Just what we have come to expect from Magic Leap. We are no strangers to technologically outrageous as far the mysterious Florida-based company announcements’ are concerned. This time, in distant cahoots with Google, the two are set to do away with keyboards for good. The future of user interface, Google and Magic Leap confer, is laden with gestures, facial recognition, and voice recognition.
Such projections are glimpsed from and their plans confirmed by the recent announcements both companies made. The recent trends in empowering keyboard-less device management also confirm the noble agenda. Google has recently invested huge sums in support of Machine Language, while Magic Leap doesn’t shy away from the idea of turning virtual assistants into interfaces. The two combined might flourish into something truly special, the potential of which isn’t too hard to imagine.
Sticking with Google for now, the company is working towards keyboard-less world largely through its new handheld devices. The new Pixel3 is the playfield to this goal. Google turned the flagship device into a Google Home tool. The move is not too dissimilar to what Amazon did with Alexa, flipping her over into Amazon TV products. Google’s task was a lot easier, given the size and appropriateness of Pixel3 devices to provide the platform.
Theory aside, Pixel3 makes use of a personal assistant to help users handle incoming calls. The feature is completely non-reliant on keyboard. Google even takes things a step further with Pixel3. Via visual recognition, it empowers the device camera to act as a product search tool, identifying and locating retail products. The feature is akin to what Snapchat and Amazon collaboration amount to. The future of retail shopping is short. Still, Google is one step ahead in that Pixel3 users don’t need to rely on a third-party app to make use of visual recognition. It is built inside the device already.
As far as Magic Leap goes, its ideas serve to confirm the transition towards keyboard-free world. Corollary to the moves the company takes towards enabling all-round spatial computing, the focus on AI is inevitable. The past few days welcomed the first L.E.A.P. Conference where the ideas of voice and visual recognition of commandeering floated in the air. Magic Leap went distance to redefine the use of AI, to equate it to personal assistant turned user interface. Leap’s Mixed Reality Magicverse idea can only be dependent on no-keyboard interface. It is still not clear what step in development process we are in, but it signals the strong desire to overgrow the limitation of keyboards.
More to the point is the company’s retail product going by the name Magic Leap One. Its controllers are getting 6 Degrees of Freedom, an indication of both trend and intent. But we are still light years away from a completely keyboard-less world. There will always be application reliant of text-heavy material that will need the dexterity of keyboards. Programmers, JavaScript experts, Marketers, Data Analysis, UI designers, they all depend heavily on the versatility of boards. What is all means is that we, regular consumers, are the first beneficiaries of the no-keyboard user interface when it finally comes to pass.
