Reality, enhanced
Recently announced is the developer edition of the Magic Leap One, a mixed reality headset and potable computer that sounds really interesting. Development of the device, which includes glasses-like headgear, a wireless controller, and a clip-on computer, has been quite secretive, but now the site is live and detailing exactly what the device will do.
Using something called 'digital lightfield technology', the Magic Leap One projects objects and screens onto your 'true' view of the world, which then will react to that world. Therefore a character in a game, for example, won't walk through a wall or floor, and screens will stick to walls and stay there, regardless of how you move through the environment.
This sounds great, not just because this seems like a vast improvement over existing augmented reality, but also because the Magic Leap One will be be completely untethered from a computer or phone. We're not sure how weighty that clip-on unit will be, but gaming on it will certainly be fun. The first sets will ship from early 2018, with a mainstream version planned for later in the year.
Find out more at www.magicleap.com