For years we’ve been hearing about how highly secretive mixed reality pioneer Magic Leap was going to change the world. About how their proprietary technology would beam images directly into our eyes and make it so that we wouldn’t be able to distinguish augmented reality from real life. About how it would make our lives easier and improve every conceivable walk of life.
So far we haven’t really seen a single bit of evidence that would convince us that the hype is real. Either this is the most expensive rouse of all-time or the technology is so advanced that it’s taking longer than expected to emerge from its developmental cocoon, lest it come out too soon and befell a similar fate to the ahead-of-its-time Google Glass.
All that’s about to change though for we may finally have an inkling of what a Magic Leap infused future would look like. And I have to admit that it sounds pretty cool.
As the Verge reports,
“What’s more interesting is that [founder Rony] Abovitz believes volumetric video — a way of capturing video as 3D objects and scenes — will be live-streamed to people’s faces within a relatively short period of time, and that the kind of cameras used to make this happen will eventually replace traditional broadcast cameras.
In an interview with The Verge, Abovitz said that within ‘two to five years,’ it will be technically possible for people wearing Magic Leap goggles to watch an NBA game (or other media) live, but in a holographic, interactive form.
‘You can stream over the top and to the screens, the virtual screens — you can do that now,’ he said. ‘We’re looking at, how do you derive the information to move the volumetric stuff from that? And then, how do you do volumetric live-streaming as well … if you time where processing power is going, particularly backends, you’re single-digit years away from that happening.’”
Personally, I think his time-frame of two to five years is a little bit too ambitious. Regular Magic Leap goggles may not even be mainstream in that time yet alone holographic volumetric video live streaming capabilities. But that’s just semantics at this point. If this technology is really single-digit years away from happening this could be a real game-changer for the entertainment industry. After all, why attend games live in person when the action could literally unfold right in your living room. Magic Leap may soon be worth the wait after all.
Is Volumetric Video the Greatest Idea Ever?
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