We are proud to partner with Magic Leap to integrate the Magic Leap platform with Unity. For all creators looking to get started today, we’re thrilled to make available the Unity Technical Preview and the Lumin SDK available on the Magic Leap Creator Portal!

The Technical Preview is meant for anyone looking to get a glimpse at this exciting new platform and explore developing in spatial computing, digital content that seamlessly interacts with the real world. Unity’s integration is compatible with Magic Leap Zero Iteration and Magic Leap Remote features, which allows for simulation of the hardware platform. Technical Previews are intended to be a first-look at new technology so some instability is to be expected.

Magic Leap’s early access partners have already been building high-quality IP in Unity, including Weta Workshop’s Dr. G’s Invaders, Sigur Rós’’ Tónandi, developed in partnership with The Mill, and NBA Digital’s NBA App, enabled by Magic Leap’s Screens platform. We believe Magic Leap’s personal spatial computing platform, coupled with Unity’s tooling, will allow even the most innovative imaginations to be brought to life.

In-engine screenshot of Tónandi, built with Unity.

Magic Leap is the latest platform to expand Unity’s growing support of XR and the next step in personal computing. We at Unity are building on the knowledge and expertise learned from other XR platforms (everything from VR to Mobile AR) to continue to evolve our tools, runtime optimizations and workflow to allow developers to bring their XR content to the widest array of available hardware and ecosystems. Building content for XR is complex and the spectrum of challenges to combine the digital and physical worlds is daunting. As we continue to further develop our leadership in the XR space, the tools Unity provides continue to make these challenges easier to solve.

Magic Leap One™ is a lightweight, wearable computer that enriches the real world with virtual content. Unity shares Magic Leap’s mission to create a more unified world where the physical and digital exist as one – but such a world only exists when creators like you take the challenge and make this future a reality (no pun intended). Join us in shaping the future and solving some of the most challenging content creation problems of our time.

Coming in 2018, Magic Leap One™, Creator Edition is meant for designers and developers who want to build experiences on the Magic Leap platform.

Magic Leap Technical Preview Features

The Magic Leap Technical Preview is built against Unity 2018.1. In addition to 2018.1 features, the Technical Preview includes a new platform under the Build Window to target Magic Leap’s Lumin OS. A high level overview of the included Magic Leap features are:

• Instanced Single Pass Stereo Rendering
• World Reconstruction, such as world meshing, semantic labeling of floors, ceilings, and walls, and ray casting to retrieve intersection points with the world’s depth data
• Physical World Occlusion Culling
• Eye tracking through fixation point position based on where the user is looking
• Support for the Control, including 6DOF tracking, trackpad, and lighting
• Audio spatialization providing fine control over the response of the audio based on user’s movement and audio source position
• Recognize the user’s hand poses (gestures) and track the position of identifiable points on hands such as the tip of the index fingers
• Track the position and orientation of specified static image targets in the user’s environment
• Zero Iteration with Magic Leap Remote (More details below under “Get Started With the Device Simulator”)

As we look towards the future, 3D digital content will be the way we interact with the world. Unity believes the world is a better place with more creators in it, and platforms such as Magic Leap will unleash new forms of creativity which we can’t wait to see.  

Resources

Ready to explore what is possible beyond the screen? Here is what you need:

1. Download the Unity for Magic Leap Technical Preview. Additional updates will happen regularly so check back often to get the latest features.
2. Register on the Magic Leap Creator Portal and grab the Magic Leap Lumin SDK. In addition to the Technical Preview, you will need to grab the latest Lumin SDK by registering on the Magic Leap Creator Portal.
3. Provide feedback in the Unity Forum. This is a Technical Preview, so expect some instability. Please share your feedback and let us know of any issues you may encounter.

Get Started with the Device Simulator

Once you have installed Unity and the Lumin SDK, you can jump in. The best way to get started today is to use Magic Leap ‘ZI’ or Zero Iteration tools. ZI can be used either with a device simulator or with physical hardware allowing for you to use the device from the Unity editor directly without the needing to deploy.

As you build, access the Magic Leap Creator Portal for best practices, technical guidance and additional resources.

Once you’ve followed the steps above for setting up the Unity for Magic Leap Technical Preview, getting your project working in the Magic Leap Remote Simulator is just a few easy steps away:

1) Start the Magic Leap Remote app from within your Lumin SDK directory

2) Start Simulator

Click ‘Start Simulator’ to launch a simulator that can talk directly to your Unity scene. You can load virtual rooms into the scene by clicking the ☰ menu at the top right of the Mini Map and then clicking ‘Load Virtual Room’. This device simulator will receive images from the eye cameras in your scene, and can send virtual head pose, input, meshing data, etc. back to your Unity scene.

3) Create a Unity Project

In Unity, create a new project using the ‘Magic Leap’ project template. This will set initial defaults like placing the camera at the origin, rendering with a black background, and configuring a few other defaults that work best for starting out with Magic Leap projects.

4) Set up build target

In Build Settings, switch to the ‘Lumin OS’ platform and point the ‘Lumin SDK Location’ at the path where you’ve installed your Lumin SDK.

5) Enable Zero Iteration

Go to the ‘Magic Leap’ menu and select ‘Enable Zero Iteration’. This will add some Zero Iteration assets to a Magic Leap folder in your project, and will then relaunch the editor.

6) Click Play!

At this point, you are able to run your scene on either the simulator you created in Step 2, or remoting to an actual device once you receive hardware, just click Play!

The Simulator view shows the rendered scene as it would appear if you were wearing a device, integrating the eye view into the virtual room.

The corresponding Scene view in the Unity editor depicting the room meshing data sent from the Simulator as a wireframe mesh. Our CG model is also rendered and displayed in the virtual room in the Simulator.

Developing for XR spatial computing requires a completely new way of thinking about game and application development, with limitless opportunities for creators! The Technical Preview is the first step to put development for Magic Leap in the hands of millions of Unity Developers. We want to invite all of you to join us now – early in the journey – to learn from one another, share best practices and unleash your creativity beyond the screen!

Download Technical Preview

Join the Magic Leap Creator Portal

Join peers in the Unity Forum