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Magic Leap Offers a First Look At Its Mixed Reality OS (cnet.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the not-so-secret-after-all dept.

TechCrunch's Lucas Matney describes the Lumin operating system that will power Magic Leap's upcoming Magic Leap One mixed reality headset: Alright, first, this is what the Magic Leap One home screen will apparently look like, it's worth noting that it appears that Magic Leap will have some of its own stock apps on the device, which was completely expected but they haven't discussed much about. Also worth noting is that Magic Leap's operating system by and large looks like most other operating systems, they seem to be well aware that flat interfaces are way easier to navigate so you're not going to be engaging with 3D assets just for the sake of doing so. The company seems to be distinguishing between two basic app types for developers: immersive apps and landscape apps. Landscape apps like what you see in the image above, appear to be Magic Leap's version of 2D where interfaces are mostly flat but have some depth and live inside a box called a prism that fits spatially into your environment. It seems that you'll be able to have several of these running simultaneously. Immersive apps, on the other hand, like the game title, Dr. Grordbort -- which Magic Leap has been teasing for years -- respond to the geometry of the space that you are in and is thus called an immersive app.

Moving beyond apps, the company also had a good deal to share about how you interact with what's happening in the headset. Magic Leap will have a companion smartphone app that you can type into, you can connect a bluetooth keyboard and there will also be an onscreen keyboard with dictation capabilities. One of the big highlights of Magic Leap tech is that you'll be able to share perspectives of these apps in a multi-player experience which we now know is called "casting," apps that utilize these feature will just have a button that you can press to share an experience with a contact.

26 of 50 comments (clear)

  1. Excellent! by AmazingRuss · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A collection of beautiful, completely incomprehensible symbols!

    1. Re:Excellent! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Mixed reality? Is that what you get when you combine MBA, marketing major and bullshit?

    2. Re:Excellent! by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      None of those warrants the qualification “reality”. Also, “bullshit” is redundant in that list.

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    3. Re:Excellent! by DrXym · · Score: 1

      Not only incomprehensible, but straight in the middle of your field of view. After all, you didn't want to see where you were going did you?

    4. Re:Excellent! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Magic Leap has outplayed its role... even IF... and that is a BIG IF... they have something similar to HoloLens, then they will STILL fail... they have been a giant and sad waste of money it seems!

    5. Re:Excellent! by q4Fry · · Score: 1

      Marketing bloke: It's like a salad of realities!

  2. Dropping Little Hints by Friar_MJK · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, given the time in one of their screenshots, now I know why it's been taking so long.

    1. Re:Dropping Little Hints by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1
      I had to google it to get the joke. Posting so others don't have to.

      420, 4:20, or 4/20 (pronounced four-twenty) is a code-term in cannabis culture that refers to the consumption of cannabis, especially smoking cannabis around the time 4:20 p.m. (or 16:20 in 24-hour notation) and smoking cannabis in celebration on the date April 20 (which is 4/20 in U.S. form).

  3. Office game video by mejustme · · Score: 1

    This is the MagicLeap mixed reality game video that was released 3 years ago:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  4. monitor replacement? by bugi · · Score: 2

    I just want a way to replace one or more of my monitors with a heads up display. Will it do that?

  5. Billions of dollars by 110010001000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Billions of dollars spent to replicate what Microsoft already has, and no one really wants.

    1. Re: Billions of dollars by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You mean that bullshit Homolense that was crapped out by H1B shitty monkeys?

  6. Its going to be the software on this one. by WarlockD · · Score: 1

    These types of glasses have been out in one form or another for a while. I have a pair of Epson BT-300. They work fine, but its like epson gave up on any software updates for the last few years. You can root atleast and its useful around the house. Hell, I could even get some cardboard apps to work with it. But other than the novelty, the interface is horrid and would never use it as a main device.

    Granted its underpowered from what these guys want to do, but I just hope it will be open sourced enough for apps to get on it.

  7. Impressive! by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

    If you looked at the pictures then you know that was the most realistic looking leather couch that you have ever seen! ;)

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:Impressive! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I know you jest at the fact this is mixed reality. However, as an expert in the field these images just amaze me (with the laziness of their creators). Every indication is their display can only add light, but if you look at these images it's clear they are removing light in many of them. Their marketing department could make nice looking images that are actually possible with their hardware if they tried a little harder.

    2. Re:Impressive! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yep. The over-the-top marketing vids and images that we have been seeing will result in widespread disappointment with the real thing.

      It seems an oddly short-term approach for marketing to take. Unless the company's real plan was to make their fortune on the initial investment money, and then basically cut and run once the disappointing product is released (and does poorly on the market).

    3. Re:Impressive! by gravewax · · Score: 1

      probably more of a large gamble, they had to impress early on to get the funding or they would have been dead before they had anything, Nothing wrong with having lofty ambitions. Where I think they have fallen over is in being so secretive about where the tech is up to which makes the difference between their marketing BS and reality such a stark contrast that it will be hard to overcome unless they can actually deliver on some of the initial hype. That secretive approach only works when what you are delivering to the user is going to be so much better or different than everything out there.

  8. Re:4:20 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    That explains why they think this is going to be a hit.

  9. uninspiring by gravewax · · Score: 2

    Really seems wholly unimpressive, they could have saved billions and bought a HoloLens a few years ago and put together the same demos for a fraction of the cost.

  10. Really? That? by jddj · · Score: 1

    "Alright, first, this is what the Magic Leap One home screen will apparently look like[...]"

    What, a screenshot of somebody's crappy Air B&B apartment?

  11. Re:Still shilling this con, slashdot? by Desler · · Score: 1

    SD will have made a literal small fortune from pushing this BS here.

    Yep, they've probably literally made pennies.

  12. Re:Finally! by Desler · · Score: 1

    Please show me proof of anyone having a HoloLens in either 2013 or 2014. The pre-production dev kits didn’t start shipping until March of 2016.

  13. Re:Finally! by DrXym · · Score: 1

    Yes and it was obvious then how much the concept sucked. I don't see any reason to think it doesn't suck this time around either.

  14. Re:Finally! by gravewax · · Score: 1

    sooo your saying volvo's 2015 HoloLens videos were all fake?

  15. Rumor has it... by gosand · · Score: 2

    Rumor has it that it seamlessly integrates with The Phantom game console from Infinium Labs.

    I can't wait!

    --

    My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

  16. Re:More 'flat' rubbish by N1AK · · Score: 1

    You, and some other posters, seem to have misunderstood the comment. I'm pretty sure it is referring to flat as items in arranged in 2D rather than the items appearing to be 'flat' (though they do seem to have gone for flat items as well).