Magic Leap Studios is set to debut a new experience for the Magic Leap AR headset at SIGGRAPH this week. The studio, which says that Undersea will transform your living room into a serene “photorealistic” coral reef, has today released the app on Magic Leap World.

Update (July 29th, 2019): Magic Leap Studios today launched ‘Undersea’ on Magic Leap One.

At SIGGRAPH 2019 in Los Angeles this week, the studio will present their experience with creating the app. We’ll have feet on the ground at the convention, so check back soon for all things AR/VR.

Original Article (July 22nd, 2019): Magic Leap Studios, the company’s internal development studio, will fully reveal Undersea next week at SIGGRAPH. “Undersea is a room-scale, Spatial Computing experience through which users can relax and observe underwater life in a dynamically generated, coral reef biome. Distinct vistas and creatures, presented in a photo-real art style, provide an opportunity to feel a sense of presence and connection between the creatures, the environment, and the user,” the company says about the experience.

Magic Leap Studios is stressing the graphical fidelity of the experience, saying that it’s built on Unreal Engine and Vulkan 3.1 mobile for an experience which “pushes the graphical boundaries of Spatial Computing.”

Image courtesy Magic Leap Studios

Magic Leap Studios has also developed experiences like Create, an interactive toyroom-like sandbox for Magic Leap, though it has cartoonish art direction compared to what Undersea is striving for.

In many cases, ‘ambient’ content—that which is ‘always happening around you’, as opposed to game-like experiences that have a distinct starting and stopping point—is a great fit for AR. It’s clear how Undersea could really fit the bill here, along with the ‘magic’ charter of Magic Leap, by turning your ordinary living room into something ever changing, alive, and aware of you. Though the studio hasn’t revealed much about how the experience will work just yet, I think it could be a lot of fun if the undersea creatures acted a bit like virtual pets (once you gain their trust by tempting them with some food, of course).

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This Magic Leap One Demo Offers a Peek into the Future of Multiplayer AR

At the SIGGRAPH debut, the company says they’ll be digging into the development process of Undersea to help third-party developers learn more about building AR experience for Magic Leap. It’s not clear yet when the experience will actually be released publicly.

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Ben Lang
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."
  • Jarilo

    iS IT cOmiNg tO QuESt ?

    • Bolaji Fls Flow

      lol, whats a question , its AR only for now

  • sve

    Looks like theBlu. If you’re seeking high immersion why do you want to see your living room? Just go full VR and dump the AR.

    • Malkmus

      You should try it. Something a lot of people who haven’t tried proper AR like Hololens or Magic Leap is that they think it’s less immersive than VR. As an owner of a Valve Index and Magic Leap (also owned Hololens) I can tell you that these AR experiences can often trump experiences like The Blu. There’s a lot less that your mind needs to be tricked into thinking is real and it therefore feels even more surreal and amazing.

  • Seems beautiful!

  • GX Studio

    This is really cool. I love VR, and want to love AR – Although, we need it to reach a point where there is an affordable but great Quest like device. I think we will see that in just a few years, and when so – I’ll be there!

  • LowRezSkyline

    Oh these guys are still in business? Been crickets for months. People who bought these must be preparing for their spouses divorce filings about now.

  • Waji Anwar

    What I want from AR is the ability to handle work and what I’m doing on my phone. while these types of experiences are cool I can do that in vr

  • Wednaud Ronelus

    Just imagine my pain. I have been trying to get in touch with these leapers for months just to show them how these apps can be piloted tested in real classroom learning environments. Thus far, I feel like I am sending all my message to empty space. I try to reach out to them on every social media platform. They are not even willing to listen to what I have to share. It’s a shame, they are going to miss a great opportunity. I see how their apps Seedlings and this new Coral Reef adventure can be tested to broaden their world view in the education domain. Alas, no one is willing to listen to a thirsty scholar. It is what it is. The show must go on. Anyway, if anyone here wants to see what we are doing in the Alchemist Club Studios, check out site. Keep in mind it’s a work in progress. Nevertheless, I am sure you glean the gold from the shaft in what we are doing. https://www.alchemistclubstudios.com/home

    • It can sometimes take a while to connect with the right person at large organizations, but if you think you’ve got something you should keep trying new angles! Have you tried joining their Creator Portal? They also have a grant program. It’s possible even someone on their Enterprise Sales team could take an interest.

      • Wednaud Ronelus

        Thanks Will,
        Yes, I have joined the Creator Portal. Trust me I have tried every avenue. As you have stated, I will keep trying new angles.

        • Cheers. Yeah, it can be difficult sometimes. I’ve found if you plug away you usually bump into someone who can help. Sometimes a good old fashioned phone call even does the trick, or if you’re nearby an office visit. I’m sure they have a bunch of folks with “Business Development” in their title somewhere, each looking for a success story.