Presented as the PC of the future, Shadow is a computer always up to date and accessible via an Internet connection on any device: smartphone, tablet, TV, Mac or specially designed Shadow box. It behaves like your powerful local computer (8.2 teraflop processor, Nvidia graphics card, 12 GB memory, 256 GB storage), but with components located not at home, but in gigantic secure centers.
"Today, we are always looking for more power in ever smaller devices. So why not make them disappear? That's what Emmanuel Freund, co-founder of French start-up Blade and creator of Shadow technology, said. Presented as the PC of the future, and as its name suggests, Shadow proposes to do without a computer, literally. You know the tower on which you hit your little toe or the laptop that burns your thighs.
"This is the future of the computer, entirely focused on cloud computing and data centers," explains Emmanuel Freund. Translation: Shadow is a PC always up to date and accessible via an Internet connection on any device: smartphone, tablet, TV, Mac or the specially designed Shadow box. "It behaves like your super-powered local computer (8.2 teraflip processor, Nvidia graphics card, 12GB of memory, 256GB of storage), except that the components are located not at home but in gigantic secure centers, details the Creator. Everything is sent over the Internet, without loss of quality and latency. "
It seems so simple, how others, starting with the giants of the Internet of computing, have not thought about it before? "They thought about it, Orange even worked on it for several years before throwing in the towel," says Emmanuel Freund. We are the first to succeed. A simple ADSL or 4G connection is enough, making Shadow accessible to 15 million French households.
They are currently 5000 privileged users, mostly gamers. "We started with PC players because they are the most demanding target in terms of quality, fluidity, and so on. The founder of Blade makes the comparison with Tesla, who has started racing cars to legitimize his electric cars. Shadow is thus accessible to everyone since November 29, 2017 through three subscription offers: € 44.95 / month without commitment, € 34.95 / month with a commitment of three months and € 29.95 / month for a commitment one year. The Shadow case is available for purchase at € 119.95 and for rent at € 7.95 / month, while Apple, Windows, Android and iOS applications are free.
More cumbersome hardware or obsolescence programmed, part of Overwatch started on Mac, continued on smartphone and ended on his TV, Shadow, is, in the state, on paper, a little dream. With a fundraising of 51 million euros and numerous partnerships (Intel, Nvidia, Microsoft ...) and an international focus (a data center has just opened in Palo Alt), the French start-up would see itself well. destiny of a Netflix, and replace the global computer park. Quite simply.
Magic Leap finally unveils its augmented reality glasses
We now know what the augmented reality glasses that Magic Leap has been doing in secret for several years look like. Their release is scheduled for 2018, the version being reserved for developers. It is therefore a pre-commercial prototype of mixed reality. But the technical characteristics and the price remain for the moment a mystery.
" Finally ! ", Exclaimed the press titles in chorus following the presentation of augmented reality glasses Magic Leap. Since 2011, this company based in Florida (United States) works in the biggest secrecy on a technology promising to mix the virtual and the real in a natural and harmonious way.
Although it has provided absolutely no tangible detail during this time, the company has raised close to $ 1.9 billion from prestigious investors such as Google, Qualcomm, Alibaba and the Warner Bros. studio. And all this with only a few demo videos, some of which featured special effects!
Magic Leap has finally revealed its product, but only in photos via its website. The Magic Leap One is a pair of augmented reality glasses connected by a cable to a circular case the size of a portable CD player that clings to the belt. The latter contains the electronics needed to process the data sent by the eight sensors integrated into the front of the spectacle frame. It is unclear if this package will allow the Magic Leap One to run completely independently or if it will require a wireless connection to a cloud computing platform.
The device comes with a wireless controller with a touch pad that will be used to navigate and interact with the virtual interfaces. Magic Leap also evokes vocal and gestural recognition as well as the movement of the head and eyes. However, it is difficult to know exactly how these glasses work and are used since Magic Leap has only provided photos. Recall that the display technology used is that of light fields (the totality of light comes bounce on the objects of our environment) broadcast at different depth levels, which allows to harmonize the virtual display of objects in 3D with natural light for a realistic rendering that is not tiring for the brain.
The founder and boss of Magic Leap explains that the heart of the technology lies in a partial rendering of the total light field that corresponds to what the human brain is able to process. Magic Leap claims to have succeeded in isolating the portion of the signal that is really useful to the visual cortex. The principle is a bit like what is done for music with the MP3 format, which only plays a part of the audio frequencies.
Still, we still do not know what is the use of these Magic Leap One. The description of the product evokes a display window whose size roughly corresponds to the size of a VHS cassette held by a half-tensioned arm. So we would be in a mode close to that of Microsoft HoloLens, whose field of vision is also limited. The design of the Magic Leap One is less impressive.
Concretely, what can these glasses do? Browse the Internet with multiple windows open all around at once, shop online by looking at products in 3D, chat with friends, whose avatars will be in the room, and, of course, play video games that will use the physical setting as a support.
One of the interesting points highlighted by Magic Leap is that the system is able to memorize the location of virtual objects by creating a digital replica of the physical environment. If, for example, you install a virtual vase on your coffee table, the vase will appear in this place each time you reconnect.
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