This is notable not just because of Neal Stephenson, but because his blog post contains what I think is the most detailed public description of the tech so far:<p>---
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.<p>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.<p>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.
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This Gizmodo article does a great job of demystifying MagicLeap's tech by digging into the founder's background, patent filings, and trademark applications:<p><a href="http://gizmodo.com/how-magic-leap-is-secretly-creating-a-new-alternate-rea-1660441103?utm_content=bufferb8afe&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer" rel="nofollow">http://gizmodo.com/how-magic-leap-is-secretly-creating-a-new...</a>
That's cool and all, but this has got to be one of the worst company websites I've seen recently. I get that they're stealthy, but this doesn't even build any interest.<p>It was only until I clicked "Wizards Wanted" (yes, I get it. Magic.) that I sort of got an answer.<p>Edit: Actually, the Developers section has some more information. But my point still stands.
Will he bring as much success to this company and he did with Clang? <a href="http://www.geek.com/games/neal-stephensons-526000-kickstarter-sword-fighting-game-officially-canceled-1604892/" rel="nofollow">http://www.geek.com/games/neal-stephensons-526000-kickstarte...</a>
Interesting hire. As a startup it seems an unlikely one, Neal is a wonderful author, and has a sharp wit, but as he explains "his brain is not useful" to the work at hand. I could see <i>consulting</i> with him, but hiring him struck me as odd. In terms of what Magic Leap purportedly does my guess would be that Daniel Suarez (Daemon, Freedom) might be a better choice in terms of a vision that applies somewhat directly.
Anyone else enjoy the fact that Stephenson's 'Reamde' also featured a hightech VR company that employed famous fiction authors in their staff :)
So they are a holographic augmented reality company?<p>From their site:<p>>Imagine being able to generate images indistinguishable from real objects and then being able to place those images seamlessly into the real world.<p>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).<p>It will be interesting to see what they cook up.
"...to produce a synthesized light field that falls upon the retina in the same way as light reflected from real objects in your environment"<p>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).<p>This is interesting, I have an idea of how it might work:<p>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.<p>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.
This quote "I sometimes feel that the creative minds who make games have done about as much as is possible in two dimensions. It’s hard to imagine how the current crop of games, for example, could be more finely tuned to deliver that particular kind of entertainment." isn't particular inspiring coming from a Chief Futurist. I can imagine a ton of 2D (or text based, for that matter) games that haven't been attempted let alone perfected. I also feel like I play new novel 2D games all the time.<p>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.
There's more information here if anyone is interested:<p><a href="http://io9.com/how-neal-stephenson-is-helping-to-make-snow-crashs-meta-1671621178" rel="nofollow">http://io9.com/how-neal-stephenson-is-helping-to-make-snow-c...</a>
Hrm. I hope he doesn't get distracted from writing books. I love his books, but don't care much about video games. I wonder if he's tired of writing, or just wants to do something different...
<i>"I sometimes feel that the creative minds who make games have done about as much as is possible in two dimensions. It’s hard to imagine how the current crop of games, for example, could be more finely tuned to deliver that particular kind of entertainment."</i><p>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.
It's too bad the economic incentives make this company take a stealth route. The problem is so large, and potentially so game-changing (both literally and figuratively) that I fail to see how one company could possibly capture all the value created, and it makes me sad that it would even try.
Step away from goggles, glasses, etc. Start thinking about contact lenses and optical implants - the kind of stuff that requires FDA approval - medical devices - then the amount of funding and interest they have received becomes instantly much more credible, and makes much more sense.
For anybody curious about Magic Leap, I highly recommend this TED talk by the company's founder Rony Abovitz:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8J5BWL8oJY" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8J5BWL8oJY</a><p>It starts off kinda weird, you gotta give it a few minutes.
I literally have no clue what Magic Leap does after reading through a few pages on their site. It's pretty absurd IMO to have a site like this that says so much but says so little. Honestly, why bother at this point?
Did this "revolutionary startup hires top SF writer" thing ever happen before? If so, how it turn out last time(s)?<p>I hope it doesn't end up like the whole "revolutionary CPU maker hires Linus" thing.
> <i>We know what you're thinking: "Who the heck are we?"</i><p>Well, no, I'm thinking, who the hell are <i>they</i>. And I can't seem to figure it out from your website.
Stephenson is a fairly well respected futurist.<p>The Magic Leap technology involves light field projection - kind of like the opposite of light field photography if you remember the Lytro camera.