GDC 2018: Unreal Engine 4 Now Supports Magic Leap

Magic Leap is a slick compact VR and AR device that has had some controversy in its development. After receiving almost £360,000,000 in funding from Google and other investors the company took its time to showcase any functioning hardware. Finally the start-up has come out of hiding and is now demonstrating a promising product.

Features:

• Digital Lightfield generates produces life-like digital objects which allows the human brain to naturally process digital objects in a similar way humans do in real life.
• Visual Perception allows the sensor suite on the device to detect surfaces and objects to allow for reconstruction of physical surroundings.
• Persistent Objects will map a room and build a replica of the physical surroundings to store the exact location of surfaces and walls. Place a virtual object on a wall, walk away, and when you return the virtual object will still be there.
• High-Powered Chipset to produce high quality graphics and streamlined performance.
• Next Generation interface that will respond to user head movements, voice, gesture and eye tracking.

Unreal Engine 4 now supports Magic Leap meaning that developers can now begin to utilise all the features mentioned above and include them in their games. Developers will also be able to access the Lumin Software Development Kit and all of the information related it. Sample projects are included meaning that developers can get hands on with the Magic Leap immediately and begin to experiment with everything it offers.

It's almost impossible to turn around without bumping into another VR related product or game. This technology has an interesting future and the Unreal Engine 4 support could be influential in making VR and AR accessible to smaller developers and Indie teams.