Today at the Intel Developer Forum event in San Francisco, Intel revealed Project Alloy, an all-in-one mobile virtual reality headset which the company says will launch in 2017 as an “open platform.”

On stage at IDF 2016, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich unveiled the new headset during the opening keynote. The Alloy headset, which has fully on-board processing and sensors, is said to be capable of tetherless virtual reality, thanks to an ‘inside-out’ positional tracking solution which doesn’t rely on external trackers.

Photo courtesy Intel
Photo courtesy Intel

Tech specs on Project Alloy are slim for the time being, but the headset is said to have its own on-board processor (confirmed to be a “PC-class” 6th-generation Intel Core processor), as well as an array of the company’s ‘RealSense‘ cameras which handle a range of computer-processing functions.

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See Also: Oculus CTO Affirms Positional Tracking Priority for Gear VR

Intel says that, tanks to RealSense, the headset will be capable of hand-detection, and it’s likely that the cameras will also track the space surrounding the user in order to provide tracking data. The company also says the headset is capable of “collision detection and avoidance,” enabling users to traverse large volumes of space without running into walls and other objects.

We’ve seen inside-out positional tracking solutions attempted by a number of different companies; so far, we haven’t seen any that are robust or performant enough for real-world VR usage.

Intel further says that the headset will support mixed reality (which they’re calling “merged reality”), allowing applications to combine parts of the virtual world with the virtual world.

For now, Intel is tight lipped on specs like resolution, field of view, weight, and battery life. But the company says that Project Alloy will be released in 2017 as an open reference design, upon which partners can build their own branded headsets.

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Photo courtesy Intel
Photo courtesy Intel

With a ‘hanging’ head mount design, Project Alloy’s ergonomics are decidedly more like Sony’s PlayStation VR headset than the Oculus Rift of HTC Vive. That’s good news, as we’ve found Sony’s headset to be among the most comfortable out there.

IDF 2016 runs for the next two days, so we may see more of Project Alloy yet.

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Sebastien Mathieu

    and another headset in the bandwagon!!!, this is gonna be soooo confusing for the average users….

    • Should be OK if it works with Steam VR games, even better if Oculus supports it

    • kalqlate

      Nope. The “average” user will simply say, “Hmm… I use Windows at home and at work, and this thing runs Windows without a cord. Yes, I’ll take this one. Thanks!” HTC Vive will quickly evolve to this platform. Oculus, on the other hand, will do the wrong thing and spin their wheels trying to get Zuck his money back, but with Intel, Microsoft, all of their partners, and EVERY maker group around the world making their own Alloy headsets, Oculus will finally give in or perish.

      2017 will be a big test for Oculus. Not only is Alloy coming, but Google and partners will be introducing their Daydream Android-based headsets. And, if Apple throws their hat in the ring, the dominance Oculus was expecting will be far gone.

      • Bob

        I agree that Oculus need to pull their head out of their ass and start getting to work on the next iteration. It’s a shame to see the ones that revitalized virtual reality through crowdfunding are now at the back of the queue in terms of consumer interest. It’s almost guaranteed at this point that their research team is working hard on delivering a headset device with significantly improved resolution, which is still a problem for all vr devices including this one, and a much wider fov. The first company to deliver at least 4K resolution per eye and 180 degree field of view in a simple lightweight package with excellent ergonomics and a strong software infrastructure to boot will eventually lead the pack. Price may still be an issue but for a device with these kind of technical specifications it’s hard not to salivate for one. For some reason I have a feeling Facebook have got something cooking up their sleeves.

        • kalqlate

          With all the endless river of money they have backing them, I would hope Facebook has got something cooking. It had better be spicy and delicious.

          I think it’s too late for them to compete in the general market long term. What I see them doing instead is create Rift-exclusive access to the upcoming Facebook VR platform, a place where Facebook members can share their profiles and activities in slick and engaging VR environments, invite their friends into cool VR environments for immersive games and real-time telepresence activities, and to record VR activities/vlogs for later sharing.

          Given the billion+ users Facebook has, even if just 1% participate in Facebook VR, that will be 10 million Rift units sold in just one or two years. Estimating $100 profit on each sell of the Rift, that would get Zuck back half of his outlay in the first one or two years. If Facebook VR turns out to be a hit, and I suspect it will, the year following that will bring ten times the number of participants, thus 10 times the Rift sells, but they’ll have to keep Facebook VR exclusive to Rift and its updated versions to come for two to three years. Maybe they’ll allow Gear VR access, but that’s about it. After Zuck has made enough $billions off of Rift, he’ll announce Facebook VR compatibility with other VR devices, perhaps in the third or fourth years of its existence.

  • Nigerian Wizard

    “a ‘PC-class’ 6th-generation Intel Core processor”. Jesus. Are we going to have to install fucking fans on our heads?

    • PrymeFactor

      It’s been a while since the first fanless Core M processors came out. Why the heck are you ignorant about fanless Intel Core CPUs?

  • Get Schwifty!

    Yeah, I too am curious about this Intel chip application… and power with heat especially with the inside-out tracking load. OTOH, the fact Intel is actually taking notice and developing a product that isn’t just a repeat of the Vive/Rift approach is refreshing.

    It’s also intriguing that both VIve and Rift might have made design errors in the ergonomics if it’s really the case that the “hanging head” design really is that much more comfortable.

  • Somebody’s gotta do it. Releasing it as a reference design for partners seems promising. Wish everyone would get on that PSVR ergonomics tip too. Oh, and hot-swappable batteries…

    • OgreTactics

      Hot swappable battery is an horrible, wasting, polluting solution and shouldn’t exist anymore in 2016. If you need your batterie to be swapped on a headset that should be use more than 3 hours by a single user, then you’re doing things way wrong.

      • It seems like half the promise of mobile VR is essentially larping, or large scale multiplayer experiences, competitive or otherwise. The value of being able to re-up your power source on the go without “jacking-out” appears inherent, particularly in a competitive long form scenario.

        As to it being wasteful, I’m not sure how hot-swappable batteries are more polluting than batteries that require you to power down and reboot your device to install.

  • OgreTactics

    What a huge missed opportunity. Everyone’s waiting for such a untethered VR headset that use a RealSense/Leap/Kinect like sensors to do dual-lens AR, reverse tracking and hand tracking.

    But a having a bulky and useless “PC-Class” module attached to it, instead of going for the other thing everyone is waiting for, you now, actual fucking wireless in 2016? Because this is never going to be as portable and versatile as a smartphone or as powerful and complete as a PC, the Intel processor is useless, especially with their notoriously crappy video cards.

    What a missed opportunity damn. Let’s see what Google Daydream will bring, Google is one of those hysterically stupid and inefficient companies with all the keys in their hands that they yet don’t use.

    • PrymeFactor

      They could also go for starships to fly to a nearby galaxy.

      Just because you want something doesn’t mean the tech is available and economically feasible.

      • OgreTactics

        STFU you loser.

        • PrymeFactor

          Your childish posts are all the more amusing since you’re almost certainly an adult.

          Grow up.

          • OgreTactics

            It’s better to be a vulgar adult, than a completely stupid worthless adult loser like you. I’m talking about your previous comment specifically, not you of course.

          • Rob H

            You realise there’s not situation where you don’t look like a baby throwing his dummy out the pram, right? Do you think the manufacturers just like wires?

            “But a having a bulky and useless “PC-Class” module attached to it, instead of going for the other thing everyone is waiting for, you now, actual fucking wireless in 2016?” Having a dense useless idiot commenting on a post about the progression of VR technology demanding things that are currently technologically unfeasible, instead of going for the thing everyone is waiting for you to do, get a fucking education in 2016?

          • OgreTactics

            Or instead, don’t be a fucking sub-human loser dragging the human race down when it’s literally a news: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/09/04/quark-vr-wireless-htc-vive-prototype/

            And actually…not a news since there are dozens of tech comps doing this since I don’t know…2/3 years already. And more importantly these companies are few, sometimes one man endeavour with no budget while big companies are not even fucking doing their job.

            Or the worse being that because of unperceptive limited monkeys like you who don’t get shit about the world, the market sociological mechanics and technological momentum VR might either drag for 10 years before picking-up.

            And please, it’s 2016 and it’s the internet, these insult are not personal they’re poetically vulgar expression of the violent emotion I feel when I read stupid shit like yours, I don’t care of have anything against you.

          • Rob H

            Sorry you feel facts and intelligence are “dragging the human race down” so i’m I’m guessing you have autism as it’s the only explanation for your retarded comments. And just because my little cousin believes in the tooth fairy doesn’t mean she exists, no more than just because you believe the crap your writing makes working wireless hmds a reality. If you want wireless hmds, you’re talking future tech, not current. Valve seems to be the closest as far as im aware as they have claimed they’re working in conjunction with another company (cant remember who) and have a demo due “this fall” but clearly stated its not ready as they still haven’t overcome all the technical difficulties related to the limited transfer rate of data wireless connections have.

            I mean, fair enough, you could argue there are already wireless hmds – get google cardboard and stream your pc to your phone. That doesn’t mean its any good and ready for serious use. Go fucking educate yourself before you continue spouting bullshit and making an even bigger fool of yourself than you already have.

            BUT, i’d be quite happy to be proven wrong on this. I’m willing to let you prove how right you are and how wrong I am, here’s your chance to prove you’re right -> Go ahead, list the “dozens of tech companies” with these working wireless hmds that are consumer grade technology matching those on the market – but of course we who actually have these things called braincells know that’s not something you can do and that statement was in fact a complete fabrication, but go ahead try, ill wait; BTW I’m expecting a list of at the very least 24 seeing as you’ve stated there’s at least this many.

            P.s. do you really think anyone is offended by “loser” – it’s clear as day just reading the first couple of sentences of your misinformed whiny posts that you’re the only one here with no real life friends xD You’re attitude is exactly the same as some spoilt little brat at Christmas crying because Santa’s elves didn’t bring you the fully functional iron man suit you demanded on your list. Grow the fuck up and wake up to reality.

          • OgreTactics

            Oh so you’re bigoted against people with autism?

            Yet you’re the one who don’t know how to fucking read (and Google)? I POSTED you the most recent factual news about wireless HMD and told you there are dozens of companies with wireless VR technologies under the form of processors, wireless antennas or even actual HMDs you fucking loser.

            “I mean, fair enough, you could argue there are already wireless hmds – get google cardboard and stream your pc to your phone” wait so you even make the statement yourself you fucking degenerate?

            Wireless HMD is a MUST-HAVE for mass-market adoption, like hand-motion tracking is, and all manufacturers are starting (a little late) to realise it, probably because the domain is circled by unperceptive ignorant losers like you who think that something that is not only feasible and actually obligatory doesn’t even exist.

          • Rob H

            Never said anything is bad about being autistic, i hold nothing against you for it as it’s not like you can help it but it does explain your pathetic bullshit rant.

            And yeh you posted a link to one hmd that are TRYING to create a consumer quality wireless headset and have clearly stated themselves THE TECH ISN’T FUCKING READY YET. It’s not “starting a little late” at all, it’s technically unfeasable at this point as has been the entire development cycle of VR headsets so far. Most developers that have released hmds have nearly all stated they’d love it to be wireless but at this point in time, it’s simply not possible to have a quality, consumer level vr experience and it also be wireless. There’s plenty of research into its development – This doesn’t mean they can suddenly pull a working one out a magicians hat. Seriously, stop acting like some spoilt little shit just because you don’t actually have a clue how the real world works. Are you simply suggesting manfacturers and developers should just stop trying to give consumers products they want and are the best of what is currently available in terms of technology because you think they should only release technology that doesn’t even exist yet? Do you think when the first b&w box tvs were released they should have waited instead til the flatscreen 4k 3d hdr tvs were ready instead? Seriously, learn what product & industry progression are.

            And, I’m still waiting for these “dozens” of examples, sounds like there are so many you’ll have no problems listing at least 24 with these working wireless consumer grade hmds. So please, go ahead…(oh, and using an example that have themselves admitted that their tech isn’t anything like ready yet isn’t supporting your argument xD It support the fact you’re acting like some spoil brat demanding things that’s not yet possible.)

            As for your last paragraph, are you actually that dense? The only ignorant person here is you as you obviously live in some fantasy land…wireless hmd tech is simply not fucking ready yet no matter how much you throw your dummy out the pram over it. It’s being researched, get it into your thick head. It’s not going to suddenly leap a couple of years forward technology wise just because some sad little shit like you is demanding it in the comment section.Neither should the rest of the world not be able to buy things that are the best currently available because you want something that’s simply not possible at this point in time. Grow up

    • Project Alloy is a self-contained device; there is no need for an attached “module”. It is indeed what you describe waiting for, an untethered headset with inside-out positional tracking, dual lense AR, and hand tracking.

      As for wireless, I read about a solution here that the military uses for their simulations that seems to work stable, and is on its way to the consumer market (though it requires a pendant or hip pack, because *). Unfortunately there are still two problems with this: first, unless it can operate on a citywide scale through an integrated network, it will never be able to offer a truly free roaming experience, and even then doubtfully ever in rural areas. Secondly, *almost no one wants a radio transmitter that close to their brain.

      • OgreTactics

        Consumer version doesn’t mean military use. If you can use Internal AR headset with a regular PC or mobile HMD, it’d be great to use at home, office or exhibitions first and foremost.

        The main problem here is that nobody wants to NOT be able to use their own system, PC or mobile, AND have to use a limited and supplementary one which adds to the bulk of the headset.

        In fact I wished their was a project allow that would either get rid of this bulk and be usable with any computer with a simple cable OR have a high-end smartphone system like mobile HMDs.

        But then, that’s why the absolute best solution, is still going to be a Smartphone VR Headset with the capability of the Alloy, which I think only Google Tango seems to be cable of now.

        • It all depends on the cost of the thing. If it’s in the ballpark of the Rift and Vive, and you can also tether it to a computer, then it’s a home run.

          Even if it’s somewhat more expensive, the value that it offers is exceptional. To have a full PC experience on the go can’t be understated. I love my Gear VR, but it’s not quite the same, and I’m constantly paranoid about scratching the screen; it also doesn’t tether to a PC. The S7 is an $800 investment as well, and if I don’t need my phone to double as a VR headset, I can spend a lot less on it.

          That being said, I actually really like the idea of Project Tango being integrated with Daydream. Hopefully that comes to pass. I’ve always wanted a phone that’s powerful enough to be the guts of a family of products, like a tablet shell, laptop case, home console, and VR headset all powered by a beast of a phone. There’s always Magic Leap to think about as well.

          If you’re interested in the wireless military tech that’s moving to consumer, here’s that link:

          http://www.roadtovr.com/serious-simulations-claim-their-zero-frame-latency-tech-can-make-vr-headsets-wireless/

    • Taziar

      The only way to have wireless video would be lossy video compression, reducing quality. Further, it takes quite a bit of processing power to compress 90hz 1080p+ video real time. Processing power already being used to create the content.

      And most importantly, compressing, transmitting, and decompressing video adds latency, the biggest killer of VR immersion.

      • OgreTactics

        True, wireless video has to be lossless which would means raw quality and no-latency. Such wireless video processor are at the horizon but the standards, codecs and such have to be pushed and experimented with now.

    • kalqlate

      This current new generation of VR is still evolving. There is still ample room to innovate. The following article, which gives a little extra detail, informs…

      Myerson also boasted that Intel and Microsoft had found ways to run
      virtual-reality applications on less powerful PCs than the ones the
      Oculus and HTC headsets rely on.

      https://www.technologyreview.com/s/602189/intel-and-microsoft-are-teaming-up-to-make-virtual-reality-ubiquitous

      Have you personally experienced HaloLens? If a VR version has computing built in and proper FOV, how is that not a great cordless solution? (Bear in mind that the consumer price of such a device will surely come in at less than $999.)

      The reason why no one is doing wireless is because there’s still way too much latency in wirelessly transmitting the computed hi-res video to the headset. When that is finally conquered, then, yes… your wireless VR dreams will come true.

      • OgreTactics

        The Headset is too bulky, it actually makes the untethered cord point moot. Also nobody wants to use a untethered VR headset that isn’t connected to an actual computer or smartphone platform.

        I’ve experienced HoloLens, it was a letdown until it actually made me understand that AR glasses are not around the corner at all and are in the 5-10 years horizon before they can reach current VR headset standards.

        That’s why I said I’ve been waiting for a Internal AR/VR Headset like this one but if I can’t using with my actual system, be it computer, console or smartphone, it’s completely useless.

        In fact that’s the most sought after functionality of the Gear/Mobile VR: untethered AND cabled streaming from different machines.

        • kalqlate

          You lamented:

          The Headset is too bulky, it actually makes the untethered cord point moot.

          All VR headsets are bulky. The key to success is comfort for long-term use. That’s the point of the Alloy design as indicated at the end of this article:

          With a ‘hanging’ head mount design, Project Alloy’s ergonomics are decidedly more like Sony’s PlayStation VR headset than the Oculus Rift of HTC Vive. That’s good news, as we’ve found Sony’s headset to be among the most comfortable out there.

          As you know, once you’re immersed in VR, the bulk of the headset doesn’t matter… except if its weight is present on your face. The Alloy design mitigates that better than the Oculus and Vive designs. Therefore, bulk (size) is only an issue when you’re looking at it from the outside. Who cares when you’re on the inside?

          You said:

          Also nobody wants to use a untethered VR headset that isn’t connected to an actual computer or smartphone platform.

          :D Nobody? :D Clairvoyant Augure knows all, sees all. :D

          Actually, your statement makes no sense. For computer use, most people’s current systems are not up to spec for tethered VR headsets. Solution: buy a new, more powerful computer. For phone use, either people will be satisfied with Cardboard quality or will buy a new, more powerful Samsung smartphone (that they don’t currently have) for use with Gear VR. Therefore, introducing a device that has on-board rendering power somewhere between Gear VR and a PC is the smarter purchase when a purchase is most likely necessary anyway. I’m currently satisfied with my Nexus 5 phone. I do not want to buy a new Samsung phone or other high-quality phone just to experience Gear VR or any other high-quality phone-based VR.

          Further, it has been recently revealed that Microsoft has filed a patent for a HaloLens type device that has a shield that electronically darkens and lightens to support AR/VR/MR in one device.

          Seriously, why would you desire to be tethered to a box in one room when if that box can be shrunk into your untethered headset, you can roam your ENTIRE 3-D mapped home or office as if it were dark and spooky catacombs, a future spaceport, or expansive museum?

          You said:

          I’ve experienced HoloLens, it was a letdown until it actually made me understand that AR glasses are not around the corner at all and are in the 5-10 years horizon before they can reach current VR headset standards.

          Too bad you were disappointed by HaloLens. I went into my demo being extremely skeptical of the puny FOV. However, I was quite pleasantly surprised when it didn’t spoil the AR effect at all. The sense of immersion was complete for me.

          You said:

          That’s why I said I’ve been waiting for a Internal AR/VR Headset like this one but if I can’t using with my actual system, be it computer, console or smartphone, it’s completely useless.

          “Completely useless”??? :D … that’s a good one! Along with the “nobody” above, you’re showing that you’re prone to exaggeration.

          To repeat the quote from the article I previously cited and presented in my prior comment:

          Myerson also boasted that Intel and Microsoft had found ways to run virtual-reality applications on less powerful PCs than the ones the Oculus and HTC headsets rely on.

          This may be alluding to the idea that Alloy can be tethered or untethered. I get the same impression about Google’s Daydream device. On this point, we’ll have to wait and see. We should know in December this year when the specs are revealed.

          :) Sorry that we’re not five to ten years in the future for the type of device you’re looking for. What you see in devices like Alloy and HaloLens is current state-of-the-art. Maybe Magic Leap’s upcoming device will satisfy all of your desires. Until then, you can just sit it out while many many others of us enjoy what is available or nearly available.

          • OgreTactics

            What you or I think doesn’t matter, unless you work in prospective. NOBODY, meaning a too unsignificant portion of the market will want a project Alloy, which means this project will disappear and is useless (given they’re rarely iterated when they fail).

            But I can agree that the integrated computing is not so much a problem, in fact you made me realise it might even find used in untethered situation like pre-installed experiences for exhibitions, augmented gaming etc…

            The main problem is when using it as a system, nobody wants to have an additional device that is neither a versatile smartphone nor a powerful computer. And if there’s not way to use/tether it with a PC then this is not a good VR usage solution, just a limited untethered showcase solution.

            As for Magic Leap, since it’s vaporware I’d rather wait for Daydream.

          • Why do you think Magic Leap is vaporware? It only just received it’s first venture funding in 2014. The Rift was Kickstarted in 2012 and didn’t release until this year.

          • OgreTactics

            Everybody sane knows Magic Leap is vaporware. It’s strange because I had a Rift as far as 2013…fucking hypocrite.

          • Magic Leap utilises a well studied technology demonstrated by Nvidia and MIT. In the past two years there has been over $1.5 billion invested in them by companies like Google and Alibaba as recently as February with $800 million invested at that time. In June they partnered with Lucasfilm. They’ve been evaluated by Forbes and the Financial Times at over $4 billion inside of 2016. These are not companies without significant resources to investigate their decisions. What basis do you have for labeling it as vaporware?

          • OgreTactics

            Do you remember that “company that revolutionised renewable energy thanks to a magic energy cell based on a secret beach sand formula” in which Google, Microsoft and such and such invested millions if not billions for a few “mysterious boxes” of which nobody knows the content but that would magically produce energy for their buildings? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RehT-Do9bs

            DO you remember? Because I do and guess what: NOBODY ever saw the colour of one of those “revolutionary” boxes, that replace NONE of the energy grid in the country or elsewhere, of which we still have no idea how and even IF they work.

            Yet Google invested in it. That’s called money laundering vaporware but you probably don’t know what I’m talking about.

          • I’m actually quite interested in money laundering. In many ways it is an important part of our economy, and a main driver of the Grey Market. It’s just that usually money laundering is only a necessity of criminal organizations, as legitimate corporations can simply shelter their money through tax havens, political lobbying, and loopholes effectively enough to avoid the unnecessary risk of full scale illegal action.

            I’m not sure when the last time you checked in with Bloom Energy was, but there are actually quite a few companies using their products. The new Apple campus will be powered at least partly by Bloom, and even smaller locations like some Home Depot stores already use their generators. They may not be quite as competitive as Ballard(once considered vaporware long before Bloom) in the on-site(or vehicle) fuel cell sector, but they certainly aren’t failed by any stretch. It still remains true that both Ballard and Bloom have proven fuel cells as a viable alternative going forward. I think they may have just overestimated the appeal and value their technology would offer by the time it came to market versus the advancement of on-site technologies like solar paired with a high efficiency Lithium battery, or perhaps supercapacitors in a few years.

            Still, I wonder why you think specifically Magic Leap, such a young company with so many glowing first person reports, and so much investment so recently, would be a fraudulent money laundering operation?

          • OgreTactics

            In the real world, even for big corporations, Fiscal Optimisation or Tax Evasion only take you so far. Large scale and shared sector money laundering is actually nothing new, here’s another concrete example: remember catching the H1N1 virus?

            Neither do I, or the billions of people who were lied to in their face that there was an imminent “pandemic”, which even the W.H.O. ended-up backtracking on. Yet, dozens of governments around paid hundreds of millions dollars to pharmaceutical companies in order to buy vaccines of which 90% went to waste. Want better? A friends of mine investigated for the account of medical institutions on the H1N1 and found something that you can easily find yourself on Google: 6 months before the H1N1 even existed, the biggest pharms (Sanofi, Bayer, Merck etc…) invested millions in the construction of “pre-emptive vaccine production factories, in the eventual case of flu-like pandemic”…right in fucking Mexico. You know the rest: 6 months after (which makes it impossible to have predicted or anticipated the appearances of a new flu-mutation) worldwide medias started declaring the first case of a pig-flu occurring in…Mexicos.

            If you haven’t hovered close to the “sun” of big corporations then you probably don’t know what they are capable of and how they operate. And that’s why, I’m confident (although definitive proofs would infer a serious investigative journalism that could threaten me or would end this scheme) that the same Bloom Energy was a scam from the get-go, Magic Leap is vaporware: it’s in every aspect of what hear, how we hear about and what actually is. We know what’s possible in terms of A.R. and how thanks to research and patents; NONE of the Magic Leap patents refers to a “specific revolutionary AR” technology that fits the narrative and actual description of the product. And the fact that the same big companies that aliened behind the same kind of vague if not meaningless PR with the same unfounded hyperboles that nobody in the crowd got infos or proofs of, is sign that it’s absolute bullshit. And the only point of such schemes, when millions and even billions is invested in something that has not even one real occurence or demonstration in years, is the sign of an advanced, high-level money laundering scheme (as soon as you invest money in any companies, there are millions of ways to retrieve it or detaxe it)…

          • I think perhaps we have different definitions of what money laundering is. In order for money to be dirty, it must have been gained from criminal enterprise. The point of the laundering is to move cash from the Black or Grey market, and into the view of the government, where it can be taxed and spent legitimately. It is very inefficient, and the reason gangsters often engage in an economy of trade, swapping drugs, sex, people, murder, and stolen goods in place of money.

            Crucially, a successful business is generally required to launder large amounts of money. It’s extra hard to cook the books on a money pit, and the larger the pit the more attention you draw. Defrauding the government of billions of dollars on their own soil, including the inevitable collateral damage of all the genuine, naive money invested in good faith alongside your knowingly criminal cash, is a great way to end up investigated by a hundred lawyers from a hundred angles, from defrauded investors, tax collectors, and all manner of law enforcement, not to mention your competitors, who would gladly see you fail, and already bring legal action against you at every opportunity.

            This is all so incredibly risky that I just don’t see how a company like Google, with a vast, publicly visible tax stream, would also feel the need to not only engage in invisible, illegal fund creation, but also bother to bring that money, through laundering, into full view of the American government within their own borders by defrauding countless people. I can’t even imagine what criminal activities they could engage in that would produce literal billions of dollars in need of laundering, or indeed what methodology they would use to extract or even initially invest such money into a company that ends up failing. It’s so much easier just to create wealth by creating successful businesses and reaping the rewards.

            The H1N1 pandemic is an interesting example, and possibly a real one, but I don’t see how it’s analogous. Do you posit that it was also a money laundering scheme? If so, whose money was laundered? It seems more likely to be a simple creation of short term supply in demand, if not a coincidence. The H1N1 virus was and is real, and so is the vaccine. The only thing possibly fabricated was the extent of it’s danger, though it did still kill tens of thousands of people in hundreds of countries, it did not outstrip the regular flu virus in it’s death toll or reach. But it’s still a real virus that kills people, and the vaccine is not vaporware; it delivered as promised.

            I notice you also avoid comment on Bloom Energy’s continued progress, and that of their very similar competitor in Ballard. It’s interesting because that’s a much more direct comparison to your argument against Magic Leap. Both examples relied on well know, though hard to harness technologies. Bloom with using fuel cells to create reliable and efficient electricity, and Magic Leap with using Photonic Chips to create convincing lightfields. In both cases the technology is well understood and just requires advancement, and in both cases demonstrations of the technology were completed directly with investors in the beginning and not publicly.

            I would point to LucasArts’ involvement with Magic Leap as inscrutable if they weren’t actually presented with and impressed by working technology. They’ve invested no money, just partnered to provide content creation, which they’ve demonstrated publicly themselves. Why would LucasArts and Disney go to this effort if they couldn’t reasonably expect to recoup development costs?

          • WyrdestGeek

            I don’t know about Magic Leap, specifically, but more generally Augure kinda has a point.

            Another really recent example:
            Theranos– super-fast blood testing? Nope. But lots of people said lots of things about how it was totes awesome.
            https://www.statnews.com/2016/04/13/theranos-debacle-threatens-investment-diagnostic-testing/

            People and organizations–even including powerful people and organizations–can allow themselves to be misled.

            Regarding Magic Leap– I choose to remain wishful thinkingly optimistic that it will be awesome. But that’s a luxury I can afford because I’m not actually investing anything (time or money) into it. I just listen to podcasts and read this webpage.

            Furry cows moo and decompress.

          • Being misled is a little different than a vast billion dollar criminal conspiracy that involves collusion from parties on all sides for the express purpose of laundering money which by definition itself must have come from illegal enterprises.

            I wouldn’t discount out of hand the fact that Magic Leap could be misleading some people, I’m just not sure what the basis is at this stage for being so sure that they are completely misleading everyone involved – especially when there are so many positive eyewitness accounts, and the technology has been proven out by 3rd parties.

  • WyrdestGeek

    I hope this pans out. Lack of positional tracking in mobile impairs presence pretty badly.

  • Arttom Staune

    http://www.turbosquid.com/FullPreview/Index.cfm/ID/1073302 I made 3d model of this VR Gear, because I think this is new step in technology of VR.