Google wants to turn your office into an AR steampunk warzone


Magic Leap has released a video showcasing the potential of its upcoming augmented reality platform.


The Google-backed company pulled out of a TED talk earlier this week, but published the video it was due to show off on YouTube.


In the video’s description, Magic Leap’s PR head Andy Fouché wrote: “This is a game we’re playing around the office right now (no robots were harmed in the making of this video).”


Aside from confirming the project focus is AR technology, Magic Leap’s development process has remained enigmatic. This video is the most detailed look at the company’s work yet.


The video begins with a man sitting in an office, seemingly wearing an AR headset. Various apps, including YouTube and Gmail (read: Google investment), are seemingly conjured out of thin air.


The mystery user uses his hands to drag the apps about in the space in front of him like a mouse dragging icons on a computer. He can scroll through e-mails, select options, and place virtual objects on real life surfaces.


He then proceeds to play a steampunk-style first person shooter in the office, with virtual villains, explosions, and a gun-turret all filling the space with stark realism.


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This video is, of course, all achieved through CGI, and we’ve got no idea how close Magic Leap actually is to making any of this a reality.


Magic Leap isn’t without competition either; Microsoft unveiled its own AR-peddling technology earlier this year, dubbed ‘Hololens’.


Its own demo video saw apps pinned to real-world surfaces, designers working on virtual renders in real space, and a virtual Minecraft environment span across a user’s living room.


Magic Leap is also competing with the burgeoning virtual reality sector, of which many entrants also boast impressively realistic virtual experiences.


Check out Magic Leap's full video below: