If you thought you were finally getting your hands on some info about the secretive Google-backed startup, Magic Leap, you’d be wrong—at least for now—because amidst much speculation, Magic Leap executives have cancelled their public talks on the technology.

Magic Leap is a start-up working with 3D light field display technology for augmented reality applications, and if you want to know more, you’ll have to wait a little longer for a good explanation, because both CEO Rony Abovitz and long-time game designer Graeme Devine, now Chief Creative Officer of the company, are going back into quasi-stealth mode.

See Also: Magic Leap Closes $542m Series B Investment, Now Soliciting Developers for Its “Digital Lightfield” Wearable

Abovitz, whose first TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) appearance 2 years ago was more of an enigmatic performance piece (at an unofficial TEDx talk), was supposed to present a talk at TED2015 in Vancouver this week entitled ‘Radical Reframe’, but according to conference curator Chris Anderson, Abovitz has cancelled for “reasons unknown.”

Although we weren’t expecting any big reveals during the talk, any chance to further understand why companies including Google funded the mysterious start-up to the tune $524 million, or even a basic explanation of the company’s patented Digital Lightfield Technology, wouldn’t have gone amiss.

Graeme Devine’s Reddit AMA (ask me anything) programmed for today has also gone MIA. Although the online Q&A session wasn’t specifically targeting his work at Magic Leap, Devine would have had to field questions from the community nonetheless—a forum where silence often times speaks louder than words.

MIT Technology Review’s Rachel Metz recently profiled Magic Leap, saying that the tech “has a good chance of being one of the next big things in computing…” conceding that “It’s clear that getting the technology into [eyeglasses] form will be very hard.”

If Abovitz’s AMA three weeks ago was any indicator of how things were supposed to go, evidenced by the ultra-nebulous answers given by the CEO himself, then the company may still not be ready to speak on any real level about their technology. So we’re back to square one, wondering why the company that says “it’s time to bring magic back into the world,” hasn’t told us whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean.

 

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • kalqlate

    Hopefully, that doesn’t spell trouble for their planned technology presentation titled “The Age of Starlight” hosted by Prof. Brian Cox at the Manchester International Festival scheduled for July 2 – 19 this year: http://www.mif.co.uk/event/the-age-of-starlight. The cancellation could spell trouble, or it could simply be that they’ve finally learned not to do so much bold talking so long before the tech is publicly demonstrable. The increasing online outcry of “vaporware” is surely unpleasant to theirs and employee’s ears. Further, they are building up such HUGE expectation. If the technology doesn’t live up to the hype, it could ruin their chances of getting it perfect on the second iteration.

  • brandon9271

    Magic Leap is a joke.. demo your product or STFU. Oculus has. Sony has. Technical Illusions has. Valve/HTC has.. Magic Leap needs to sh*t or get off the pot.