Magic Leap reportedly slashes jobs and steps away from consumer plans

Post by mumblemumble » Wed, Apr 22, 2020, 9:59 PM UTC

jkestner wrote: post #221

mumblemumble wrote: post #96

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It seems a bit like the home console version of the Neo Geo to me. Once upon a time, I'd gladly shove large numbers of quarters into Neo Geo arcade cabinets. But when they stuck the hardware into a consumer model, with its huge price tag, my thought was, "If a rich friend bought one, I would enjoy playing with it at their house." I suspect that the big difference here is, this being 1990, SNK didn't have nearly as mu…

I had that rich friend with the Neo Geo. Yeah, I wonder if Magic Leap had started small and luxury, installing that Beast contraption with the undiluted experience to rich people, it could've grown more like Tesla. Of course, the Roadster ran on all the same roads, while whole new experiences have to be created for AR, but make a few great ones and it'll be like having a bowling lane in your house—you don't play with…

Post by firndbxisns » Wed, Apr 22, 2020, 10:04 PM UTC

jnsie wrote: post #149

gonehome wrote: post #88

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Supposedly the magic leap demo was actually cool and used different technology than the eventually crappy hardware they ended up sort of shipping. I think they couldn’t get it to a place where it could be small enough to be useful? Hopefully when Apple ships AR hardware for real it’ll be what it should be. Magic leap will be kind of like General Magic or the creative nomad jukebox - right idea but too early with hard…

> creative nomad jukebox Holy crap, the memories. I had the creative nomad jukebox and for years convinced myself if fit in the pockets of my jeans...it did...but it didn't. The folly of youth!?

Post by simonh » Wed, Apr 22, 2020, 10:05 PM UTC

gonehome wrote: post #253

simonh wrote: post #248

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I think Apple are shipping their AR hardware, mostly anyway. The iPhone and iPad are it, modulo enhancements like LIDAR. I really don’t see Apple bringing out a headset. I’m not even sure it’s a technology problem. People just don’t want to walk around with cameras and LIDAR and goofy goggles on their faces, not at Apple scale anyway, possibly ever. It’s a fundamentally flawed concept. Specialist applications sure. M…

I think they're definitely working on something: https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/apple-glasses/ No idea when it will be a viable product in a nice enough hardware package, they're working on the ecosystem and platform in the mean time via iOS/iPadOS, but AR via those devices is a lot less compelling. Doing this in a real way would be big if the hardware is possible, but it may be a ways out.

Post by mumblemumble » Wed, Apr 22, 2020, 10:10 PM UTC

kd5bjo wrote: post #169

vikramkr wrote: post #151

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They're toys that a lot of people use as their primary methods of transport, along with other micro mobility solutions like electric scooters amd good old fashioned bikes. In a way, the future took the path of least resistance and redesigned micromobility around cities instead. And we might still end up redesigning cities around some of those options The segways itself doesnt make much sense to me though. I dont reme…

> I'm still unclear about what it was supposed to be able to do that an electrified scooter or bike couldn't. Segways have much better low-speed handling characteristics than bicycles, which makes them safer to intermix with pedestrians: Travelling at a slow amble speed in a crowded environment is extremely difficult on a bicycle, but no big deal for a Segway (or similar)

Post by threeseed » Wed, Apr 22, 2020, 10:17 PM UTC

simonh wrote: post #275

gonehome wrote: post #253

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I think they're definitely working on something: https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/apple-glasses/ No idea when it will be a viable product in a nice enough hardware package, they're working on the ecosystem and platform in the mean time via iOS/iPadOS, but AR via those devices is a lot less compelling. Doing this in a real way would be big if the hardware is possible, but it may be a ways out.

Interesting link, thanks. It looks like all their acquisitions and hires, at least the ones linked there, are on the capture, interface and authoring tools side. The only actual mention of a headset were of glasses with a camera, presumably for environment scanning, but using a phone as the display. I really could be wrong, but every time I start writing something where I hedge my bets it just doesn’t feel right. My…