Augmented Reality – When we report on augmented reality it is typically on some new type of hardware concept that the user will devour. One of the key issues with augmented reality today is the lack of killer applications. Yes, I like the idea of navigation and video calls, but in all honesty these ideas are at least as old as the Dick Tracy cartoon (1961). Do we really have no new application idea to offer?
Here is where Magic Leap comes into play. Magic Leap is not necessarily on the radar of any news or market research company, as the company doesn’t make anything and even its website is vague at best about what the company is actually doing. Nevertheless, the website is worth a visit, as the home screen turns into a short video that shows you what the company is thinking about augmented reality. It’s worth a visit (Magic Leap).
As you can see in the following image, Magic Leap has a vivid imagination that could best be described as an entertainment level for augmented reality or as Magic Leap calls it, “cinematic reality”. The company says that it develops hardware and software, but there is no discrete information on what kind of hardware or software it is working on.
Source: Magic Leap
The company already had a $50 million funding round earlier this year and now re/code reports that there is talk of a $500 million investment round lead by Google. This is a lot of money for a company that doesn’t even have a product to show publicly yet. In comparison, Oculus at least showed the Rift publicly before Facebook bought the company.
When you watch the video on the website, it is easy to understand how this kind of technology, be it software or hardware or a combination of both, can easily change the minds of people when it comes to augmented reality. Such imagery, if done right could be spawning a lot of applications in gaming, education, interactivity, etc. May be we do not need a real holodeck, if we imagine one it may be good enough. – Norbert Hildebrand
