equivalent to [Hololens]," Blau said. "They worked for four years and took a lot of money to build a somewhat inferior product to what the market is expecting today."

Still, he thinks the company can succeed, especially as the price comes down. Although $2,295 seems like a lot, it's comparable to what Microsoft charged for early HoloLens developer hardware. As for the Magic Leap hardware, Blau expects that to improve too. The Creator Edition is but the first step toward Magic Leap founder Rony Abovitz's vision.

That's also true of virtual reality headsets, which fully immerse the wearer in a virtual world and have not lived fully up to their own hype. Although consumer VR devices from Microsoft, HTC, and Facebook's Oculus are much more affordable at $200 to $800, they have not taken over living rooms as hoped. Shipments for commercially available AR and VR headsets dropped 30% over the past year, according to IDC.

Augmented reality devices, which show your surroundings and overlay virtual screens or objects, are going after a different market. The companies making them see killer applications in the business sector, where, say, factory workers or field technicians would have immediate access to information overlaid on their surroundings. Blau said venture capital investment has shifted away from VR headsets and content toward more business applications.

Early hands-on reports seem impressed with the potential of the technology, if not blown away by its current state. Hopefully that excitement can tide Magic Leap over until its next big release, and the ones after that.

"What they're striving for is a pretty good idea and will eventually live up to the visions, but that vision is many, many years in the future," Blau said.

What do you guys think of this? Would you buy one?

[Tactician]

Weesh Dudes think these Glasses are Projecting Light.

Instead, all They are Projecting is Soy.

I do Not even Know what the Fuck a "light field" Even is.

And I refuse to Look it up.

When I want to See a "light field" I go

And watch the Sunrise by a Village by the Sea

And feel the Power of the Sun, Moon, and Universe.

And bask in that Heavenly Glory.

Reality. The Original "Augmented Reality"

[torridon747]

G-g-mani-manifesto?

Did you come back to us under a different name?

[blck]

Will it be the new distraction in the normies life and the intelligence gathering companies new way of reading live data feeds ?

[Captainstabbin]

I like this tech. It has the potential to get people off their couches and start playing games actually moving around...outside even. You could play a shooter game with aliens crawling over neighborhood houses or zombies chasing you down the street or have a virtual tennis instructor or basketball coach (or any sport really) - my ideas aren't great but you get the idea. Anything that can get people up and moving around can't be all bad.

In time, maybe it will have a beer goggle mode to turn a 5 into a 10 so I'm not ashamed of who I brought home the night before.

[MrLemon]

This is the tech from Snow Crash. They got 2bn because all the investors are Neil Stephenson fans.

[TheFinalEpic]

Time for a reality check for this stuff. Heh pun intended.

Virtual reality was supposed to be the "next big thing" in technology, but it's still super niche, due to you needing a $500+ headset, and a computer that can support the graphics necessary. And, with the desktop market dying, this is not good news for VR. You already have to be a nerd and a half (like myself) to build a high end computer. Add another half grand and it's out of the question for most people.

Now, this headset is $2300. $2300?!?!? Who the fuck is buying this shit? You could do a hell of a lot to improve your real life for that much money. We're talking like years of gym membership here.

I pray this shit stays niche, because it's gay as fuck, all those idiots running around catching pokemon on their phones confirmed this.

Build a better reality, then you won't need a virtual one.

[Johnnyvee]

(08-09-2018 12:44 AM)WalterBlack Wrote:  

Magic Leap's mysterious augmented reality headset is ready for a reality check

Quote:

After eight years, more than $2.3 billion in funding, and astronomical hype, Magic Leap is finally shipping its first augmented reality headset.

But only a few people will get one.

The Magic Leap One, Creator Edition will cost $2,295 and may disappoint anyone expecting the seamless blend of computer graphics and reality shown in the company's promotional videos.

That's because the Creator Edition is an early version created specifically for software developers, not consumers. The rig includes a set of black goggles with translucent lenses, a disk-shaped computer, and a hand-held controller. It's available only in a few cities, including New York, San Francisco, Los Angles and Seattle, and will be hand-delivered by someone who will help set it up. Think of it as an elite Geek Squad.

The system creates an altered, or augmented, version of the space around them, rather than the immersive computer-generated world of virtual reality headsets. The glasses project light into your eyes, creating the illusion of 3D objects inches or feet away. An early demo video showed a user holding a tiny (virtual) elephant in the palm of their (real) hand. The relatively small number of people who have tried it say the the technology excels at seamlessly combining the computer images with real-world settings.

Yet Magic Leap remains one of the most secretive tech companies in the United States. It has been very selective about who experiences its technology, preferring to release slick videos of what its "Magicverse" could look like. Technical details about how its "light field" technology works have also been in short supply.

None of that stopped investors from pouring money into the startup. In fact, it's probably part of its allure. In 2014, Google led a $542 million round of funding. Magic Leap raised another $793.5 million in 2016, and $502 billion in 2017. Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia's investment fund put in $400 million. (CNNMoney's parent company AT&T announced an investment and content partnership in July, but did not disclose the terms.)

The company found itself with a $6 billion valuation, near mythical expectations, and, for the longest time, nothing to ship.

Until now.

"It feels like a pressure valve has been opened," said Stephanie Llamas, vice president of strategy at Super Data Research. "There are certainly concerns that the company is over-valued, but part of that sentiment comes from a resentment over their secrecy and early (misleading) marketing."

The Magic Leap One's specs are similar to those of Hololens, the augmented reality glasses Microsoft unveiled in 2015, says Brian Blau, a VR and AR analyst at Garnter. That leads him to believe it remains far less than what Magic Leap has been promising.

"When you compare them from a spec standpoint, all the billions that Magic Leap has taken in, all the fake videos they ever produced, all the hype they've generated is the equivalent to [Hololens]," Blau said. "They worked for four years and took a lot of money to build a somewhat inferior product to what the market is expecting today."

Still, he thinks the company can succeed, especially as the price comes down. Although $2,295 seems like a lot, it's comparable to what Microsoft charged for early HoloLens developer hardware. As for the Magic Leap hardware, Blau expects that to improve too. The Creator Edition is but the first step toward Magic Leap founder Rony Abovitz's vision.

That's also true of virtual reality headsets, which fully immerse the wearer in a virtual world and have not lived fully up to their own hype. Although consumer VR devices from Microsoft, HTC, and Facebook's Oculus are much more affordable at $200 to $800, they have not taken over living rooms as hoped. Shipments for commercially available AR and VR headsets dropped 30% over the past year, according to IDC.

Augmented reality devices, which show your surroundings and overlay virtual screens or objects, are going after a different market. The companies making them see killer applications in the business sector, where, say, factory workers or field technicians would have immediate access to information overlaid on their surroundings. Blau said venture capital investment has shifted away from VR headsets and content toward more business applications.

Early hands-on reports seem impressed with the potential of the technology, if not blown away by its current state. Hopefully that excitement can tide Magic Leap over until its next big release, and the ones after that.

"What they're striving for is a pretty good idea and will eventually live up to the visions, but that vision is many, many years in the future," Blau said.

What do you guys think of this? Would you buy one?

I think this very exciting news. I don`t know why I always have to repeat the fact that; all technology-innovative products start of expensive, and then get progressively cheaper. (If they catch on that is) But you need the wealthy to buy in first. If this wasn`t the case you wouldn`t even have a phone, computer, air travel, automobiles etc.

But obviously the technology is far from being mature enough to really become mainstream yet. I think that full immersion VR, if it ever arrives, will pretty much change the world as we know it. For good and for bad perhaps.

[balybary]

I can live without an AR Headset in my daily life and I never play video games.

But if I can commercialize a usefull AR software I would be very happy.

It's like a new frontier to explore for business.

On a side note, many young men will have their brain fryed with AR/VR porn. For most men it takes a lot of effort to get laid, and in the future young men will "fuck" any AR/VR beauty of their choice. So many of them will stick to virtual sex.

[Johnnyvee]

(08-09-2018 02:28 PM)balybary Wrote:  

I can live without an AR Headset in my daily life and I never play video games.

But if I can commercialize a usefull AR software I would be very happy.

It's like a new frontier to explore for business.

On a side note, many young men will have their brain fryed with AR/VR porn. For most men it takes a lot of effort to get laid, and in the future young men will "fuck" any AR/VR beauty of their choice. So many of them will stick to virtual sex.

Yeah, and they`re already growing muscle and skin (routinely) in vitro in labs. The first cloned hamburger has been produced this way, and safely consumed.

So if you combine full immersion VR with lab grown muscle, skin and fat cells etc...well you can produce a synthetic "living" vagina that has all the properties of the real thing. Except for the STD`s! Sounds a bit crazy, but at least the thirsty men problem would disappear overnight with such technologies. Might even improve things for guys who prefer real women, as they would have to get their act together.

[Ozzymandius]

Magic Leap is completely underwhelming based on their last 2-3 years of constant hype. It's only a slight improvement on the already 2-year old Microsoft Hololens.

AR certainly has potential but likely needs another 10 years to be even remotely interesting for the average consumer.

VR on the other hand, is already interesting for anyone that's tried it. Personally, I LOVE VR, even with all the shortcomings of these generation 1 headsets. Games like Obduction, Solos Project and even experiences like Google Earth VR blow me away. I really feel like I am in a different world, even with the screen door effect.

Can't wait for Gen 2 VR headsets (likely in 2020). Gen 2 will likely eliminate 90% of the shortcomings. I will buy one for sure. Will wait until 2030 or so before buying an AR headset.

[loremipsum]

(08-09-2018 02:00 PM)TheFinalEpic Wrote:  

Time for a reality check for this stuff. Heh pun intended.

Virtual reality was supposed to be the "next big thing" in technology, but it's still super niche, due to you needing a $500+ headset, and a computer that can support the graphics necessary. And, with the desktop market dying, this is not good news for VR. You already have to be a nerd and a half (like myself) to build a high end computer. Add another half grand and it's out of the question for most people.

Now, this headset is $2300. $2300?!?!? Who the fuck is buying this shit? You could do a hell of a lot to improve your real life for that much money. We're talking like years of gym membership here.

I pray this shit stays niche, because it's gay as fuck, all those idiots running around catching pokemon on their phones confirmed this.

Build a better reality, then you won't need a virtual one.

Oh I'm sure they'll create a way for it go get cheaper.
And it might involve even a free chip to your hand!
What a deal!