14 ms·

So... Can we buy the product?

by pwaivers 9y ago

TremendousJudge 9y ago
It just says "shipping in 2018". I still feel like Magic Leap is vaporware for some reason
- cinquemb 9y ago
  It also says "Product is continually advancing and may be different at time of shipment", which makes me wonder what is going on.
- cryptoz 9y ago
  Magic Leap promised a completely goggles-free AR experience. You could load up hundreds of people in a room and show them AR demos. You could be on a beach and watch a communal AR event with thousands of people. You could teach in a classroom without any kinds of headgear or goggles or anything. Magic Leap is 100% vapourware, even if they release some headset. Magic Leap are liars and cheaters and full of BS vapourwear claims until they release their Magic Leap thing with no headset that gives perfect AR to everyone. Until that day they are liars and cheats. Edit: Source, magicleap.com circa 2015 or so. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402084910/http://www.magicleap.com/#/home https://web.archive.org/web/20150402084910/http://www.magicl...
  - Ajedi32 9y ago
    > Magic Leap promised a completely goggles-free AR experience Nowhere on that page does it say anything about "goggles-free AR". Heck, the page is so vague it's not even 100% clear it's talking about AR at all. If you went and misinterpreted that vague marketing teaser as a promise of pie-in-the-sky technology, that's on you.
    - abritinthebay 9y ago
      Their early promotional material sure implied that strongly. They may have a cool product but they over-hyped the hell out of themselves three years ago and they don't even have physical units to demo yet. That's a massive marketing failure.
      - Ajedi32 9y ago
        I think most of the hype was coming from uninformed bystanders, not Magic Leap themselves. Magic Leap revealed almost nothing about what they were working on until just a couple months ago; before then all we had to go on were rumors, statements from people who demoed some early prototypes, and a couple incredibly vague teasers from Magic Leap hinting at what they were doing. If it weren't for the fact that they made headlines after receiving massive amounts of funding from investors (including Google, which makes for great headlines), most of us probably would have never heard of them.
        abritinthebay 9y ago
        The marketing specifically showed viewers of their content not wearing any gear. For example: the famous whale splashing in a gym video. Unless you’re arguing that Magic Leap themselves were uninformed bystanders to their own marketing videos... that’s simply not true.
        Ajedi32 9y ago
        The early marketing showed _nothing_. No images or descriptions of actual hardware, not even a straightforward explanation of what they're actually building. Again, if you went and interpreted that to mean "we invented a holographic projector" or "we invented glasses-free AR" or "we discovered a way to project forcefields strong enough to suspend whales in midair" that's on you.
- Taniwha 9y ago
  The thing is that if they are real they'll be doing exactly this developer play right about now - a compelling product without any software at release would result in a lot of disappointed early adopters - you can't use this as a proof for (or against) vaporware It's worth noting that Weta just announced yesterday that they are jumping in with both feet https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/352809/weta-expands-into-gaming-sector https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/352809/weta-expands-...
  - drcode 9y ago
    For any serious company a "developer play" would mean shipping an api and DEVELOPER HARDWARE.
- Ajedi32 9y ago
  So they built an entire SDK complete with developer documentation, Unreal Engine plugins, guidance on UX design, etc, but the hardware is vaporware? Seems rather unlikely to me at this point.
  - rebuilder 9y ago
    Well, if it keeps investors aboard. That's what a company desperately scrambling to reach a goal that seems attainable but keeps slipoing out of reach might look like. Theranos comes to mind...
  - TremendousJudge 9y ago
    are there any examples of anything built with this tech? successful platforms usually come with apps built with them
    - Ajedi32 9y ago
      This is the first public release of the SDK. Nobody's had an opportunity to build anything on the platform before now, other than ML themselves.
ZenoArrow 9y ago
The product doesn't exist. The only image of the device on that Creator page is a 3D render: https://www.magicleap.com/_next/images/e14acd33a1d6136786b0bc78feecddca.jpg https://www.magicleap.com/_next/images/e14acd33a1d6136786b0b... Ask yourself why a company would only release a 3D render when it's meant to be finished before the end of the year ("Shipping in 2018").
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- robeastham 9y ago
  I'm a bit fed up of the childish negativity that always seems to be sent in Magic Leap's general direction. Instead of putting energy into this I'd suggest pointing the energy towards creating something yourself. To the Magic Leap Team - I am a believer :-) especially if you nail the stuff that others don't focus on like smooth interaction models (i.e. voice, gesture, 6DOF mobile controller etc.)
  - leggomylibro 9y ago
    It's less negativity and more caution. People have been burned by early adoption of breathlessly-advertised tech before. People claim that their products can solve all sorts of interesting problems every day, and it's easy to get excited. But if they cannot demonstrate that their product actually can do what they say it does, then people are going to get suspicious. Combine the lack of transparency with the long lead times that consumer hardware devices tend to have, and people will start wondering why nobody has been allowed to interact with a live demo of the product when it's supposed to be available to anyone within 9 months. Everyone wants a product like this to work, but we're also worried about getting taken in by little more than slick marketing; that's how you get companies like Theranos.
  - cmiles74 9y ago
    I disagree that it's childish. Magic Leap hasn't been clear on what they are actually demonstrating in their demonstration videos. They started out with some really bold claims and have been gradually scaling them back into something more reasonable (and less unique). In my opinion, the skepticism is well earned.
evo_9 9y ago
Not yet, but the rumored 2k+ price tag should temper most peoples rush to buy one so it's unlikely to be sold out immediately like the Switch for example. Craziest part of this is it just might be worth it.

So... Can we buy the product?

TremendousJudge 9y ago

It just says "shipping in 2018". I still feel like Magic Leap is vaporware for some reason

cinquemb 9y ago
It also says "Product is continually advancing and may be different at time of shipment", which makes me wonder what is going on.
cryptoz 9y ago
Magic Leap promised a completely goggles-free AR experience. You could load up hundreds of people in a room and show them AR demos. You could be on a beach and watch a communal AR event with thousands of people. You could teach in a classroom without any kinds of headgear or goggles or anything. Magic Leap is 100% vapourware, even if they release some headset. Magic Leap are liars and cheaters and full of BS vapourwear claims until they release their Magic Leap thing with no headset that gives perfect AR to everyone. Until that day they are liars and cheats. Edit: Source, magicleap.com circa 2015 or so. https://web.archive.org/web/20150402084910/http://www.magicleap.com/#/home https://web.archive.org/web/20150402084910/http://www.magicl...
- Ajedi32 9y ago
  > Magic Leap promised a completely goggles-free AR experience Nowhere on that page does it say anything about "goggles-free AR". Heck, the page is so vague it's not even 100% clear it's talking about AR at all. If you went and misinterpreted that vague marketing teaser as a promise of pie-in-the-sky technology, that's on you.
  - abritinthebay 9y ago
    Their early promotional material sure implied that strongly. They may have a cool product but they over-hyped the hell out of themselves three years ago and they don't even have physical units to demo yet. That's a massive marketing failure.
    - Ajedi32 9y ago
      I think most of the hype was coming from uninformed bystanders, not Magic Leap themselves. Magic Leap revealed almost nothing about what they were working on until just a couple months ago; before then all we had to go on were rumors, statements from people who demoed some early prototypes, and a couple incredibly vague teasers from Magic Leap hinting at what they were doing. If it weren't for the fact that they made headlines after receiving massive amounts of funding from investors (including Google, which makes for great headlines), most of us probably would have never heard of them.
      - abritinthebay 9y ago
        The marketing specifically showed viewers of their content not wearing any gear. For example: the famous whale splashing in a gym video. Unless you’re arguing that Magic Leap themselves were uninformed bystanders to their own marketing videos... that’s simply not true.
        Ajedi32 9y ago
        The early marketing showed _nothing_. No images or descriptions of actual hardware, not even a straightforward explanation of what they're actually building. Again, if you went and interpreted that to mean "we invented a holographic projector" or "we invented glasses-free AR" or "we discovered a way to project forcefields strong enough to suspend whales in midair" that's on you.
Taniwha 9y ago
The thing is that if they are real they'll be doing exactly this developer play right about now - a compelling product without any software at release would result in a lot of disappointed early adopters - you can't use this as a proof for (or against) vaporware It's worth noting that Weta just announced yesterday that they are jumping in with both feet https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/352809/weta-expands-into-gaming-sector https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/352809/weta-expands-...
- drcode 9y ago
  For any serious company a "developer play" would mean shipping an api and DEVELOPER HARDWARE.
Ajedi32 9y ago
So they built an entire SDK complete with developer documentation, Unreal Engine plugins, guidance on UX design, etc, but the hardware is vaporware? Seems rather unlikely to me at this point.
- rebuilder 9y ago
  Well, if it keeps investors aboard. That's what a company desperately scrambling to reach a goal that seems attainable but keeps slipoing out of reach might look like. Theranos comes to mind...
- TremendousJudge 9y ago
  are there any examples of anything built with this tech? successful platforms usually come with apps built with them
  - Ajedi32 9y ago
    This is the first public release of the SDK. Nobody's had an opportunity to build anything on the platform before now, other than ML themselves.

ZenoArrow 9y ago

The product doesn't exist. The only image of the device on that Creator page is a 3D render: https://www.magicleap.com/_next/images/e14acd33a1d6136786b0bc78feecddca.jpg https://www.magicleap.com/_next/images/e14acd33a1d6136786b0b... Ask yourself why a company would only release a 3D render when it's meant to be finished before the end of the year ("Shipping in 2018").

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
robeastham 9y ago
I'm a bit fed up of the childish negativity that always seems to be sent in Magic Leap's general direction. Instead of putting energy into this I'd suggest pointing the energy towards creating something yourself. To the Magic Leap Team - I am a believer :-) especially if you nail the stuff that others don't focus on like smooth interaction models (i.e. voice, gesture, 6DOF mobile controller etc.)
- leggomylibro 9y ago
  It's less negativity and more caution. People have been burned by early adoption of breathlessly-advertised tech before. People claim that their products can solve all sorts of interesting problems every day, and it's easy to get excited. But if they cannot demonstrate that their product actually can do what they say it does, then people are going to get suspicious. Combine the lack of transparency with the long lead times that consumer hardware devices tend to have, and people will start wondering why nobody has been allowed to interact with a live demo of the product when it's supposed to be available to anyone within 9 months. Everyone wants a product like this to work, but we're also worried about getting taken in by little more than slick marketing; that's how you get companies like Theranos.
- cmiles74 9y ago
  I disagree that it's childish. Magic Leap hasn't been clear on what they are actually demonstrating in their demonstration videos. They started out with some really bold claims and have been gradually scaling them back into something more reasonable (and less unique). In my opinion, the skepticism is well earned.

evo_9 9y ago

Not yet, but the rumored 2k+ price tag should temper most peoples rush to buy one so it's unlikely to be sold out immediately like the Switch for example. Craziest part of this is it just might be worth it.