Tag: ar

Magic Leap augmented reality demo draws praise and skepticism

The long awaited product demonstration has been accused of consisting of smoke and mirrors.

For a very long time, the industry has been waiting for the first Magic Leap augmented reality demonstration. There has been a great deal of secrecy surrounding the development of this brand’s technology. This has allowed the hype to build substantially over the many months.

The augmented reality demonstration has gone viral over YouTube, promising an astounding experience.

What was known about the tech under development was that Magic Leap augmented reality was going to be different from anything else out there. The company has been promising to change the way we think of AR. With such dazzling promises, it was clear that anything produced would not be on market shelves at any time soon.

This concept was only reinforced when beta testers were given access to early versions of the tech concept and were required to use a considerable amount of hardware just to make it work.

Now that Magic Leap augmented reality demonstrations have been made, the brand is facing stiff criticism.

Nobody assumed that the Magic Leap marketing would be precisely what consumers would be seeing when the hardware was produced. However, the company is now being criticized for going far overboard in their simulations. The public was promised an unbelievable experience and that’s exactly what the demo is suggesting might be the case – it’s not to be believed.

The video made to simulate what Magic Leap would have to offer included the work of a special effects firm. This set expectations very high and may make it very difficult for the brand to be able to deliver. The March 2015 viral video took in 3.5 million views. However, reports quoting former employees of the company revealed that the game illustrated in the video didn’t actually exist.

The demonstration of the current Magic Leap augmented reality experience is less than mesmerizing. As much as it is still advanced, impressive tech, it continues to rely on a large and clunky helmet that uses a number of cables to wire it to a powerful computer. The goal is to one day compress that tech to hardware that is more “spectacle-like”.

Augmented reality brings fireworks celebrations to smartphones

augmented reality fireworksMobile device users can celebrate whenever they want with digital pyrotechnics

A mobile product company called Pocket Scientist has just announced the unveiling of its augmented reality fireworks app that allows smartphone and tablet users to celebrate with a digital pyrotechnic display whenever they want.

These displays can be viewed on the screen of the device and can be selected for specific celebrations.

Some of the augmented reality fireworks that are available include New Years, romantic, and those for anniversaries. The various scenes that are available are designed to be appropriate for each different occasion.

The augmented reality technology that is used for the displays is cutting edge.

It helps to make it look as though the rockets and explosions that appear on the mobile devices are as real as possible. All the user needs to do is point the camera of the smartphone or tablet at the horizon, and the fireworks will appear in stunning colors and shapes.

The effects are meant to be as breathtaking as the real thing. The augmented reality pyrotechnics can work in daylight, but the full effect (as with the real deal) isn’t available until darkness has fallen. The perfect view is over a city’s lights from the side of a mountain or hill.

The augmented reality is used along with the camera of the smartphone or tablet. The rockets are launched into a three dimensional real time calculated space. If the camera is turned, the fireworks remain within the same virtual position and do not move along with the camera of the device.

This augmented reality application’s basic version is available for free download, but it comes with the downside of a watermark within the view as well as to a photograph that is taken from the actual AR view. The watermark is removed and the full app becomes available by paying a fee of $0.99.

Photos of the view of the augmented reality fireworks can be shared over a user’s Facebook account, so that their friends can also enjoy the images. This adds a completely different social element to the features that are available through this application.