Magic Leap CEO: Stereoscopic 3D will cause permanent brain damage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Magic Leap CEO: Stereoscopic 3D will cause permanent brain damage, so avoid devices like HoloLens

Is the entertainment value worth getting your brain fried over?

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Joseph Finney

 on Wednesday, Feb 25th, 2015 at 11:40AM @TheJoeFin

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New technology paradigms have always been surrounded by skepticism as well as excitement, but when there is competition between companies at the bleeding edge there will surely be plenty of misinformation. Recently the CEO of a Google backed start up Magic Leap has claimed Microsoft's HoloLens could cause permanent brain damage and to no one's surprise Magic Leap has a 'better' and 'safer' competing product. Without giving any details Rony Abovitz, the CEO of Magic Leap, says consumers should avoid HoloLens when it comes out and stick to products made with superior technology.

"There are a class of devices (see-through and non-see-through) called stereoscopic 3D. We at Magic Leap believe these inputs into the eye-brain system are incorrect -- and can cause a spectrum of temporary and/or permanent neurologic deficits." - Abovitz

Currently there are no hard details regarding the device to be made by Magic Leap, but the known details are as follows: the device will be augmented reality, and uses digital light-field signal technology to project images. The issue Magic Leap sees in HoloLens (other than the product being competition) is the use of stereoscopic 3D technology which is the current mainstream method for inducing the 3D effect in movie theaters and current 3D devices. Today there is no evidence stereoscopic 3D damages the brain in any way, but Magic Leap has already done the damage by presenting speculation as fact to consumers.

 

Ironically Magic Leap and Microsoft are not in direct competition with these two devices. Microsoft made the point clear in their January 21st event that the big deal is not hardware but the software which has been developed to support holograms. Developers will be able to implement holographic elements into their apps and support next generation interactions through Universal Apps. These apps could run on Microsoft's device or Magic Leap's. The apparent clash no doubt comes from the heavy Google backing which Magic Leap receives, and the good chance Android will power their device and not Windows 10. This stands to be another example of Google trying to undercut Microsoft at every opportunity possible. Luckily it would seem Microsoft has a more mature product which is farther along in development and has already been proven to the press.

JEREMY BAILEY >>:LIVE>> @ NYU's Mobile AR Lab!! March 6th

World famous new media artist JEREMY BAILEY will be inducted into NYU's Mobile AR Lab on March 6th! Jeremy will also give a talk [which is open to the public] after the induction ceremony.

Google to 'start again' with Glass project

The Glass project had the backing of Google founder Sergey Brin

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Google is starting again from scratch with its Glass project, reports the New York Times.

Sales of the controversial smart spectacles were halted in January and development of the prototype was also believed to have been stopped.

Glass development is now being driven by former Apple gadget designer Tony Fadell, who has "reset" the project.

The new version will be developed internally and only released when finished, the newspaper said.

Poor performer

First revealed in 2011, Google Glass made a big impact in mid-2012 when the company demonstrated it at its developers' conference using skydivers and stunt cyclists.

But, said the Times in a lengthy article about the project's life, many working on the device were unhappy with this exposure because it meant its final development had to take place in public.

The newspaper said the controversy the project gained gave rise to tensions among the development team, forcing some key researchers to leave.

Now Glass is being overseen by Mr Fadell, who helped to bring Apple's iPod and other gadgets to market.

Mr Fadell became a Google employee last year when the search giant bought his home automation company Nest.

Development on Glass was now reportedly all going to happen in-house with nothing released until it was ready.

Technology news site Ars Technica speculated that Mr Fadell's "rebooting" of the project might take a long time because of the poor performance of the earlier versions.

"There is very little that Glass does well, so with a reboot, there isn't much to currently work from," it said.

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