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Brian Cox takes Magic Leap into Google-backed augmented reality

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By John Glenday | Reporter

November 20, 2014 | 2 min read

Celebrity physicist Brian Cox is to promote Google backed Magic Leap augmented reality platform in the UK next year as presenter of The Age of Starlight, a live special effects driven experience which will debut at the Manchester International Festival next year.

The professor will work alongside digital effects studio Framestore, the team which produced Gravity, and film director Kevin Macdonald on the project which remains a closely guarded secret.

Reports indicate that the technology uses some form of headgear to beam images directly into people’s eyes, doing away with the need for a screen, a process which has knocked the socks off all those who’ve experienced it thus far – including Cox.

He said: “It's the premiere of a technology that allows you to put digital images into your field of vision directly. I saw the prototype in Miami a few months ago and it's stunning.

"It is going to be transformative technology, there's no doubt about that.

“Whereas in television documentary you're attacking these ideas from a scientific perspective, in this case it's much more of an emotional experience and I think it should be disorientating.

"I want people to stagger out and have to have a sit-down for a long time before they go home.”

Google were so impressed with the technique that they invested £346m in the technology in October.

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