2024: The Year of Immersive Experiences Begins!
The future of 3D is off to an amazing start in 2024 here at Leia. We’re just wrapping January and there’s already lots to be excited about with new products and lots of potential we’re seeing in the community. From CES to MIT Reality Hack, let's look back at everything that happened this month—and get ready for what’s next.
Leia's CES 2024 Showcase: A 3D Revolution Unveiled in Gaming and Beyond
We kicked off CES 2024 by highlighting our SR Pro 2, an 8K 3D panel that’s so smooth you can drive race cars that pop off the screen and it feels like you’re there at every hairpin turn. That sense of depth, whether you’re racing or playing your favorite first-person shooter, adds whole new layers of realism to gaming. Best of all, no special glasses are required. (It even allows for some VR games to be played on-screen, no VR headsets required!)
Meanwhile, amazing partner hardware from the likes of Acer, Asus, and MSI—all powered by LeiaSR™—demonstrated that you’re going to find our technology everywhere in 2024.
We even teased some people with the fact that we’re working on a new 3D OLED screen phone. (Just ask Sean Hollister at The Verge about that.)
Beyond gaming, LeiaPix.com demoed its newest feature: Breathing life into their 2D videos with astonishing depth and realism.
LeiaPix 2D→3D Video Conversion Coming Soon
The team lost track of how many people were genuinely surprised by what LeiaPix was capable of doing during CES. As we unveiled LeiaPix’s new video conversion capabilities on the show floor, we also opened up a staged beta where people could login and volunteer to help us test the system.
On the tester’s part, it’s dead simple: Upload 2D content. That’s it! Powered by our state-of-the-art AI, LeiaPix interprets your content, adding the depth maps, and truly bringing it to life. No high powered hardware or top-end GPUs needed, it’s all done in the cloud.
The volunteer slots filled up quickly and we’re getting invaluable results from our beta testers! We’re working towards transitioning this feature out of beta and open for everyone to try for themselves by March. If you haven’t been there yet, head to LeiaPix and try it for yourself!
NYC and The Microsoft Garage
Fresh off the new gear shown at CES, we flew to NYC where we hosted approximately 50 creators from the tri-state area. It was our first time bringing a full suite of our display technology to New York — and we did not disappoint those that showed up!
As you can tell, we love being out in the community, getting inspired by what creators see. Or, as Mike Pell, Director of Microsoft Garage, previously put it, “You can immediately feel as you sit in front of one of these 3D displays that we are moving into a new phase of immersion. I’ve watched so many people have the same reaction – first, disbelief of what they’re seeing, then amusement as they run through all the possibilities in their minds.”
In the Big Apple? You can still experience the Lume Pad 2 for yourself. Just stop by B&H Photo in Manhattan!
(A huge shout out to Ultraleap — their touchless gesture control tech takes LeiaSR to another level!)
BETT
If you’re not aware, BETT is a trade show dedicated to the future of education and, over in London, Leia showed that we’re very much a part of it! We’ve worked behind the scenes for years, helping improve the ways we can make learning more interactive, immersive and fun for future generations and this year’s BETT showed not only widespread interest on the showfloor from students and teachers alike, but also adoption of our groundbreaking LeiaSR technology.
While we didn’t have our own booth, our technology was prominently showcased at several others including JP.IK, Intel, Microsoft, and Onsor. The collaborative efforts showcased LeiaSR's adaptability and integration into various educational platforms. Leia's strategic partnerships with key players in the industry not only showcased the technology's versatility but also reinforced LeiaSR as a frontrunner in the evolution of educational tools. In fact, nearly everyone who saw our demos, walked away impressed with how our tech can elevate education through 3D.
MIT Reality Hack: Taking LeiaSR to New Places
Our very own Nima Zeighami made his annual trip to Boston and MIT’s Reality Hack. This year, he was joined by Joe Lang and Dan Geisler from our SDK team - Joe hosted a workshop demonstrating just how easy it is to convert existing projects for our 3D screens. True to the workshop’s title we showed attendees how to “Add LeiaSR To A Project in Under 5 Minutes.” We took a sample in Unity, imported the LeiaSR plugin, set up a rig, and showcased a Live Preview - for both Android and Windows. We could’ve set a timer, it’s so easy!
We demo-ed LeiaSR to over 100 XR hackers. As people came by to check out our demos, they couldn’t stop saying “wow,” even after trying multiple apps and demos across many minutes.
At the end of the event, one attendee said to Nima, "This is the best thing I've seen at the whole Hack!" 😊Flattering—and we hope to connect with more of you online and at events throughout the year and at the next MIT Reality Hack!
2024 is just getting started. We’re excited not just for what we showed off at CES, not just for the excitement we’re seeing on people’s faces who get to experience LeiaSR up close. It’s because we know that we’re at the cusp of big things for Spatial Computing. Just wait and see.