Neal Stephenson Joins Magic Leap(magicleap.com)
magicleap.com
Neal Stephenson Joins Magic Leap
http://www.magicleap.com/#/blog
166 comments
One of the things that's interesting to me about that quote is the phrase "optical table."
I think that there's a presumption (that I've shared) that Magic Leap is trying to make AR goggles or glasses. But, as has been extensively commented upon in the past, that's just crazy. We're just barely at the point of doing semi-decent VR (Oculus Rift) and just barely at the point of doing semi-decent wearable heads-up displays (Google Glass). The idea that Magic Leap could in any foreseeable timeframe create a device that has all the virtues of the Rift + Glass + A huge dose of additional technology on top of both is just laughable.
But if they're trying for something much heavier-weight, like the ability to create convincing illusions not in the form-factor of "some goggles," but rather, "a specially prepared room and table," then that's maybe a little more realistic -- and of course less obviously revolutionary.
I think that there's a presumption (that I've shared) that Magic Leap is trying to make AR goggles or glasses. But, as has been extensively commented upon in the past, that's just crazy. We're just barely at the point of doing semi-decent VR (Oculus Rift) and just barely at the point of doing semi-decent wearable heads-up displays (Google Glass). The idea that Magic Leap could in any foreseeable timeframe create a device that has all the virtues of the Rift + Glass + A huge dose of additional technology on top of both is just laughable.
But if they're trying for something much heavier-weight, like the ability to create convincing illusions not in the form-factor of "some goggles," but rather, "a specially prepared room and table," then that's maybe a little more realistic -- and of course less obviously revolutionary.
I think you should read this as "what they are doing in the lab."
An "optical table" is to optical technologies as a solderless breadboard is to electronics.
Basically, it's a big, stable platform with lots of threaded holes of a standard size and pitch for attaching lasers, mirrors, etc. Most have some kind of pneumatic isolation or damping to keep vibrations from being transmitted from the floor. Things like interference phenomena are sensitive to displacements of a few nanometers, so you really don't want things like passing trucks to ruin your experiments!
Examples here: http://www.newport.com/Optical-Table-Selection-Guide/140219/...
An "optical table" is to optical technologies as a solderless breadboard is to electronics.
Basically, it's a big, stable platform with lots of threaded holes of a standard size and pitch for attaching lasers, mirrors, etc. Most have some kind of pneumatic isolation or damping to keep vibrations from being transmitted from the floor. Things like interference phenomena are sensitive to displacements of a few nanometers, so you really don't want things like passing trucks to ruin your experiments!
Examples here: http://www.newport.com/Optical-Table-Selection-Guide/140219/...
This got lost between my brain and my previous message, but yes, I agree, that's the most likely explanation.
But I mention the "they're trying to build like the equivalent of the early table-based Microsoft Surface (before that meant a tablet), but pseudo-holographic instead" idea just because it's so unbelievable to me that stand-alone goggles can possibly deliver what they're claiming.
But I mention the "they're trying to build like the equivalent of the early table-based Microsoft Surface (before that meant a tablet), but pseudo-holographic instead" idea just because it's so unbelievable to me that stand-alone goggles can possibly deliver what they're claiming.
Stand-alone goggles make more sense than a table, because they're closer to the eye and can more directly manipulate what the user sees.
If you read through the depths of Magic Leap's site combined with their patent applications, it becomes clear that they are trying to develop a set of goggles which combines some form of projection onto the retina [0] with some form of selective blocking [1] (to give contrast, and prevent the projected images from appearing as hazy mirages over the light otherwise reaching the retina).
Especially the blocking would be impossible to achieve with anything but goggles.
[0]: https://www.google.com/patents/US20140071539 [1]: https://www.google.com/patents/US20130128230
If you read through the depths of Magic Leap's site combined with their patent applications, it becomes clear that they are trying to develop a set of goggles which combines some form of projection onto the retina [0] with some form of selective blocking [1] (to give contrast, and prevent the projected images from appearing as hazy mirages over the light otherwise reaching the retina).
Especially the blocking would be impossible to achieve with anything but goggles.
[0]: https://www.google.com/patents/US20140071539 [1]: https://www.google.com/patents/US20130128230
I think the idea is not that they wouldn't have goggles—these lab prototypes have goggles—but that they might be much more constrained than a free, walk-around head mount. Think: Imagineering-like controlled experiences down to arcades rather than a personal walk-around device like Glass^n or Rift AR. Controlling both the environment and background they augment and the head movement (and not worrying as much about miniaturization) could make the problem easier enough to be manageable.
Still unclear. They do seem to imply they want it to be an unconstrained mobile AR device, but that is indeed ambitious enough to warrant skepticism. Walk-around tracking for home/anywhere is still an unsolved problem for Oculus, and overlay AR is at least several times more demanding.
Still unclear. They do seem to imply they want it to be an unconstrained mobile AR device, but that is indeed ambitious enough to warrant skepticism. Walk-around tracking for home/anywhere is still an unsolved problem for Oculus, and overlay AR is at least several times more demanding.
I think if you're tracking the user's position, then it may be practical to beam different images to each eye for a good 3D experience.
That's actually how (kinda) Stephenson's VR system he describes in Snow Crash works.
This kind of gets away from many of the issues you have with the Oculus Rift where you have such a tiny window of time (20ms or so) to react to how the person is moving his head. You still have to change the image based on the user's position, but not as much on head rotation which is the really hard part. Just each eye's location in space matters.
Multiple users would likely require multiple projectors.
That's actually how (kinda) Stephenson's VR system he describes in Snow Crash works.
This kind of gets away from many of the issues you have with the Oculus Rift where you have such a tiny window of time (20ms or so) to react to how the person is moving his head. You still have to change the image based on the user's position, but not as much on head rotation which is the really hard part. Just each eye's location in space matters.
Multiple users would likely require multiple projectors.
It could also be far more revolutionary. They make it sound like they invented a small-scale holodeck. If that is the case, no matter how it works, or how limited it is, the potential is huge. Realistic holograms would be a major step forwards in connecting computers to humans.
i think the major issue is going to be power. the battery requirements for processing a small-scale holodeck will be huge. making something portable that lasts for a sufficient time is going to require an energy breakthrough
>I think that there's a presumption (that I've shared) that Magic Leap is trying to make AR goggles or glasses.
probably because they's explicitly what they've claimed they're working on in their recent funding announcement. The CEO described their product as a "lightweight wearable".
probably because they's explicitly what they've claimed they're working on in their recent funding announcement. The CEO described their product as a "lightweight wearable".
I think there are very concrete ways to accomplish this, for example an arbitrarily fast spinning mirror with a 3d scanner and a projector with an arbitrarily high refresh rate. If this system were precise enough, you could have strong stereoscopy with a table.
It sounds more to me like a direct projection to retina. Has this ever been attempted ? Would that be working with lasers ?
There have been head-mounted "virtual retinal displays" that focus a laser onto the retina.
I think they're mostly in patent hell.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_retinal_display
I think they're mostly in patent hell.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_retinal_display
Stupid question: Who is Neal Stephenson, and why is he famous?
Wikipedia suggests that he's a sci-fi author, is there a particular reason for his fame, could you recommend some of his works?
Wikipedia suggests that he's a sci-fi author, is there a particular reason for his fame, could you recommend some of his works?
Snow Crash for old school howling-metal cyberpunk.
The Baroque Cycle for a semi-fictional view of the beginnings of science - the Newton and Hooke era.
Anathem for an interesting take on the philosophy of science disguised as a sci-fi epic.
The Baroque Cycle for a semi-fictional view of the beginnings of science - the Newton and Hooke era.
Anathem for an interesting take on the philosophy of science disguised as a sci-fi epic.
Have you not read 'The Diamond Age'?
IMO it is one of his best works. Nanotech/Networks/Crypto for the masses to understand. I read, loved and was caught up in the VR fever of the 90's via Snow Crash, and love his other books, but TDA is the one I'll never get rid of.
IMO it is one of his best works. Nanotech/Networks/Crypto for the masses to understand. I read, loved and was caught up in the VR fever of the 90's via Snow Crash, and love his other books, but TDA is the one I'll never get rid of.
I loved The Diamond Age as well, although I remember mostly bits and pieces now:
* cult sex scenes
* a forced-participation theater that humiliates you using Occulus Rift-technology
* the Kill Bill-esque ending
* ... and, most of all, the idea of continous education using an immersive Minecraft-like book/world that expands in complexity as your education grows.
Too bad we (the hackers) never completed even a crude version of the Primer (the book in the last bullet point) for the young geeks out there.
* cult sex scenes
* a forced-participation theater that humiliates you using Occulus Rift-technology
* the Kill Bill-esque ending
* ... and, most of all, the idea of continous education using an immersive Minecraft-like book/world that expands in complexity as your education grows.
Too bad we (the hackers) never completed even a crude version of the Primer (the book in the last bullet point) for the young geeks out there.
TDA is an interesting take on the issues a post-scarcity world might face. Unfortunately my immesion in the book was broken in several places by cringe-worthy "computers will never be able to do X" tropes. For example, the Primer must get a human to read its text aloud because "computers will never be able to reproduce a human voice"; this is in a world where atomically-precise, molecular diamond nanocomputers can be essentially 3D printed for free.
* > computers will never be able to do X*
I like your point; it compliments itself nicely with my previous one. Soon enough, computers may be able to do many things very well -- however, hackers are not catching up to corporations.
What I mean: if I remember correctly, in the DA world TV and big companies have as big as a grip on general populace as they have to day, but hackers are able to create alternatives, like the mentioned Primer for children's education.
In the real world, "hackers" (or those with the technical know-how to be one) love Apple and Google as much as the rest of the populace does, and leave the big things (OS, main APIs, maps, voice assistant, their personal data, ebook stores, videos available to young children) to them with very little opposition.
I like your point; it compliments itself nicely with my previous one. Soon enough, computers may be able to do many things very well -- however, hackers are not catching up to corporations.
What I mean: if I remember correctly, in the DA world TV and big companies have as big as a grip on general populace as they have to day, but hackers are able to create alternatives, like the mentioned Primer for children's education.
In the real world, "hackers" (or those with the technical know-how to be one) love Apple and Google as much as the rest of the populace does, and leave the big things (OS, main APIs, maps, voice assistant, their personal data, ebook stores, videos available to young children) to them with very little opposition.
I think things will get more interesting when Oculus, Meta, Magic Leap and others get a little bit more entrenched (ass-u-me'ing it happens!).. give it another 10 years or so.. ;)
* They built everything with DIAMONDS... because it was cheap.
Someone endowed of clue should get going with a kickstarter for at least a film version of TDA, if not a lot of what was described therein :)
Damn, I'm going to have to read it again now. Still, it's about time for a refresh...
Damn, I'm going to have to read it again now. Still, it's about time for a refresh...
IMHO, it would do better with the Studio Ghibli treatment, than a live action movie.
Read the book in college, recently re-read as an audiobook - still relevant, still tantalizing.
I think I've read all his books. But his work is pretty diverse, so you get to pick and choose based on taste and preference.
There was a time when I thought Snow Crash was the best. There was a time when Cryptonomicon was a lot of fun (still is). Nowadays I incline slightly more towards the 'philosophical opus' type of vibe that Anathem gives off.
Anyway, all his books are pretty good representatives of one sub-genre or another. He's a very good author, and he wrote in a lot of different keys through his career so far.
There was a time when I thought Snow Crash was the best. There was a time when Cryptonomicon was a lot of fun (still is). Nowadays I incline slightly more towards the 'philosophical opus' type of vibe that Anathem gives off.
Anyway, all his books are pretty good representatives of one sub-genre or another. He's a very good author, and he wrote in a lot of different keys through his career so far.
All are fantastic. I was put off by the beginning of Snow Crash initially, as there are some tongue-in-cheek bits that struck me as too campy. But I might not say that now, having read it a few times.
The Baroque Cycle is a massive piece of work spanning 3 volumes, comprised of 8 nominally independent books. If it seems intimidating, just try the first one and see if you're not hooked. I'd love it if there was twice as much material.
Anathem is by far my favorite. Its hooks take longer to set, but for me they set much deeper. There is a lot going on in this book, and it will truly blow your mind if you let it.
The Baroque Cycle is a massive piece of work spanning 3 volumes, comprised of 8 nominally independent books. If it seems intimidating, just try the first one and see if you're not hooked. I'd love it if there was twice as much material.
Anathem is by far my favorite. Its hooks take longer to set, but for me they set much deeper. There is a lot going on in this book, and it will truly blow your mind if you let it.
> Anathem is by far my favorite. Its hooks take longer to set, but for me they set much deeper. There is a lot going on in this book, and it will truly blow your mind if you let it.
I've a major in Physics and it took me a couple readings to figure out all (well, most of) the connections therein. My favorite game to play while reading Anathem was figuring out where are the borders between historical fact (translated into the fictional world of Arbre, of course), current hypotheses within present-day science, and just downright fiction. Quick quiz: is "geometrodynamics" Stephenson's invention, or a term used in the real world? You get puzzles like that at every step, some easier, some harder.
A few examples that stand out:
Actual history of science - well, Thelenes, Adrakhones, Saunt Tredegarh, Saunt Muncoster, etc. (again, real people disguised under the mask of Arbran characters)
Current hypotheses - the whole Multiverse thing, the Fraa Paphlagon / Hugh Everett parallel.
Out-and-out fiction - eh... this is harder. The Wick, maybe?
And then there's Fraa Jad, all alone in a category of his own. :) I daresay one of the most striking, memorable characters in all sci-fi - if you get the point of the whole book.
I've a major in Physics and it took me a couple readings to figure out all (well, most of) the connections therein. My favorite game to play while reading Anathem was figuring out where are the borders between historical fact (translated into the fictional world of Arbre, of course), current hypotheses within present-day science, and just downright fiction. Quick quiz: is "geometrodynamics" Stephenson's invention, or a term used in the real world? You get puzzles like that at every step, some easier, some harder.
A few examples that stand out:
Actual history of science - well, Thelenes, Adrakhones, Saunt Tredegarh, Saunt Muncoster, etc. (again, real people disguised under the mask of Arbran characters)
Current hypotheses - the whole Multiverse thing, the Fraa Paphlagon / Hugh Everett parallel.
Out-and-out fiction - eh... this is harder. The Wick, maybe?
And then there's Fraa Jad, all alone in a category of his own. :) I daresay one of the most striking, memorable characters in all sci-fi - if you get the point of the whole book.
Yes, I enjoy too. [1] is a good helper
[1] http://anathem.wikia.com/wiki/Earth%E2%80%93Arbre_Correlatio...
[1] http://anathem.wikia.com/wiki/Earth%E2%80%93Arbre_Correlatio...
I'm reading Snow Crash at the moment for the first time.
The beginning is actually really tough going as a completely new reader today. It's just so ridiculous. I can see where he was coming from, as I grew up in that era, but it's actually pretty bizarre now given the reality is nation states, religion and banks turned out to be so much more powerful than corporations.
Which is one of the perils of predictions in ageing sci-fi.
I've been on a sci-fi kick recently of all the classics I never read (William Gibson, Ender's Game, The Mars Trilogy, Forever War, Starship Troopers, A Canticle For Leibowitz, Philip K. Dick, Hyperion Cantos, Ringworld) and re-reading some I've not read for a long time (Foundation Series).
I personally found that Snow Crash is by far the most dated book. Even Ringworld and the foundation series were better.
The beginning is actually really tough going as a completely new reader today. It's just so ridiculous. I can see where he was coming from, as I grew up in that era, but it's actually pretty bizarre now given the reality is nation states, religion and banks turned out to be so much more powerful than corporations.
Which is one of the perils of predictions in ageing sci-fi.
I've been on a sci-fi kick recently of all the classics I never read (William Gibson, Ender's Game, The Mars Trilogy, Forever War, Starship Troopers, A Canticle For Leibowitz, Philip K. Dick, Hyperion Cantos, Ringworld) and re-reading some I've not read for a long time (Foundation Series).
I personally found that Snow Crash is by far the most dated book. Even Ringworld and the foundation series were better.
I dunno, I find Snow Crash dates much better than most cyberpunk - William Gibson included - precisely because the ridiculousness was intentional. Neal no more believed we'd actually be living in an anarcho-capitalist dystopia with samurai-wielding hipster-heros delivering pizzas for the Mafia than Aldous Huxley believed we'd actually be letter-graded and programmed into praising his Fordship from birth.
Some of the space opera, on the other hand, was so earnest and certain that we'd be flying around at light-speed by now you feel almost disappointed for the authors.
Some of the space opera, on the other hand, was so earnest and certain that we'd be flying around at light-speed by now you feel almost disappointed for the authors.
Vernor Vinge is another great hard sci-fi author. "A Fire Upon the Deep" is a space opera epic if I've ever read one. Currently finishing up "Rainbows End", and wasn't sucked totally in until maybe 1/3 through, but now I'm hooked :)
Rainbow's End is one of my favorite books. I have probably read it 4 or 5 times since 2007. I find the ideas in it have gotten more accurate as time goes on.
> Snow Crash is by far the most dated book
All cyberpunk is like that, for reasons that are pretty obvious.
> Even Ringworld and the foundation series were better.
Of course. Physical reality changes much more slowly.
All cyberpunk is like that, for reasons that are pretty obvious.
> Even Ringworld and the foundation series were better.
Of course. Physical reality changes much more slowly.
I mention other cyberpunk that's not dated, I've read 2 or 3 of the Neuromancer series and that hasn't fared anywhere near as badly, the only glaring plot point I noticed in that is that no-one had mobile phones.
And when I refer to Foundation & Ringworld I meant that they are from the 60s and so have some weird cultural ideals as well as some (unintentional) misogyny & racism in the foundation series.
And when I refer to Foundation & Ringworld I meant that they are from the 60s and so have some weird cultural ideals as well as some (unintentional) misogyny & racism in the foundation series.
Check out the Old Man's War series by John Scalzi. It's kind of a Starship Troopers meets Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy (A bit less absurd.)
It was bizarre then. I was very skeptical the first few pages. I did not understand that the adolescent cheese was tongue in cheek until the second chapter.
Have you read R.A. Lafferty?
Don't for get Cryptonomicon!
I would also highly recommend:
The Mongoliad semi-fictional view of mid-thirteenth century Mongol invasion of Europe
Reamde MMO gold farming, social networking, criminal methods of the Russian mafia, Islamic terrorists
The Mongoliad semi-fictional view of mid-thirteenth century Mongol invasion of Europe
Reamde MMO gold farming, social networking, criminal methods of the Russian mafia, Islamic terrorists
ugh. Reamde.
Reamde starts off with a lot of interesting ideas, and then morphs into quite possibly the worst watered-down, airport-paperback, fourth-rate-Tom-Clancy-triller nonsense I have ever read. Avoid it at all costs. Unbelievable plot and character motives. ick.
Reamde starts off with a lot of interesting ideas, and then morphs into quite possibly the worst watered-down, airport-paperback, fourth-rate-Tom-Clancy-triller nonsense I have ever read. Avoid it at all costs. Unbelievable plot and character motives. ick.
I really liked Reamde. It's a close second to Anathem as far as Neal Stephenson's books go for me.
If you can suspend disbelief at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation, it's pretty awesome.
If you can suspend disbelief at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation, it's pretty awesome.
Seconded. It's really awful. Read Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, and Anathem.
The Russians were fun, if a bit cartoonish.
Man I am almost done Reamde and would not recommend that to anyone. I have a massive vocabulary and I was still looking up words every few pages. Every time I suspected it was a synonym for a simpler word, and every time I was right.
Writing aside I've found the plot pretty slow with not much interesting happening for most of the Zula portions (ie. middle half of the book). Maybe Stephenson's level of detail just isn't for me but it really wants for editing.
Writing aside I've found the plot pretty slow with not much interesting happening for most of the Zula portions (ie. middle half of the book). Maybe Stephenson's level of detail just isn't for me but it really wants for editing.
Tastes differ. I thought it was a fun story and a quick easy read. I'd recommend it to pretty much anyone. My wife, mother, and sister, all of whom are big readers but none of whom are really in the target nerd demographic, all liked it.
Anathem and Diamond Age were harder for me because of the depth of ideas. I had to slow down and think to get through them.
Baroque Cycle was harder because of the sheer number of characters with multiple and/or similar names, which is realistic but annoying. There's a list of characters in the back of the first book, which helps, but it's annoying to have to keep the first book handy when you're reading the others.
Stephenson does have a reputation for starting great books and not knowing how to finish them. But I think I've gotten more than my money's worth out of all of them.
Anathem and Diamond Age were harder for me because of the depth of ideas. I had to slow down and think to get through them.
Baroque Cycle was harder because of the sheer number of characters with multiple and/or similar names, which is realistic but annoying. There's a list of characters in the back of the first book, which helps, but it's annoying to have to keep the first book handy when you're reading the others.
Stephenson does have a reputation for starting great books and not knowing how to finish them. But I think I've gotten more than my money's worth out of all of them.
I loved the Baroque Cycle, but I am also a history fan so a lot of the names were already familiar to me.
If you're familiar with his style, and you take Reamde for what it really is - stuff he played with while taking a break from "real work" after the massive Baroque trilogy - then it makes sense and it's quite enjoyable.
The Mongoliad is team-written, and it shows. It's a sprawling, uneven work, with interesting parts, but also tedious one. It is in no small part a vehicle for the authors' interest in the technical aspects of fighting with medieval weaponry.
In the parts of the Mongoliad I managed to make it through, there were characters and plots and swordfights the way you find characters and plots and sex in a porn flick. If that's your thing, you'll really like the book, but I'm just not that into swordfights.
In addition to what everyone else said, Stephenson's really long essay In the Beginning was the Command Line is worth a read, if one has the time:
http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html
Warning: written fifteen years ago, also really long.
http://www.cryptonomicon.com/beginning.html
Warning: written fifteen years ago, also really long.
As others have mentioned, Stephenson is known for his fiction. However, his nonfiction piece from 1996 for Wired magazine is my personal favorite piece. It recounts his trip around the world investigating undersea fiber-optic cables and speculating on what it all means for the future:
http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass_pr.html
http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass_pr.html
This quote: "Cable layers, like hackers, scorn credentials, etiquette, and nice clothes. Anyone who can do the work is part of the club. Nothing else matters. Suits are a bizarre intrusion from an irrational world. They have undeniable authority, but heaven only knows how they acquired it." Love it!
I would recommend Cryptonomicon.
He's a sci-fi author with a particular talent for believable, well-rationed near-future fiction. I recommend reading Snow Crash without looking at the publication date until after you finish the book.
Outside of sci-fi novels, he is known for his insights into tech/Internet propagation, particularly during the 90s/00s.
I'd recommend his "Mother Earth Mother Board" article (more like a small book, be warned) as the definitive tome on the physical reality of how the Internet is held together across the world: http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass.html
I'd recommend his "Mother Earth Mother Board" article (more like a small book, be warned) as the definitive tome on the physical reality of how the Internet is held together across the world: http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/4.12/ffglass.html
Stephenson's post mentions Snow Crash. Start there.
He's relevant here for many reasons (his tech writing, consulting, other projects, etc.), but particularly it's for his concept of the "Metaverse" which appeared in Snow Crash: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaverse
He's an author, but he has a bit of a history of 'product vision'. This might be interesting background: https://medium.com/message/the-kindle-wink-4f61cd5c84c5
Don't forget to tell Neal how much you love "The Big U"
http://www.amazon.com/Big-U-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0380816032
{EDIT: snip}
Google Earth was heavily influenced by ideas in his books.
The Kindle was codenamed "Fiona", after Fiona Hackworth, a character in one of his books who uses a super-duper e-book.
Google Earth was heavily influenced by ideas in his books.
The Kindle was codenamed "Fiona", after Fiona Hackworth, a character in one of his books who uses a super-duper e-book.
> his blog post contains what I think is the most detailed public description of the tech so far
Gizmodo would beg to differ: http://gizmodo.com/how-magic-leap-is-secretly-creating-a-new...
Gizmodo would beg to differ: http://gizmodo.com/how-magic-leap-is-secretly-creating-a-new...
On "how... the brain assembles a three-dimensional model of reality":
I was recently pulled into the wormhole of present day speculations (science??) on this. And wow, sounds like what they are working on may yield real, new understanding on cognition and consciousness.
One of the entertaining reads: "Space, self, and the theater of consciousness" by Trehub http://people.umass.edu/trehub/YCCOG828%20copy.pdf
I was recently pulled into the wormhole of present day speculations (science??) on this. And wow, sounds like what they are working on may yield real, new understanding on cognition and consciousness.
One of the entertaining reads: "Space, self, and the theater of consciousness" by Trehub http://people.umass.edu/trehub/YCCOG828%20copy.pdf
Now all we need is Class V Star Cruiser to put it in.
This Gizmodo article does a great job of demystifying MagicLeap's tech by digging into the founder's background, patent filings, and trademark applications:
http://gizmodo.com/how-magic-leap-is-secretly-creating-a-new...
http://gizmodo.com/how-magic-leap-is-secretly-creating-a-new...
That 1mm single fiber endoscope is just amazing, out of a spy/scifi novel.
Oh, it's that guy. Awesome. That's perked my interest more than Stephenson joining them.
This is the most informative story I've read in this submission.
That's cool and all, but this has got to be one of the worst company websites I've seen recently. I get that they're stealthy, but this doesn't even build any interest.
It was only until I clicked "Wizards Wanted" (yes, I get it. Magic.) that I sort of got an answer.
Edit: Actually, the Developers section has some more information. But my point still stands.
It was only until I clicked "Wizards Wanted" (yes, I get it. Magic.) that I sort of got an answer.
Edit: Actually, the Developers section has some more information. But my point still stands.
I had no idea what the company does until I bailed from their site and read a comment here. Yes, I could have dug deeper, like the person posting that comment did (thanks), but damn, gimme a reason. And no, having $CELEBRITY in your company is not enough reason.
Two utilitarian sentences on what your thing is, and then all the literate prose you can produce. But gimme those two sentences.
Two utilitarian sentences on what your thing is, and then all the literate prose you can produce. But gimme those two sentences.
Give you a reason for what? You're all acting like this company owes you an explanation of what it does.
I don't think they owe us anything, I'm just saying the website is badly designed. They have a lot of content, but none of it says anything.
If you're going to be stealthy, be stealthy (e.g. http://quanttus.com/). If you're going to attempt to market your company, then market it properly. This does neither.
If you're going to be stealthy, be stealthy (e.g. http://quanttus.com/). If you're going to attempt to market your company, then market it properly. This does neither.
What? `http://quanttus.com/` literally tells me nothing. Even less than Magic Leap. At least with ML I know they are working on VR.
The point of a teaser site is to tease, not tell.
My point was that magic leap uses a lot more words to tease, and as a result, the site borders on nonsensical.
And if the point of a site is to tell you what a company does or is working on, then that information shouldn't be buried in a random section.
But ultimately, it's not a big deal. Just the first thing that I thought of when I clicked on their site.
My point was that magic leap uses a lot more words to tease, and as a result, the site borders on nonsensical.
And if the point of a site is to tell you what a company does or is working on, then that information shouldn't be buried in a random section.
But ultimately, it's not a big deal. Just the first thing that I thought of when I clicked on their site.
Only if they want me to care.
worklogin(1)
They're selling something. If they want people to hand over cash, it might be practical to tell us what it is.
They're not selling anything yet. They don't you to hand over cash yet.
And so it is more practical for them to tease and build interest.
And so it is more practical for them to tease and build interest.
Right, except that this doesn't tease or build interest... at least for me.
...not that it matters, seeing as they seem to have already built interest with the people that matter, investors.
...not that it matters, seeing as they seem to have already built interest with the people that matter, investors.
Neither of which they do. The website is incredibly ostentatious, and offers no hints of what the company is trying to achieve. If you want build interest, drop the over the type hype machine and explain what the hell you're doing.
I don't think they are selling anything right now, so they don't need to be saying much yet.
Actually it's the other way around, a company that doesn't give me those two sentences is acting like I owe them my time.
My feedback, and similar feedback from others, is not a complaint, it's feedback. Or, as someone else once said, "treasure your bugs."
My feedback, and similar feedback from others, is not a complaint, it's feedback. Or, as someone else once said, "treasure your bugs."
The site tells you nothing but I think that's the purpose. They really couldn't care less if you or anyone else knows what they do from the site. They have $542 million dollars in funding. Once they actually build something ready for the public I'm sure they'll put together a proper marketing site.
IMHO, when you are this stealthy you shouldn't get top spot on HN because a scifi author joined your team. It's like a Buzzfeed article.
And that section is HUGE for a company that appears to be a startup. I don't know if they just have a wad of cash and are on a hiring frenzy, or if they already have a large staff but no products commercially available. Not that either answer would be a deal-killer, but I just have no idea what is really going on here, aside from R&D in the virtual space.
They recently raised $542 million. http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/21/magic-leap-tech/
Yeah, the breadth of positions they have posted is pretty telling. Android developers, embedded systems, pcb engineers, optical engineers, cloud API, and the list goes on.
I wonder how far they are away from going to market? 24 months minimum?
I wonder how far they are away from going to market? 24 months minimum?
Could you link to their developers wanted page? I tried magicleap.com/#/wizards-wanted and it just redirected me to home.
The hype for me is tempered pretty heavily by what happened to Clang. I'm still very curious what Magic Leap is all about though.
What/who is Clang (apart from the compiler)?
A sword fighting video game Stephenson kickstarted for $526k and failed to deliver anything playable on. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/260688528/clang
I happily kickstarted it, but I had no belief it would actually deliver. $500k is 5 software devs or artists for a year. That's not very much money for a 3D game.
And it's only 5 people if you're offering below-industry pay, not paying taxes, no benefits, no office, no equipment purchases, etc. I'd figure 150k/person minimum, with more like 2-300k in more contentious areas.
A kickstarter scam by Stephenson.
Fuck that scam noise. When you back a kickstarter, you are trying to help make something happen that isn't real yet. You are sharing in the risk.
Will he bring as much success to this company and he did with Clang? http://www.geek.com/games/neal-stephensons-526000-kickstarte...
Interesting hire. As a startup it seems an unlikely one, Neal is a wonderful author, and has a sharp wit, but as he explains "his brain is not useful" to the work at hand. I could see consulting with him, but hiring him struck me as odd. In terms of what Magic Leap purportedly does my guess would be that Daniel Suarez (Daemon, Freedom) might be a better choice in terms of a vision that applies somewhat directly.
Well, they've got to do something with that half billion dollars. Decisions that don't objectively make sense somehow become possible when you've got that kind of money to spend.
Sad as it is, that is a very real danger of the 'over raise'. Way too many startups have negotiated their bankruptcy in their own, soon to be someone elses, overly well appointed offices. I picked up an Aeron office chair for $12 that way, very sad.
Anyone else enjoy the fact that Stephenson's 'Reamde' also featured a hightech VR company that employed famous fiction authors in their staff :)
So they are a holographic augmented reality company?
From their site:
>Imagine being able to generate images indistinguishable from real objects and then being able to place those images seamlessly into the real world.
Sounds like you generate a hologram anywhere. And project it into the real world. Think Star Trek holodeck, but everywhere, or anywhere from what they are selling. And the holograms they're projecting would be almost indistinguishable from other objects (I highly doubt that honestly, subsurface reflection takes A LOT of processor horse power with 1 view alone n).
It will be interesting to see what they cook up.
From their site:
>Imagine being able to generate images indistinguishable from real objects and then being able to place those images seamlessly into the real world.
Sounds like you generate a hologram anywhere. And project it into the real world. Think Star Trek holodeck, but everywhere, or anywhere from what they are selling. And the holograms they're projecting would be almost indistinguishable from other objects (I highly doubt that honestly, subsurface reflection takes A LOT of processor horse power with 1 view alone n).
It will be interesting to see what they cook up.
The current most popular theory seems is that they are using the usual VR tricks, plus have the ability to track the eye so that the eye's accommodation (focus) matches the distance that the object is supposed to be from. From what I remember with my experiments with stereoscopy this should reduce VR sickness in about 10-20% of the population for which accommodation mismatching with stereopsis causes issues.
Note that this effect is why 99% of the content in feature-length 3d movies appears at an apparent distance of more than 10 feet from you; the amount that accommodation falls off rapidly with distance, so it's a much less strong effect at that distance.
Note that this effect is why 99% of the content in feature-length 3d movies appears at an apparent distance of more than 10 feet from you; the amount that accommodation falls off rapidly with distance, so it's a much less strong effect at that distance.
They're making some sort of AR goggles. Despite all the imagery on their website, I'm not convinced there's anything holographic about what they're doing. In other words, this is a truly Herculean amount of marketing fluff. Google got interested probably only because they're targeting a form factor very similar to Google Glass.
Unclear from their site what MagicLeap even does.
Still can't figure out what the heck this company does.
Guess it plans to sell hype.
Guess it plans to sell hype.
The last time I remember this much hype was in the lead up to the segway.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/2013/1019/Inventions-tha...
http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/2013/1019/Inventions-tha...
Augmented reality - hardware and software. Kinda like Google Glass, except it draws realistic-looking stuff in your face that fits seamlessly with what you can see in the real world.
(Source: if you read EVERY page on their mysterious web site, you can eventually suss it out)
(Source: if you read EVERY page on their mysterious web site, you can eventually suss it out)
When I heard of Magic Leap, "Snow Crash" is one of the first things that came to my mind. I really want to see a Magic Leap demo!
"...to produce a synthesized light field that falls upon the retina in the same way as light reflected from real objects in your environment"
Goes back to Carmack's idea presented in one of his Quakecon sessions (although obviously the idea has been in sci fi for a long time).
This is interesting, I have an idea of how it might work:
Producing a synthesized light field could be done with a huge array of tiny mirrors or refractive material (I know stuff like this has been done in the past). By simulating directional rays coming in, I'm guessing your eyes could be tricked into thinking there is depth since the movement of each eye would change the amount of light absorbed (i.e. "focusing" on different objects in the light field). I could be wrong about this, have not thought it through very well.
All that said, they've raised over $500 million from Google Ventures and others, so I'm guessing there is something here, as lacking as the website is.
Goes back to Carmack's idea presented in one of his Quakecon sessions (although obviously the idea has been in sci fi for a long time).
This is interesting, I have an idea of how it might work:
Producing a synthesized light field could be done with a huge array of tiny mirrors or refractive material (I know stuff like this has been done in the past). By simulating directional rays coming in, I'm guessing your eyes could be tricked into thinking there is depth since the movement of each eye would change the amount of light absorbed (i.e. "focusing" on different objects in the light field). I could be wrong about this, have not thought it through very well.
All that said, they've raised over $500 million from Google Ventures and others, so I'm guessing there is something here, as lacking as the website is.
This quote "I sometimes feel that the creative minds who make games have done about as much as is possible in two dimensions. It’s hard to imagine how the current crop of games, for example, could be more finely tuned to deliver that particular kind of entertainment." isn't particular inspiring coming from a Chief Futurist. I can imagine a ton of 2D (or text based, for that matter) games that haven't been attempted let alone perfected. I also feel like I play new novel 2D games all the time.
I say this as someone that is excited about VR, AR and would love to see whatever Magic Leap is cooking up, and is a huge Neal Stephenson fan.
I say this as someone that is excited about VR, AR and would love to see whatever Magic Leap is cooking up, and is a huge Neal Stephenson fan.
There's more information here if anyone is interested:
http://io9.com/how-neal-stephenson-is-helping-to-make-snow-c...
http://io9.com/how-neal-stephenson-is-helping-to-make-snow-c...
Hrm. I hope he doesn't get distracted from writing books. I love his books, but don't care much about video games. I wonder if he's tired of writing, or just wants to do something different...
"I sometimes feel that the creative minds who make games have done about as much as is possible in two dimensions. It’s hard to imagine how the current crop of games, for example, could be more finely tuned to deliver that particular kind of entertainment."
Well PCs powerful enough for proper amount of voxels would let us do interesting things. Dwarf Fortress with a voxel-based high-res graphics could be interesting.
Well PCs powerful enough for proper amount of voxels would let us do interesting things. Dwarf Fortress with a voxel-based high-res graphics could be interesting.
It's too bad the economic incentives make this company take a stealth route. The problem is so large, and potentially so game-changing (both literally and figuratively) that I fail to see how one company could possibly capture all the value created, and it makes me sad that it would even try.
Step away from goggles, glasses, etc. Start thinking about contact lenses and optical implants - the kind of stuff that requires FDA approval - medical devices - then the amount of funding and interest they have received becomes instantly much more credible, and makes much more sense.
For anybody curious about Magic Leap, I highly recommend this TED talk by the company's founder Rony Abovitz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8J5BWL8oJY
It starts off kinda weird, you gotta give it a few minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8J5BWL8oJY
It starts off kinda weird, you gotta give it a few minutes.
I literally have no clue what Magic Leap does after reading through a few pages on their site. It's pretty absurd IMO to have a site like this that says so much but says so little. Honestly, why bother at this point?
eye projecting tech, THEY KIND OF WANT TO REPLACE OCULUS VR BY A COMPLETELY NEW VR TECH, where u'll see an elephant in times square because it'll be projected to you eye from somewhere, stuff like that, VR IN REALITY
There is literally and purposefully nothing to see here. Move along.
> We know what you're thinking: "Who the heck are we?"
Well, no, I'm thinking, who the hell are they. And I can't seem to figure it out from your website.
Well, no, I'm thinking, who the hell are they. And I can't seem to figure it out from your website.
Stephenson is a fairly well respected futurist.
The Magic Leap technology involves light field projection - kind of like the opposite of light field photography if you remember the Lytro camera.
The Magic Leap technology involves light field projection - kind of like the opposite of light field photography if you remember the Lytro camera.
I wish we knew what their estimated timeframe on having some MVP of this tech available. 2 years? 5 years?
MagicLeap is so secretive that it looks like their eye projecting tech. is far from being ready
OMG. I can think of no stronger endorsement of a technology. take my money NOW
"Having a product" comes to mind...
Even after "Clang"?
I wasn't sure what you meant by this so I had to look up some details:
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/another-kickstarter-game-bi...
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/another-kickstarter-game-bi...
Clang just couldn't raise nearly the budget it needed... Neal Stephenson had a whole blog post about how it turns out that just because you're Neal Stephenson doesn't mean people will give you money to make a sword fighting video game.
I thought the entire point of Kickstarter was to absorb the failure-to-acquire-enough-funding risk?
If Clang failed because of a lack of budget, then the failure was on the part of the project owners to set their funding threshold appropriately.
If Clang failed because of a lack of budget, then the failure was on the part of the project owners to set their funding threshold appropriately.
My recollection is the plan was to use the kickstarted funds to put together a tech demo, then raise funding to turn that into a game. That second part never happened for a few reasons; mainly, it is not as easy for a semi-famous author to raise money as people think.
Of course that's on Stephenson, and he acknowledges it. He didn't understand the investment market. It probably wasn't a great plan in retrospect. But this seems like an odd place to complain when a risky investment doesn't pay off like you'd like.
Of course that's on Stephenson, and he acknowledges it. He didn't understand the investment market. It probably wasn't a great plan in retrospect. But this seems like an odd place to complain when a risky investment doesn't pay off like you'd like.
No. I don't agree with this at all. We had like 160k with kickstarter for Road Redemption and have made a game on early access that has sold enough to easily continue development.
The problem 100% was that Neal Stephenson was incapable of doing the project himself and was just hiring devs to do it and then ran out of money. It was poorly managed because they had lots of traction and risked basically no capital on development. If you give me half a million dollars I would have no problem getting that project to an early access state. Honestly I could do it with half that.
I can say that because I actually know how to make both the hardware and software side by myself if it came to that.
The problem 100% was that Neal Stephenson was incapable of doing the project himself and was just hiring devs to do it and then ran out of money. It was poorly managed because they had lots of traction and risked basically no capital on development. If you give me half a million dollars I would have no problem getting that project to an early access state. Honestly I could do it with half that.
I can say that because I actually know how to make both the hardware and software side by myself if it came to that.
This wasn't a game, it was an engine. A novel motion control scheme, more satisfying to wield than any one currently extant, and a realistic and historically accurate simulation which supports different sword fighting styles. I know a thing or two about motion controls, and game development, and sword fighting for that matter, and I am dramatically less convinced than you that this is trivial.
(Even if you are able to donate a year of developer time, valued in the six figures, which in fairness to your point is not something Stephenson brought to the table along with his relatively modest personal assets. Semi-famous authors aren't as rich as people think, either.)
I'm not saying I'm impressed with what they made, but I'm not too surprised either.
(Even if you are able to donate a year of developer time, valued in the six figures, which in fairness to your point is not something Stephenson brought to the table along with his relatively modest personal assets. Semi-famous authors aren't as rich as people think, either.)
I'm not saying I'm impressed with what they made, but I'm not too surprised either.
I don't really think it was an engine so much as a peripheral with some mediating libraries. I would do that plus write a C# interop to make it compatible with unity so you could make your die by the sword clone quickly.
What they were trying to make was basically a better wiimote, and a wiimote is essentially an arduino with a single accelerometer hooked up to it and a bluetooth receiver. I think without the budget restrictions of a wiimote you could probably use better/more responsive parts and then basically just mimic a wiimote with the wiimotion plus(which is just a single gyroscope) and call it a day. Or you could add several of each of those components and then average their output or do other clever math with their separate outputs. I think this would take a little more than a year if the person who was doing it knew what they were doing.
Then you need to make the game/demo which you would do in parallel with a team of 3-4 additional people.
"Even if you are able to donate a year of developer time, valued in the six figures"
See this is where misunderstandings with kickstarter begin. We assumed almost no risk in making Road Redemption. In addition to salary we get 100% of revenue less distribution. So not only did we get to draw salary during development, now we get all the sales revenue and we own the IP. It is a crazy good deal, nobody needs to donate anything.
It is basically like you get a bunch of VC money and also the VC's have no equity interest.
The problem comes in when someone who is unqualified tries to middleman the operation and takes a bunch of money but is totally incapable of doing what they said they would do. Now they both don't have enough money to actually get the shit done at cost, and don't want to give away all the equity. The biggest problem though is that they are unqualified to discern who is capable of doing the task because they don't know anything about how to actually do things. So they fritter away the money and then the project falls apart.
What they were trying to make was basically a better wiimote, and a wiimote is essentially an arduino with a single accelerometer hooked up to it and a bluetooth receiver. I think without the budget restrictions of a wiimote you could probably use better/more responsive parts and then basically just mimic a wiimote with the wiimotion plus(which is just a single gyroscope) and call it a day. Or you could add several of each of those components and then average their output or do other clever math with their separate outputs. I think this would take a little more than a year if the person who was doing it knew what they were doing.
Then you need to make the game/demo which you would do in parallel with a team of 3-4 additional people.
"Even if you are able to donate a year of developer time, valued in the six figures"
See this is where misunderstandings with kickstarter begin. We assumed almost no risk in making Road Redemption. In addition to salary we get 100% of revenue less distribution. So not only did we get to draw salary during development, now we get all the sales revenue and we own the IP. It is a crazy good deal, nobody needs to donate anything.
It is basically like you get a bunch of VC money and also the VC's have no equity interest.
The problem comes in when someone who is unqualified tries to middleman the operation and takes a bunch of money but is totally incapable of doing what they said they would do. Now they both don't have enough money to actually get the shit done at cost, and don't want to give away all the equity. The biggest problem though is that they are unqualified to discern who is capable of doing the task because they don't know anything about how to actually do things. So they fritter away the money and then the project falls apart.
Have you written software for motion controls before? Like not gestures, but actual physical motion? I expect they quickly found out that Wiimote+[0] is not good enough for swordfighting the way they wanted it. Nothing on the consumer market is. The Razer Hydra came closest, which is why the thing they released wound up targeting it, but even then it was hard to find and too unreliable in typical use for a fun experience. (Now that the STEM is finally shipping, this may have changed.)
It's a garbage-in, garbage-out scenario that is really, really hard to solve in software. And come on, why am I explaining this to you? Why are there zero compelling or realistic Wii/U sword games?
It also doesn't sound like you've put any thought into the challenge of simulating realistic swordplay as a generic engine that supports different historically accurate fighting styles, with all the nitty physics, kinematics, and for that matter historical issues to be dealt with.
But I don't know why I'm having to defend the concept that software costs money. I think I'll just quote Neal's apology:
"Members of the team made large personal contributions of time and money to the project before, during, and after the Kickstarter phase. Some members, when all is said and done, absorbed significant financial losses. I am one of them; that has been my way of taking responsibility for this. The team had considerable incentives--emotional and financial--to see CLANG move on to the next round of funding. They showed intense dedication and dogged focus that I think most of our backers would find moving if the whole story were told. I will forever be grateful to them. In the end, however, additional fundraising efforts failed and forced the team to cut their losses and disband in search of steady work." https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/260688528/clang/posts/9...
These were intelligent people, working with passion, on something hard. I'm glad your Kickstarter was a success, but maybe a little humility is called for.
[0] As in accelerometer+gyro, in general. It's fundamentally flawed, and you can't buy your way out of it with better parts.
It's a garbage-in, garbage-out scenario that is really, really hard to solve in software. And come on, why am I explaining this to you? Why are there zero compelling or realistic Wii/U sword games?
It also doesn't sound like you've put any thought into the challenge of simulating realistic swordplay as a generic engine that supports different historically accurate fighting styles, with all the nitty physics, kinematics, and for that matter historical issues to be dealt with.
But I don't know why I'm having to defend the concept that software costs money. I think I'll just quote Neal's apology:
"Members of the team made large personal contributions of time and money to the project before, during, and after the Kickstarter phase. Some members, when all is said and done, absorbed significant financial losses. I am one of them; that has been my way of taking responsibility for this. The team had considerable incentives--emotional and financial--to see CLANG move on to the next round of funding. They showed intense dedication and dogged focus that I think most of our backers would find moving if the whole story were told. I will forever be grateful to them. In the end, however, additional fundraising efforts failed and forced the team to cut their losses and disband in search of steady work." https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/260688528/clang/posts/9...
These were intelligent people, working with passion, on something hard. I'm glad your Kickstarter was a success, but maybe a little humility is called for.
[0] As in accelerometer+gyro, in general. It's fundamentally flawed, and you can't buy your way out of it with better parts.
Wait this is even worse. They didn't even build any hardware at all. So just to be clear in less then a year they spent half a million and used other peoples hardware and didn't even have a real gameplay demo.
"It also doesn't sound like you've put any thought into the challenge of simulating realistic swordplay as a generic engine that supports different historically accurate fighting styles, with all the nitty physics, kinematics, and for that matter historical issues to be dealt with."
You are controlling the sword so I'm not really sure what you mean. You need to mocap a bunch of moves from someone fighting in a historic style for the AI and then have the AI randomly jump between a half dozen attack sequences. Before our kickstarter we had a great animator and a bunch of playstation eyes and were able to get good motorcycle fighting animations for a price in the thousands.
I'm sorry but this project was obviously mismanaged. The extreme detail that went into designing the arenas seemed to consume all the resources of the project. Look at the videos of what they had. It is like 100% artistic detail and 0% gameplay.
"It also doesn't sound like you've put any thought into the challenge of simulating realistic swordplay as a generic engine that supports different historically accurate fighting styles, with all the nitty physics, kinematics, and for that matter historical issues to be dealt with."
You are controlling the sword so I'm not really sure what you mean. You need to mocap a bunch of moves from someone fighting in a historic style for the AI and then have the AI randomly jump between a half dozen attack sequences. Before our kickstarter we had a great animator and a bunch of playstation eyes and were able to get good motorcycle fighting animations for a price in the thousands.
I'm sorry but this project was obviously mismanaged. The extreme detail that went into designing the arenas seemed to consume all the resources of the project. Look at the videos of what they had. It is like 100% artistic detail and 0% gameplay.
Sorry, I don't know a lot about these things but it's clear to me now I know more than you do. Its really unkind to speak with presumed expertise about things you're not expert in, and accordingly I'm not interested in talking about this with you any more.
Congratulations on shipping a game. I mean it, that's real. I haven't done that. But stay humble.
Congratulations on shipping a game. I mean it, that's real. I haven't done that. But stay humble.
Just to be clear. I do think the accelerometer/hardware part would be very difficult. I also think the software side of that would be super hard which is why I'm guessing it would take over a year once you have the hardware. In fact because it is so hard I think the first way I would approach a solution would be with an ensemble machine learning solution leaning on random forests because they are quite fast and Random Forests is the ML algo I have had the most success with in the past, and then try and post process that. If that worked I would probably have users individually generate their forests during a calibration when the game starts.
I have 2 more ideas if that doesn't work well. Though I would probably end up combining all the ideas in another weighted ensemble on top.
The game part of this however is not really that complex and could be done on a regular schedule.
I have 2 more ideas if that doesn't work well. Though I would probably end up combining all the ideas in another weighted ensemble on top.
The game part of this however is not really that complex and could be done on a regular schedule.
The extreme detail that went into designing the arenas seemed to consume all the resources of the project.
Let me guess, every arena had a bike shed off to one side?
Let me guess, every arena had a bike shed off to one side?
Look at the arenas, they are beautiful. They have cloth objects blowing in the wind. Everything looks like it was custom made from scratch.
"Let me guess, every arena had a bike shed off to one side?"
I'm guessing that was a shot at Road Redemption, and I do wish the art was better, but having a huge art team to make 50+ miles of track from scratch would cost a lot more than 150k, and leave no money for making the actual game. We used a lot of premade assets from turbosquid and the unity asset store. We used EZRoads to make all the tracks except the rooftop levels. Most of the animations we had to mocap/animate ourselves though because there just are not a lot of solid on motorcycle animations available.
The point is that we actually made a game and it is pretty fun(90% user review score), and we did it with a lot less than 500k. Art does not make a video game. That is why I am saying the clang project was mismanaged. The art they made is beautiful, and looks like it is all custom. They could've easily gotten 90% of that from the asset store and it would be worse, but it would also cost less than $1000. Then they have at least 400k left to make the game. The problem they had to solve was difficult, but with 400k they should've been able to make something awesome.
"Let me guess, every arena had a bike shed off to one side?"
I'm guessing that was a shot at Road Redemption, and I do wish the art was better, but having a huge art team to make 50+ miles of track from scratch would cost a lot more than 150k, and leave no money for making the actual game. We used a lot of premade assets from turbosquid and the unity asset store. We used EZRoads to make all the tracks except the rooftop levels. Most of the animations we had to mocap/animate ourselves though because there just are not a lot of solid on motorcycle animations available.
The point is that we actually made a game and it is pretty fun(90% user review score), and we did it with a lot less than 500k. Art does not make a video game. That is why I am saying the clang project was mismanaged. The art they made is beautiful, and looks like it is all custom. They could've easily gotten 90% of that from the asset store and it would be worse, but it would also cost less than $1000. Then they have at least 400k left to make the game. The problem they had to solve was difficult, but with 400k they should've been able to make something awesome.
No, not a shot at Road Redemption! I'm not actually familiar with that game. Rather, it was an oblique suggestion that the Clang development process had fallen victim to the pathology of bikeshedding, in which non-technical people "contribute" in the only way they can, which is to say they change the color of the bike shed, over and over again. The point of Clang was not to have really nice arenas.
>just because you're Neal Stephenson doesn't mean people will give you money to make a sword fighting video game.
Infact, that is specifically why I funded that kickstarter.
Infact, that is specifically why I funded that kickstarter.
Yeah, me too... Unfortunately neither of us gave him nearly enough to make a difference.
Did you receive any refund?
They shipped something similar enough to what they said they'd ship that the project was a nominal success, but far enough from what people wanted that nobody's very happy about it. (AKA, a Kickstarter.)
... but, uh, what is the technology? What are you giving your money for? The website is pretty mystifying.
guesses based on analysis and conjecture: imagine a tiny projector which is tracking your eyes (and surrounding light conditions), and can project a 3d light field, rather than a 2d image onto them. With this device you could create the perception that you're looking at something in the real world which just ain't there. Hence the flying whales and tiny elephants n' such. It's a AR/VR/Display technology.
They will basically replace customer's eyeballs with a couple of optical fibers wired directly into the visual regions of the brain. (just kidding)
Is the blog down? I only see a picture of a submarine hovering above a street!
[deleted]
This sounds so fake it is ridiculous. They hired a sci-fi author...come on.
Stephenson has some roots in tech too. Second Life, arguably the most successful modifiable MMO-environment, was based on his vision of the Metaverse. One Laptop Per Child was influenced by his ideas in The Diamond Age (and a side project, Nell, was directly inspired by it). In the Beginning was the Command Line was an excellent non-fiction work of his surveying OS evolution. His books in general have a heavy technological focus.
I mean, I hear you, but this is more like Arthur C. Clarke joining a spaceflight organization. Yes, he's coming at it from a different direction, but plainly he's got some valid ideas because other people keep implementing them, directly or otherwise.
I mean, I hear you, but this is more like Arthur C. Clarke joining a spaceflight organization. Yes, he's coming at it from a different direction, but plainly he's got some valid ideas because other people keep implementing them, directly or otherwise.
I know, what possible use could a company with game designer postings on its website have for someone who writes fiction? (science or otherwise...)
Hiring a sci-fi author is not that odd. Lots of sci-fi authors have done proper consultancy gigs for serious organisations.
--- Here’s where you’re probably expecting the sales pitch about how mind-blowingly awesome the demo was. But it’s a little more interesting than that. Yes, I saw something on that optical table I had never seen before--something that only Magic Leap, as far as I know, is capable of doing. And it was pretty cool. But what fascinated me wasn’t what Magic Leap had done but rather what it was about to start doing.
Magic Leap is mustering an arsenal of techniques--some tried and true, others unbelievably advanced--to produce a synthesized light field that falls upon the retina in the same way as light reflected from real objects in your environment. Depth perception, in this system, isn’t just a trick played on the brain by showing it two slightly different images.
Most of the work to be done is in applied physics, with a sizable dollop of biology--for there’s no way to make this happen without an intimate understanding of how the eye sees, and the brain assembles a three-dimensional model of reality. I’m fascinated by the science, but not qualified to work on it. Where I hope I can be of use is in thinking about what to do with this tech once it is available to the general public. "Chief Futurist" runs the risk of being a disembodied brain on a stick. I took the job on the understanding that I would have the opportunity to get a few things done. ---