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Augmented reality devices from Magic Leap will be built by the millions

JT | October 28, 2015

The startup is currently driving forward at a rapid rate and intends to be huge in the not-too-distant future.

Magic Leap, a company that has already managed to raise about half a billion dollars from some massive tech giant investors have been working on secret technology for years now and it now looks as though augmented reality is going to be a central component to its future.

Its own version of computing over mixed reality is causing them to prepare for millions of gadgets.

The company, which has even received investment dollars from Google, is “gearing up to build millions of things,” said its president and CEO, Rony Abovitz. It is currently running part of its operations in Florida out of an abandoned Motorola factory and Abovitz said that it has begun manufacturing. “We’re not ready to announce when we’re shipping, but it gives you a signal that we’re not far,” he said. While not much is actually known about the device being created by the company, what is believed is that it will be a small sized computer that is self contained and that will likely include augmented reality as it is meant to be something that consumers will be comfortable using while in public.

Aside from augmented reality, it might also involve the use of retinal projection and was developed through surgical research.

Augmented reality devices built by the millions Once the Magic Leap device arrives, it is very likely that it will be in direct competition with the HoloLens from Microsoft, which is already taking development kit applications. The HoloLens is wearable technology that uses augmented reality and that has been in development for some time.

According to Abovitz, when it comes to his own company’s devices, “Anything you can do on a smartphone, you can do on Magic Leap.” This gadget also has a working software development kit and it has issued invitations to a number of development teams to start to make mobile apps that will be compatible with the tech. It also holds hackathons on a regular basis at its Florida offices.

So far, the mobile apps that have been built for the Magic Leap device include basic games that allow an augmented reality ball to be thrown back and forth, as well as an application that projects a digital hand and stove that provides directions for making macaroni and cheese.

Coloring books get an augmented reality face lift from researchers

Julie Campbell | October 7, 2015

This traditional activity for children can now bring on a 3D experience through mobile devices.

There isn’t anything new about having a child sit down with a box of crayons to bring a color to a black and white image in a coloring book, but researchers have now added augmented reality to the experience that could allow kids to see a three dimensional version of their projects through the screens of smartphones or tablets.

With the right AR app, the drawing is monitored and a child can enjoy an enhanced experience from the activity.

For example, if a child were to fill in a coloring book image of an elephant, just as he or she usually would, the augmented reality would make it possible for the colors to be filled in on a tablet or smartphone screen in real-time and can bring an animated, 3D version of that elephant to life on the device screen. That animation is then integrated into the video that the child can watch.

The augmented reality app maintains its core focus on the typical coloring activity while enhancing what is viewed.

Augmented Reality - Image of Coloring Pencils On top of the image the child is coloring, it creates an AR overlay on top of reality that enhances the engagement between the child and the image being colored. The preliminary user testing conducted by researchers was conducted with adults instead of children. What they determined was the majority of users said that their motivation for drawing within the coloring books was increased through the use of the app. In fact 80 percent of the participants in this study said that using the mobile app increased the connection that they felt with a character in the book.

The researchers were from ETH Zurich, the EPFL university in Switzerland, and from Disney. They made a presentation of this new AR technology based experience in Fukuoka, Japan, at the IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR 2015).

While the research is currently being shared primarily within scientific circles, it has already made its way through the tech transfer process, which has already brought to life the Disney Publishing Worldwide and Bendon partnership augmented reality product that was launched earlier in 2015, called “Disney Color and Play”.