In the past three years, when it comes to AR and MR, it is hard not to mention Magic Leap. The Florida startup is valued at $4.5 billion and has received investments of up to $1.4 billion, such as Google, Alibaba, Google and other tech giants. It is its investor. Some analysts predict that by 2020, the AR and vR market will reach $162 billion.
Magic Leap released several videos on Youtube. In the end, these videos were found to be the result of special effects synthesis, not real shooting. The effect is synthetic, but the idea is achievable. Magic Leap actually has prototypes, but it's huge, like a refrigerator, and it needs to connect a lot of cables. However, in the concept video, the Magic Leap is a helmet-sized device with a wireless design that allows the user to walk freely.
Former employees of Magic Leap said that the exciting descriptions in the early demos will no longer appear in commercial versions.
Foreign media The InformaTIon reported that Magic Leap encountered some problems in miniaturizing the fiber-scanning screen, which could not be applied to a wearable device. Now, Magic Leap is trying to use another technology, hoping to build a fiber-optic scanning screen into a glasses-sized device. Magic Leap officially declined to disclose further information, but previously mentioned that silicon photons may be used in hardware.
Although Magic Leap has made huge investments, due to technical problems, the products have not been launched so far. Rony Abovitz, CEO of Magic Leap, once said on the blog that he has completed PEQ products and is about to work on supply chain, manufacturing and product monitoring.
However, he did not mention the performance of the device, nor did he explicitly tell the PEQ device whether it could achieve the effect in the demo. Last week, Magic Leap’s head of public relations announced his departure.
It doesn't matter if many details of Magic Leap are not announced. We approached other AR/MR startups to learn about their technology and their views on Magic Leap. Their general view is that they want to realistically conceptualize the concept, but they will encounter difficulties in the process of implementation.
Everything is related to FOV
The Oxford-based startup WaveOpTIcs is working on a technology that will solve the problem that has plagued Magic Leap for years – the quality and scalability of display technology.
Sumanta Talukdar, CEO of WaveOpTIcs, said: "Many people have described the paradox of AR, talk about the future of AR, and talk about the potential application of AR technology, but no one is focusing on how this technology should be developed and how to solve it."
Sumanta Talukda said that what WaveOpTIcs is doing now is to solve problems for the entire industry.
Instead of scanning and projection, WaveOptics uses waveguide holography to work with photonic crystals that operate and draw nanoscale light. This technology makes the hologram more stable, clear and bright. The most important thing is that it can ensure the weight of the device, ergonomic design requirements, without the use of cumbersome prisms, mirrors or some scarce materials, but also lower power. Consumption.
WaveOptics has a headline called Ghost, but the company didn't plan to make it a consumer device, but hoped that developers could help build and test the technology. The Ghost head took 10 months to develop. We were deeply impressed when we tried it. When I turned around quickly or facing the window, the hologram was still very clear, and the color was still bright and unaffected.
It is worth mentioning that because the Ghost head display uses a fully transparent screen, the field of view is very broad and wider than HoloLen.
Unlike Magic Leap, WaveOptics has hired a number of experts in the past three years to work hard to develop technology. David Grey is the Chief Technology Officer. He has 25 years of experience in optical design, imaging and lighting. He was the optical director of the BAE system.
WaveOptics said that several partners are currently trying to integrate their screen technology into their products. When the first round of financing is completed, they will move their operations to the US.
When we asked how to look at HoloLens, the other party said that it did not intend to compete with HoloLens or other devices, they hope that this technology can be integrated into the partner's equipment to enhance FOV.
Microsoft HoloLens's largest partner
After the Magic Leap video fraud incident was exposed, we went to the Microsoft Vancouver office to visit. The city's AR sacred place, there are many creative and technical geniuses. For the Magic Leap incident, my friend refused to comment, but he showed us a first-person AR game demo, mainly humans and aliens, and looks like Magic Leap video.
Unlike Magic Leap, Microsoft has made a major strategic investment in AR technology, with a long-term view on the line. In addition to the narrow FOV, HoloLens has no problems. The device is comfortable to wear, light in weight, wireless, and the hologram is clear and responsive. That kind of feeling can only be understood by the people who have experienced it.
Of course, playing HoloLens is not the main purpose of my trip to Vancouver. My visit to Microsoft is to understand HoloLens's biggest partner and the first partner, Finger Food Studios. The company covers an area of ​​7,600 square meters and is equipped with full-size trucks, full-size holograms, shipping containers and more.
Ryan Peterson, founder and CEO of Finger Food Studios, tells us that they are the world's largest holographic design and development studio with more than 100 employees and a rapidly expanding scale. Unlike Magic Leap, their operations are all self-sufficient and work with a number of customers, such as truck manufacturer Paccar, which uses holographic technology to increase design efficiency.
Ryan Peterson said that AR technology is nothing to understand, is a booming industry, and the future will change the world.
Do not grow into a forest
From tens of dollars in cardboard equipment to WaveOptics' FOV screen to Finger Food's holographic technology, all of this proves that AR has a very bright future. However, we must be aware that all of these companies, including Microsoft, believe that the future cannot be created by themselves. They believe that a good partnership can solve problems and create the future, which means that we need to be open. A tree does not form a large forest.
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