THIS was always going to be a disappointment.
This is truly something new for the world
Eight months ago during the Manchester International Festival's first 2015 programme announcements we were promised 'a world first show about the origin of the universe'. Contributors were heavyweight: everybody's favourite nerd, Professor Brian Cox; Oscar-winning Scottish film director Kevin Macdonald; the doyen of British graphic design Peter Saville; more Oscar-winners in Framestore (the London-based CGI team behind mega blockbuster Gravity); and mysterious Florida-based virtual reality wizards, Magic Leap, and its founder/crackpot genius Rony Abovitz - who once gave a TEDx talk dressed as an astronaut alongside two fighting yetis.
The Age of Starlight (AOS) was to bring world-first, cutting-edge augmented reality technology to Manchester this summer. Whispers circulated of headgear that could project big bangs and galaxies directly into the users' eyes and replicate visual reality with such mastery that we'd forgo all religion and declare Magic Leap the All Powerful and Abovitz the King of Kings.
Incredibly clever stuff made possible by a cool £346m of Google cash.
Problem was the technology MIF needed to deliver this in 2015 hadn't actually been invented yet; and in some ways still hasn't (though Microsoft fanboys may argue that the HoloLens isn't far off). Doink.
Age of Starlight preview (L-R): Rony Abovitz (robot), Simon Whalley, Prof Brian Cox, Peter Saville and Alex PootsInstead a few hundred curious folk piled into Old Granada Studios on Sunday 5 July to hear what could have been. Or will be at MIF 2017, fingers crossed. Nothing is guaranteed, but the possibilities discussed inside that studio utterly boggle the bonce. The beginning of the AOS story, though, is insignificant.
"I remember as a young boy leaving the London Planetarium and feeling an overwhelming sense of insignificance," says Saville as he opens the 90 minute discussion chaired by MIF director, Alex Poots, alongside Cox, Framestore's Simon Whalley and Abovitz (this time on stage as a robot hooked up to a frustratingly shakey live feed from 'somewhere in middle America').
"Not only was I a mere spec of dust on this earth," continues Saville, "but that Earth was but a spec of dust in the Universe - it was a hugely profound moment for me."
"That insignificance resonated with me," chips in Cox. "As humans we are insignificant, but we're also hugely valuable - two seemingly irreconcilable thoughts. Science can't bridge that gap, but art can."
Saville approached Cox to discuss a 'planetarium for the twenty-first century', Poots - whose built a festival on canny cultural melts - found out, stuck his oar in, flew to Miami, fell for Abovitz, stirred in some Oscar glory and assembled the most potent MIF alliance to date to create, what Poots calls, 'the most challenging work I've known in a 25 year career'.
So what actually is this tech? Well, it's hugely complex (and draws up all sorts of philosophical questions about reality I won't bore you with here), but boiled down the new technology developed by Abovitz and Magic Leap will use a wearable 'photonic lightfield chip' to not so much transport you into a virtual world, but bring virtual images into your world by directing light directly into the eye tricking the eye-brain system into overlapping the everyday world with a virtual one.
Still confused? Imagine a galaxy in the palm of your hand, a T-Rex on the dining table, or, as some (possibly drunk) bloke suggested during the Q&A, the most incredible pornography.
The aim is to harness the new technology in order to address 'the deepest possible questions' about the origins of the universe - from before the Big Bang (yes there was something before everything, according to Cox) right up to the formation of 'complex creatures'. Us.
"I was sceptical until I went to Miami," says Whalley, "but this is truly something new for the world."
Remarkable as it sounds, one question remains: what if Magic Leap can't create what they say they can? £346m is a lot of money, but diddly-squat to the likes of Intel and Microsoft, who've hemorrhaged money trying to similarly augment reality. It also feels somewhat foolhardy to be discussing world-first breakthrough technologies when the likes of MIF and Abovitz still struggle to establish a stable Skype link to America.
One more thing. You have to give Poots credit for pulling this lot together, but who exactly is going to be pulling the AOS strings when he leaves MIF for his new role at New York's Culture Shed in two weeks time? And what if the new festival director, John McGrath, doesn't want to blow a chunk of his budget on black holes and whimsy?
Inspiring yes, but 2017 feels a long way off...
The Age of Starlight (Preview) took place in Old Granada Studios on Sunday 5 July. It is hoped the full production will be ready in time for MIF 2017.
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