Angry Birds Gets a Mixed Reality Makeover for Magic Leap One

Resolution Games has already made a name for itself in the virtual reality (VR) industry with videogames like Bait!, Wonderglade and Narrows, while Rovio Entertainment has yet to enter the immersive market. That’s going to change soon enough, with both companies collaboration on a new mixed reality (MR) experience for the Magic Leap One Creators Edition headset, Angry Birds FPS: First Person Slingshot.

Angry Birds: First Person Slingshot

Bringing its insanely popular mobile title to the new MR device, Rovio’s Angry Birds FPS: First Person Slingshot will put players inside the Angry Birds universe like never before, providing a first-person slingshot to let them see animated characters and objects overlaid onto their actual environment.

Keeping with the tried and tested format everyone knows where you get to fling various coloured birds – each with their own unique ability – at a range of green pig filled buildings, just this time in 3D.

Kati Levoranta, CEO at Rovio Entertainment, commented in a statement: “We’re excited to expand the Angry Birds brand and universe to new and emerging platforms like Magic Leap, delivering fans a unique way to engage with their favorite characters. Resolution Games has done an incredible job bringing Angry Birds to life in a new experience that will let players see and feel what it’s like to battle the pigs like never before.”

Angry Birds: First Person Slingshot

“It has been an incredible experience bringing Rovio’s massively successful and beloved entertainment franchise to mixed reality,” said Tommy Palm, CEO of Resolution Games. “Developing for the Magic Leap platform was a very unique and inspiring process for our team, and we’re confident fans will love how the game is brought to life.”

Rovio and Resolution Games will be releasing Angry Birds FPS: First Person Slingshot for Magic Leap One Creators Edition this Fall. This follows a similar announcement by Funomena yesterday regarding its fairy tale experience Luna: Moondust Garden, also coming to the headset in the next couple of months. Due to the expense and limited availability of the headset, the audience is going to be very small, but they should showcase what Magic Leap One Creators Edition is capable of. For further updates on Angry Birds FPS: First Person Slingshot, keep reading VRFocus.

Funomena To Bring Fairy Tale Luna: Moondust Garden to Magic Leap One

Having created beautiful fairy tale experience Luna for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and most recently PlayStation VR, developer Funomena has today revealed a new project based on the virtual reality (VR) title, Luna: Moondust Garden.

Luna: Moondust Garden isn’t a VR experience however, with Funomena developing it exclusively for the Magic Leap One Creators Edition.

Designed as a playful extension of the original Luna: Moondust Garden brings a new story from Bird and Owl’s charming forest, with players able to explore the storybook world from a new mixed reality (MR). Using Magic Leap’s technology users can plant and tend a variety of plants, flowers, trees and islands within their physical space, sprinkling moondust on the plants and flowers to help them grow and transform.

Hidden throughout the forest, moondust needs to be discovered and collected, helping to build a beautiful garden so that the sad Fox will cheer up, come out and play.

Luna screenshot 2

To help developers working on Magic Leap One content Robin Hunicke, co-founder and CEO of Funomena and designer of Luna, will be at Magic Leap’s L.E.A.P. conference on 10th October to talk more about Luna: Moondust Garden, its design and development process , and how the team applied their original idea with Magic Leap’s spatial computing. During the session she will touch on the creative inspiration, design and best practices for developing experiences for emerging platforms such as AR and MR.

Luna has won numerous awards across the globe, including ones from Brazil’s Independent Game Festival, The Taipei Game Show, VRCORE Award in China, and the Windows Developer Award for Game Creator of the Year. VRFocus’ review found that it was an: ‘unusual marriage of interactivity and storytelling’ and ‘perfect for those who’ve got kids old enough to try VR and want to see what it’s all about.’

Luna: Moondust Garden will come to the Magic Leap One Creator Edition headset this fall. How many will actually get to play the experience on the expensive headset is another matter. For further updates keep reading VRFocus.

Magic Leap’s First Spatial Computing Event Heading to LA in October

The Magic Leap One Creator Edition finally arrived earlier this month and it received mixed opinions from those that have seen it – the lucky few in the US. Now that the hardware is officially out there needs to be some content, so Magic Leap needs creators, partners and from across the world to get together and consolidate their knowledge. And what better way than an event in Los Angeles, California, the L.E.A.P. Conference to be precise. 

Magic Leap One

Continuing Magic Leap’s trend for keeping secrets few details have been released regarding the L.E.A.P. Conference. It’ll take place between 8th – 9th October 2018, and will be focused on teaching and accelerating attendees knowledge of spatial computing. So hopefully at the end of the two days they’ll have learnt how to maximise the potential of the device.

Cryptically, Magic Leap has stated: “Expect some playtime with Magic Leap One, a sneak peek at some of our top-secret collaborations, and the chance to rub shoulders with the leading minds in mixed reality. We might even have a few surprises in store…”

If you already own the Magic Leap One Creator Edition and you want to learn more then head on over to the L.E.A.P. Conference website to signup.

Magic Leap One Reveal

At the moment the actual user base is going to be very small, not only because the Magic Leap One Creator Edition starts from $2,295 USD, but also only select cities in the US are actually eligible for delivery. It’ll be interesting to see if Magic Leap decide to release sales figures for what is essentially a development kit, and possibly years away from an actual consumer product.

The Magic Leap One system is comprised of three parts, the main headset (called Lightwear), a battery and processing unit termed ‘Lightpack’, and a 6 degrees of freedom (6DoF) movement controller. One of the biggest negatives seized upon regarding the headset was the field of view (FOV). Listed as 40 degrees horizontal by 30 degrees vertical its only just bigger than Microsoft’s HoloLens and much smaller than any VR headset.  When further details for the L.E.A.P. Conference are available VRFocus will let you know.

The New York Times Bringing Its Content To Magic Leap One Creator Edition

Ever since 2015, The New York Times has had a keen interest in immersive technology, and over the past few years VRFocus has diligently followed their trail. From partnering with Google to produce virtual reality (VR) related works for the Google Cardboard head-mounted device (HMD), to NYTVR and them producing daily 360 degree videos for the Samsung Gear VR. And of course from there onto their work with augmented reality (AR), such as experiences relating to the 2018 Winter Olympics, the war in Syria, and the eruption of the Fuego volcano.

Magic Leap One LightwearAll this being considered, it shouldn’t be that surprising that The New York Times has gotten out of the blocks early by just announced it will be bringing its brand content to the Magic Leap One Creator Edition, which received a surprise launch earlier today.

Utilising Magic Leap’s flagship mixed reality (MR) product, The New York Times will be bringing new content to the Magic Leap One, as well as items that you might already be familiar with. In fact, the first offering by the outlet will be an MR version of its AR experience relating to the volcanic eruption in Guatemala that was mentioned above, that will utilise Magic Leap’s web browser Helio.

New York Times“The New York Times is dedicated to helping people understand the world through unrivalled, on-the-ground, expert and deeply reported independent journalism.” Said Steve Duenes, the Assistant Managing Editor of The New York Times in a statement. “As we continue to integrate new forms of storytelling, like mixed reality, into our news report, we are able to bring Times journalism to readers in a way that makes it more immediate than ever before.”

The news comes out at the same time as the New York Times celebrates gaining $24 million (USD) in profit, thanks in part to its digital subscribers. As platforms for news change and how digital and print co-exist continues to evolve, traditional news outlets continue to look to new ways to secure eyeballs on their content – so it’s likely we’ll see more experiences from The New York Times before too long.

 

 

Magic Leap One To Launch Today [Updated]

There is still a great deal about Magic Leap and its flagship mixed reality (MR) product that we simple do not know, including the full specifications and capabilities of the Magic Leap One. However, thanks to some tantalising hints on the official Magic Leap website, we might now know the launch date.

The founder of Magic Leap, Rony Abovitz emerged from an extended period of silence to tweet some pictures which featured images such as leaping whales and a launching rocketship, some of which contained hints to the company’s plans.

The image that Abovitz is now using as his Twitter banner image contains the numbers 8-8-18, while the official Magic Leap website shows a rocketship preparing for launch. Analysts have quickly put these things together to conclude that either the company will announce details of the launch today, or the Magic Leap One Creator’s Edition will actually launch today.

Many people who are interested in the technology are keeping a close eye on the Magic Leap website today to see if there are any further developments.

It was also announced this week at Magic Leap’s Vice President of Marketing, Jeff Gattis, was leaving the company for unspecified ‘personal reasons’. Gattis had been with the company for over two and a half years, overseeing product management in addition to his marketing role.

The timing of Gattis departure becomes even more interesting if the Magic Leap One Creator’s Edition is indeed being launched today, as it means that the product is being launched with no one directly in control of marketing, which is arguably one of the most critical components of a product launch.

Magic Leap One Lightwear 2

Magic Leap has also drawn attention recently from reports that the Field-of-View (FoV) for the device is a relatively unimpressive 40 degrees vertical by 30 degrees horizontal, with a 4:3 aspect ratio.

UPDATE: After many hours of frenzied speculation, the Unreal Engine official Twitter spilled the beans, announcing that the Magic Leap One Creator’s Edition was now available, and including a link to the site, where a Buy Now button was prominently displayed.
Despite this, the main Magic Leap webpage has yet to update, still showing the rocketship image with no links elsewhere.

Further Update: The price of the device has been confirmed as $2,295 (USD) and is available to creators in certain cities in the USA. A full list is not available, but those interested can check if they are eligible with the Zip Code checker.

For further coverage on Magic Leap, keep checking back with VRFocus.

AT&T Invests in Magic Leap, With In-store Demos Confirmed

Ever the investment sponge, Magic Leap has announced the completion of a Series D equity funding round, which has seen investment coming from AT&T. Additionally, this has also meant a strategic, exclusive US consumer relationship between the two companies that will see AT&T stores receive Magic Leap One units for demonstration.

Magic Leap One Lightwear 2

While the actual investment figure has been kept quiet, AT&T Communications CEO John Donovan now has observer rights with Magic Leap’s board.

“AT&T is excited to pair our pioneering technologies, unmatched network, content platform, and vast customer ecosystem with Magic Leap’s efforts to build the next generation of computing,” said AT&T Communications CEO John Donovan, who has observer rights with Magic Leap’s board. “We’re designing and offering the future of entertainment and connectivity, and this exclusive arrangement – in combination with our 5G leadership position – will open up new opportunities and experiences.”

The investment establishes AT&T as the exclusive wireless distributor of Magic Leap products for consumers in the US, with select AT&T stores in AtlantaBostonChicagoLos Angeles, and San Francisco to offer their customers a hands-on experience with the elusive headset. 

Magic Leap One Reveal

“We’ve joined with AT&T because we believe in a combined vision of expanding high-speed networks, edge computing, and deep integration with creative content,” said Rony Abovitz, Founder, President and CEO of Magic Leap. “Coupling the strength of the evolving AT&T network with Magic Leap’s spatial computing platform can transform computing experiences for people.”

Those in-store demos however aren’t likely to take place anytime soon. Magic Leap has confirmed it’ll begin shipping the Magic Leap One Creator Edition in 2018 to developers and studios. An actual consumer version may still be some way off, when that does happen AT&T will be the first to get hold of them by the sounds of it.

The Magic Leap One system is comprised of three parts, the main headset (called Lightwear), a battery and processing unit termed ‘Lightpack’, and a 6 degrees of freedom (6DoF) movement controller. No price has been announced for the system. When further details are available VRFocus will let you know.

Maigc Leap Publish Getting Started Details For Content Creators

As Magic Leap continue to prepare for the release of their upcoming augmented reality (AR) head-mounted display (HMD) the Magic Leap One, the company are now helping to get developers started with the platform through their Creator Portal. Now, the company have released a number of helpful Getting Started pieces to encourage more content creators, including those will no or little coding experience, to build experiences for the platform.

Magic Leap One Lightwear 2

Magic Leap One is designed to allow developers to take advantage of the technology and tools they are already familiar with and make it easy to develop for the new headset. Anyone who is family with engines such as Unity or Unreal or has experience in C++ using the native C++ API will be able to get started rather quick, according to Magic Leap. Sadly those who are hoping to use languages such as Phython, PET or FORTRAN will find they are not supported at this time but no matter where you are starting, Magic Leap are published an overview page.

For those who have no or not much experience in coding or developing for VR should not worry as Magic Leap have taken that into account. They recommend firstly taking a free online course for engines such as Unity or Unreal, including their own development portals, before then exploring the Magic Leap One Creator Portal to see how to transfer those skills over. In fact, the Creator Portal has been designed with that in mind and is said to be an accessible yet informative resource for content creators.

Magic Leap One

One of the bigger steps that Magic Leap are taking to ensure content creators can build experiences even without the Magic Leap One hardware is by building tools to allow for this. The Magic leap Remote is a program that allows developers to build and test code without needing to deploy to the hardware. In Unity and Unreal, developers will be able to make changes to the scene in Play or VR Preview mode and see the results immediately. This will provide a key resource for those still waiting for their Magic Leap One Creator Edition or for the final release of the hardware this Spring.

The Magic Leap One is set to release later this year and will bring a new, powerful AR solution to users around the world. As developers get ready for the launch by building countless experiences, Magic Leap are working to ensure their Creator Portal and resources are up to the challenge. For more information in the future, keep reading VRFocus.

Groove Jones Signs On As Magic Leap Early Access Developer

Virtual reality (VR) studio Groove Jones has previously worked with a number of companies and brands to produce 360-degree videos and VR content for both entertainment and promotional purposes. The company has now announced that it is working with Magic Leap as an Early Access Developer.

Magic Leap have raised over $4 billion (USD) in funding for the development of a set of augmented reality (AR) glasses that use Lightfield technology to create a seamless transition between the real and virtual. While the company have been cagey about its products, they have announced that Early Access partners are in the process of getting hold of the Magic Leap One development version.

Magic Leap Groove Jones

Groove Jones are one of the first companies to confirm they are working on developing for the hardware, and the news comes after Unity and Unreal Engine both confirmed that they were working on compatible versions of the respective engines for the Magic Leap One.

On its website, Groove Jones said that the Magic Leap One features a ‘robust sensor suite’ and that the hardware is capable of detecting surfaces, planes and objects, allowing for the real-world surroundings to be accurately mapped for integration into a virtual overlay. It is not currently known what types of content Groove Jones are working on for the hardware.

Groove Jones also announced the release of an updated version of its GrooveTech AR Object toolkit. The toolkit is designed for retailers, aiming to provide a competitive advantage by offering the ability for companies to places photo-realistic models of its products into any environment.

The new version of the toolkit allows for products to be rendered in highly realistic detail, using dynamic lighting to match the real environment. Tools allow users to place any object into any environment and customise various options such as colour, fabric or size. The GrooveTech AR Object Toolkit also now works with both Apple ARKit or Android ARCore.

Groove Jones AR Object Toolkit

Further information on the GrooveTech AR Object Toolkit can be found on the Groove Jones website. VRFocus will continue to bring you the latest on Magic Leap and other AR innovations.

Unity Teams With Magic Leap, Reveals Technical Preview

Hot on the heels of an announcement revealing that their rivals at Unreal Engine will be supporting Magic Leap; as revealed through Magic Leap releasing their developer Software Development Kit (SDK) for the Magic Leap One. Unity have also revealed they are to be supporting the highly discussed augmented reality (AR) headset.

Unity logoDiscussing the matter on the Official Unity Blog, the developers revealed that they were launching both the Unity Technical Preview and the Lumin SDK onto Magic Leap’s own creator portal. Also confirming that several big names that were part of Magic Leap’s collection of Early Access partners were already working to bring applications to the Magic Leap One using the Unity Engine. Those names included Weta Workshop and The Mill, which last year at this time was revealing its role as part of project with Chevrolet and Unreal Engine to produce real-time rendering.

Included Magic Leap features into the Technical Preview (by way of Lumin OS) include:

  • Instanced Single Pass Stereo Rendering
  • World Reconstruction, such as world meshing, semantic labelling of floors, ceilings, and walls, and ray casting to retrieve intersection points with the world’s depth data
  • Physical World Occlusion Culling
  • Eye tracking through fixation point position based on where the user is looking
  • Support for the Control, including 6DOF tracking, trackpad, and lighting
  • Audio specialisation providing fine control over the response of the audio based on user’s movement and audio source position
  • Recognize the user’s hand poses (gestures) and track the position of identifiable points on hands such as the tip of the index fingers
  • Track the position and orientation of specified static image targets in the user’s environment
  • Zero Iteration with Magic Leap Remote (More details below under “Get Started With the Device Simulator”)

Magic Leap One“As we look towards the future, 3D digital content will be the way we interact with the world.” Stated Unity in their blog. “Unity believes the world is a better place with more creators in it, and platforms such as Magic Leap will unleash new forms of creativity which we can’t wait to see. ”

VRFocus will be bringing you more news from this year’s Game Developers Conference throughout the week and will update you on further developments with the much-anticipated Magic Leap One in the near future.

 

Axel Springer Become Latest Investor in Magic Leap

With the announcement last December that the Magic Leap One Creator Edition hardware will begin shipping to select content developers and creators some time in 2018, there is much anticipation surrounding the grand reveal of the first product from secretive immersive technology company Magic Leap. Despite the lack of information available to the general public, technology companies and venture capitalists remain convinced about the future of Magic Leap, as demonstrated by the latest investor, Axel Springer.

Axel Springer Digital Ventures is a headquartered in Berlin and is one of the leading European publishers in Europe, covering areas of news media, classified adverts and marketing. The firm is active in over 40 countries and has an extensive portfolio of holdings in the USA, including well-known internet brands such as Business Insider and eMarketer.

Magic Leap One Reveal

Axel Springer revealed its intent to actively participate in the development of technology that will ‘present journalistic content and classifieds in new formats and environments’. Though the full technical details of the Magic Leap One headset are yet to be revealed, it is known that the headset will be using Light Field technology to project AR images on to the real-world, something that has considerable potential for journalistic and marketing applications.

The investment from Axel Springer goes alongside other funding injections from big names such as Google, Qualcomm and Warner Bros. Magic Leap have secured almost $2 billion in funding since the company was launched six years ago.

The Magic Leap One Creator’s Edition comes with the ‘Lightwear’ headset, the Lightpack processing and battery pack and a 6DoF controller. Full specifications for the device have yet to be revealed, but a Creator’s Portal for early adopters of the device is expected to be made available later this year, which will contain resources for developers and creators, such as a software development kit.

Magic Leap One Lightwear

Any further news on developments involving Magic Leap and its products or investments will be here on VRFocus.