Whatever Magic Leap is up to when it comes to augmented reality (other than building an office in Seattle), the secretive company is at least letting on that they’re fans of Star Wars, and that’s worth our attention.
Wired reported Thursday that the startup has partnered with Lucasfilm’s ILMxLAB, which calls itself a “new laboratory for immersive entertainment” tasked with “reinventing the way stories are told and experienced.” That immersion appears to mean letting C-3PO and R2-D2 into your living room.
In the video called “Lost Droids,” the fine print says that it was “shot directly through Magic Leap technology” and that “no special effects or compositing were used in the creation of this video.”
For just under a minute we’re IN A ROOM with the beloved Star Wars characters as C-3PO addresses us directly and frets about not being able to reach a “desired arrangement” with Jabba the Hutt. An army of Stormtroopers is searching for the pair and we also see the Millennium Falcon take off as TIE and X-wing Fighters fly about.
Magic Leap founder Rony Abovitz announced the partnership at the Wired Business Conference in New York on Thursday. According to the site, he said they’ll be creating a “semi-secret” joint lab, based at ILM’s headquarters in San Francisco’s Presidio, that will house researchers and programmers from both companies, and even members of Lucasfilm’s Story Group.
With their combined strength, @ILMxLAB & @MagicLeap will bring the galaxy to your room. https://t.co/UiuJyHZWZh pic.twitter.com/VMKgsqlRg2
— Star Wars (@starwars) June 16, 2016
The official Star Wars website also had the news, saying that, “from ‘A New Hope’ to ‘The Force Awakens,’ Lucasfilm has continually strived to push technology and storytelling into uncharted waters.”
“The future of Mixed Reality and immersive entertainment holds incredible promise, and we are honored to work with Magic Leap to shape that future,” said Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy. “At Lucasfilm and ILM, innovation has always been in our DNA; through this collaboration, ILMxLAB further propels our legacy of exploration and leadership on this new platform for experiential storytelling.”
