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We’ve got almost a full year until the next installment of Ghostbusters arrives, but in the meantime, it turns out that Sony is about to launch an augmented reality experience that will let fans use immersive computing to combat the franchise’s whimsical apparitions.
Starting this Saturday, fans who can make it to Tokyo, Japan will be able to play “Ghostbusters Rookie Training” using head-mounted AR devices.
The location-based experience will use a prototype AR headset from Sony, as well as assorted accessories, to give users the power to explore a real-world setting populated by virtual ghosts and demons.
But instead of putting users in a classic single-player situation, the users will all have to work together to accomplish a series of Ghostbuster-related tasks, all while communicating with each other throughout the AR location-based gaming space.
(1) Players in Tokyo demonstrating the AR game, (2) A replica of the Ghostbuster Proton pack, (3) Scene from the promotional video.Images via Ginza Sony Park
And in case there’s any doubt about the depth of the experience, would-be players should be warned that each program is about an hour-long, so only truly devoted Ghostbusters fans should even think of giving this a try.
But that hour-long commitment might be worth it even for non-fans since there’s apparently an appearance by the infamous evil Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
Sony hasn’t posted much information about how the prototype AR headset works, but based on the video demonstrations the headset appears to use high-end waveguides, which “might” put the headset in the same general class as devices like the HoloLens and the Magic Leap One.
Along with the headset, there are other Ghostbuster-specific props included in the experience that may or may not be interactive controllers of some sort.
Aside from the Ghostbusters experience, Sony is apparently using the prototype on a couple of other experiences. One experience puts users in an interactive museum of ’60s memorabilia, and the other experience appears to be a concept for an outdoor interactive art project.
Several scenes in the other concept videos indicate that the headset may also include advanced hand tracking, along with attached earbuds and a large back-mounted module that looks like it might house a battery and some of the device’s computing components.
Players can be virtually splashed by a whale and chat with a hobbit. Credits: Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand is taking tourism promotion to the tabletop with a new augmented reality board game.
The Air New Zealand Fact or Fantasy Game of New Zealand sees players wear Magic Leap One headsets to view and interact with a 3D map of Aotearoa.
Using Magic Leap technology, users can virtually watch the growth of a kauri tree, interact with a rather grumpy hobbit and get splashed by a breaching whale.
The game was on display at the first L.E.A.P conference in Los Angeles this week.
Magic Leap’s technology works by layering digital objects onto the real world so that light enters the eye as it would with a real object. This means users can see detail both up close and from afar.
Air NZ has been working with the creative team at Framestore for the last 18 months to create its board game.
The airline’s Jodi Williams says it’s important Air NZ continues to discover new technologies to improve the customer experience.
“By getting in early and being both a developer and creator, we have been able to test and learn, creating an incredible platform,” she says.
Ms Williams also says the Magic Eye technology may be used to “reframe customers’ perceptions of the physical cabin environment”.
The Air New Zealand Fact or Fantasy Game of New Zealand can be played by four people and is aimed at educating and promoting New Zealand as a destination.
Unlike VR, when you’re talking about augmented reality, describing what an experience is like can be incredibly difficult — primarily because the experiences are even more contextual than relatively static virtual worlds that don’t involve real-world settings.
In AR, everything is about how “you” see things interacting with your real environment. Such is the case with what I’m calling the most important demonstration of Magic Leap technology to date in the form of an AI assistant called Mica.
Together, the team described a world in which a Magic Leap user will be able to interact with intelligent assistants in the form of fully realized augmented reality humans that can recognize your position in a room, as well as items in that room. Having mapped the area and your position within it, the AI assistant will then interact with you to help you do any number of things.
For example, as detailed in the presentation, the AI assistant might scan the Magic Leap One wearer’s eyes to detect his mood and then suggest an appropriate song to play through the home’s music system. Similarly, the AI assistant my access the Magic Leap One user’s preferences to adjust things such a the level of light in a room at a certain time of day.
We’re already becoming accustomed to such interactions on the audio plane via digital assistants like Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home, and, to a lesser extent, Apple’s Siri. But what Magic Leap is describing is putting an even more robust and responsive version of such a digital assistant in the form of a human that inhabits the same space as you, thus taking the assistant metaphor to its highest level. It sounds and looks a bit like science fiction, but it’s not.
What Magic Leap is describing is so close to reality, the company now feels comfortable enough to offer demonstrations of a rudimentary version of the dynamic at work with the Magic Leap One in conjunction with its intelligent assistant Mica.
The result is a stunning experience that takes AR into brand new and exciting territory.
I met Mica for the first time earlier this week. And if you get a chance to meet her, she will fundamentally change how your view the Magic Leap One and augmented reality in general.
When Magic Leap’s team brought me into an empty room hidden deep in the bowels of an LA event center, I didn’t know what to expect. The space was designed to look like a normal room, complete with a table, two chairs, and other furniture situated around the table. Nothing looked particularly futuristic or tech-enabled, so I wasn’t expecting much. Wow, was I wrong.
Upon donning the Magic Leap One, I’m greeted by a virtual woman (Mica) sitting at the very real wooden table. Then, Mica, with an inviting smile, gestures for me to join her and sit in the chair opposite her. I oblige, and then a very weird interaction begins — she starts smiling at me, seemingly looking for a reaction.
I’ll admit, I deliberately avoided smiling (though it was really hard, Mica seems so nice) and kept a poker face in an attempt to see if I could somehow throw the experience off by not doing the expected, that is, returning the smile.
Undaunted, Mica continued to look into my eyes and go through a series of “emotions” that, surprisingly, made me feel a bit guilty about being so stoic.
It’s at this point that I should mention that she doesn’t speak yet, so all of our interactions were conducted in silence, and instead of using words, she communicated using gestures, eye moments, and various body language. At first, I thought this might be a limitation, but retrospect, I think this served to make the experience even more impactful.
That would have been enough to mildly impress me, but what came next was the kicker. She then pointed to a real wooden picture frame on the table, gesturing for me to hang it on a pin on the wall next to us. I did as asked, and… it was the eurekamoment. This was a virtual human sitting at a real world table and she just got me to change something in the real world based on her direction.
But then it got better. Once I’d hung the empty frame, Mica got up (she’s about five feet six inches tall) and began writing a message inside the frame, which in context looked about as real as if an actual person had begun writing on the space.
Alas, I don’t remember what the message was (honestly, I was too blown away by what was happening), but I’m assuming it was somewhat profound, as Mica then looked to me in a way that seemed to ask that I consider the meaning of the message. After a few beats, the life-sized, augmented reality human walked out of the room. But she didn’t just disappear into a wall in a flurry of sparkly AR dust. Instead, she walked behind a real wall in the room leading to a hallway. It was a subtle but powerful touch that increased the realism of the entire interaction.
As I said earlier, it’s incredibly difficult to describe just how profound this experience was, but if and when it’s made available to the public, you’ll be doing yourself a grave disservice if you pass the opportunity up. `
I’ve been trying to think of tool or app that would compel me to wear the Magic Leap One for an entire day. And while I’ve had the device for months now, I haven’t been able to think of anything that would get me to wear it beyond one hour spurts of activity. That’s all changed now. Although battery life and the experience itself aren’t quite ready for such rigorous and extended use, I could easily see coming home and slipping on the Magic Leap One for the rest of the night if it meant having access to such a fully realized AI assistant such as Mica.
After meeting Mica, I have no doubt that this is what the virtual assistant future will look like for most people in the very near future. It’s not assured that it will be Magic Leap that delivers it, but whichever company does, I think it’s safe to say that Magic Leap was first to show us that future in this particular way, and it’s incredible.
Magic Leap One, in vendita nel 2018, è un sistema per la realtà mista con occhiali (Lightwear), computer portatile (Lightpack) e controller (Control).
La startup, fondata nel 2010 e finanziata da vari investitori, tra cui Google e Qualcomm, ha finalmente svelato il suo sistema per la mixed reality. Magic Leap One è composto da tre parti, una coppia di occhiali, un piccolo computer e un controller. L’azienda ha usato il termine “Creator Edition” per indicare il target principale, ovvero gli sviluppatori di contenuti. L’avveniristico gadget arriverà sul mercato nel corso del 2018.
Il lavoro di Magic Leap è rimasto un mistero per molti anni. Nessuno aveva mai visto un prototipo, fino all’inizio di febbraio, tanto da far nascere dubbi sulle capacità del visore. Nonostante ciò, l’azienda ha ricevuto quasi 2 miliardi di dollari e raggiunto una valutazione di 6 miliardi di dollari. Quello annunciato oggi è il sistema di nona generazione, la prima che sarà disponibile al pubblico. Come detto, Magic Leap One è formato da tre componenti: Lightwear, Lightpack e Control.
Lightwear sono smart glass leggeri e confortevoli che verranno offerti in due dimensioni e potranno essere utilizzati anche insieme agli occhiali da vista. Per creare il mondo virtuale e inserire gli oggetti digitali nel mondo reale vengono sfruttate diverse tecnologie per la mappatura dell’ambiente e il tracciamento della posizione. La tecnologia Digital Lightfield permette di generare una luce digitale a differenti profondità che si fonde con la luce naturale, in modo da ingannare il cervello e consentire all’utente di vedere oggetti virtuali. Negli occhiali sono integrate sei videocamere, due altoparlanti e quattro microfoni.
Lightwear è collegato a Lightpack, un piccolo computer di forma circolare che può essere fissato alla cintura del pantalone. All’interno ci sono vari componenti, tra cui CPU, GPU e batteria, ma non sono note le specifiche complete. Il CEO Rony Abovitz ha dichiarato solo che la potenza è simile a quella di un MacBook Pro e un PC Alienware. Control è infine il controller con feedback aptico e sei gradi di libertà.
Magic Leap One supporta diversi tipi di input, tra cui gesture, comandi vocali e tracciamento oculare. Il sistema sarà disponibile all’inizio del 2018 insieme a tutto l’occorrente per gli sviluppatori (SDK, tool e documentazione). Il prezzo non è stato comunicato. Una delle prime app è Tónandi, realizzata in collaborazione con il gruppo rock Sigur Rós.
For the past several years, Magic Leap’s augmented reality device has been fervently anticipated due to the various claims made about the company’s technology. However, as 2017 ends, the startup has yet to unveil a product, though a new report today details one app that showcases Magic Leap’s capabilities.
Magic Leap — in partnership with band Sigur Rós — teased an augmented reality app today. This visual “audiovisual project” uses mixed reality (Magic Leap’s branding for AR) to visualize music.
Running at 8-10 minutes, the app is called Tónandi and Pitchfork has published several screenshots of the experience.
I see a group of little sprites floating around in front of me. The jellyfish-like creatures seem to match the waveform of the music I’m hearing through headphones. Encouraged to explore with my hands, I reach out, causing the waveforms to alter shape—both visually and in the audio playback, like a SoundCloud embed that’s somehow alive, three-dimensional, and responding to my movements. After initial sheepishness, I chase these non-existent tónandi like a clumsily psychotic bear in a very expensive gadget shop.
I see a group of little sprites floating around in front of me. The jellyfish-like creatures seem to match the waveform of the music I’m hearing through headphones. Encouraged to explore with my hands, I reach out, causing the waveforms to alter shape—both visually and in the audio playback, like a SoundCloud embed that’s somehow alive, three-dimensional, and responding to my movements. After initial sheepishness, I chase these non-existent tónandi like a clumsily psychotic bear in a very expensive gadget shop.
During the demo, the experience is able to adjust for the environment that the wearer is in:
The real-world demo space I’m in is decorated to resemble a living room, and the tónandi adjust to account for a table with oversized hardcover book on top of it.
Whatever I’m seeing, it isn’t just something pasted over my surroundings, but something that acknowledges those surroundings, and therefore seems more real.
The real-world demo space I’m in is decorated to resemble a living room, and the tónandi adjust to account for a table with oversized hardcover book on top of it.
Whatever I’m seeing, it isn’t just something pasted over my surroundings, but something that acknowledges those surroundings, and therefore seems more real.
Magic Leap’s strict non-disclosure agreement applies to the Pitchfork piece, however, we do get some hints. The piece — while taking about augmented reality headsets in general — notes narrow field of views, as well as the need for devices to connect to a battery pack for the foreseeable future.
The latter aspect lines up with a Business Insider report from February that notes how the current prototype features two packs for a battery and a processing unit that connect to the headset via a wire
In terms of launch, the report only notes how Tónandi might be available to download on Magic Leap “someday,” while the app “feels like it’s nearly ready for public consumption.”
The augmented reality startup has been working on this experience for four years. Besides massive funding from Google and venture capitalists, Magic Leap has been able to strike major partnerships with Lucasfilm and ILMxLAB in 2016 and with Peter Jackson’s visual effects company.
Today’s glimpse into Magic Leap seems to reaffirm how the company might be addressing AR’s content problem.
Magic Leap, the enigmatic start-up that attracted over $1 billion in funding, has given us a few more tantalizing bits of information. These include priority customers, release target, and insight into the product’s nature.
WHAT WE LEARNED
At eMerge 2017, Magic Leap founder Rony Abovitz gave a number of updates concerning his company’s first product, which is currently in production. He revealed in his speech that the technology is “up and running and live” — it is hands free, does not require looking through a video display, and introduces an entirely new class to the technology which he coined as “spatial computing.”
Another exciting piece of news is that it is being priced for “affordability” — Abovitz stated “if you’re willing to pay for a premium mass consumer device, you’ll be happy with us.” He also said the “launch is not that far away,” and will focus on the “U.S. first, but definitely not U.S. only.”
Abovitz also said that potential consumers are not the only group enthusiastic about Magic Leap. He has seen an outpouring of people who want to become developers. He stresses that he has an extremely loose definition of the word, which can extend from artists to film-makers to programmers to “kids in garages.” In order to foster this developing community when the release comes, Abovitz says that he and his team “want to make sure we’re learning to serve developers and creators properly first.”
THE POTENTIAL OF MAGIC LEAP
Magic Leap is neither augmented reality or virtual reality but, as Abovitz explained at eMerge, a “Spacial Ambiance, using digital light fields to create a personal computer that is ambient, always around you […] and is always contextually aware.”
While Andre Iguodala gave some vague information about his demo experience — including that the technology is controlled by eye movements and modulates lights in a user’s environment, that it has a voice assistant like siri, and that it takes the form of a belt pack with connected glasses. The company has neither confirmed or denied his claims, nor provided much more information.
What we do know, though, is that it has the potential to change almost any industry in the world. David Erwalt, of Forbes, got a rare interview with the founder and concluded that:
This technology could affect every business that uses screens or computers and many that don’t. It could kill the $120 billion market for flat-panel displays and shake the $1 trillion global consumer-electronics business to its core.
While the eMerge announcement gives us just a taste of the technology to come, we hope all of our questions will be answered very soon when we get to try the product for ourselves.
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Augmented World 