Sci-Fi Author Neal Stephenson Joins Mystery Startup Magic Leap as Chief Futurist

If nothing else, Magic Leap knows how to capture the imagination.

Silicon Valley is already abuzz over this stealthy augmented-reality startup, mainly due to some funding from Google and a brief glimpse of the companys technology that shows a 3-D virtual elephant floating above someones hands. And now, the company has raised its cachet even higher by teaming up with big-name science fiction writer and game designer Neal Stephenson, author of such sci-fi classics as Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon.

Stephenson will hold the title of Chief Futurist at the mysterious Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based company, which recently announced a $542 million round of funding led by Google. The sci-fi writer revealed his new title with a blog post, saying hed been swayed to join Magic Leap after receiving a demonstration of the companys technology.

Magic Leap is mustering an arsenal of techniquesto produce a synthesized light field that falls upon the retina in the same way as light reflected from real objects in your environment, he writes, saying its a tool that will serve not only gamers but readers, learners, scientists, and artists.

As one of the companys visionaries, Stephenson will work with the startup in a more theoretical, rather than technical, capacity. Where I hope I can be of use is in thinking about what to do with this tech once it is available to the general public, he writes.Hell join other notable names at the company, including founders Rony Abovitz, the former head of a medical robotics company MAKO Surgical, which was sold for $1.65 billion, and Richard Taylor of WETA Workshop, the company that created the props and creatures seen in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Thus far, the startup has been extremely tight-lipped on what its final product will be. Publicly, it released little more than a GIF of a tiny elephant appearing in an open pair of hands as a puzzling hint of what it would eventually debut. But some have speculated that the company could be making a Google Glass-like wearable that realistically blends computer-generated graphics with real world.

In this manner,Magic Leap adds to a wealth of efforts by othersnotably Google Glass and the Oculus Riftto bring augmented reality and virtual reality into the mainstream. When the company landed that $542-million pile of cash, the investment didnt come from Google Ventures, Google Capital, or any of the search giants other investment armsbut rather Google Inc. itself.

Additionally, Magic Leap nabbed senior vice president Sundar Pichai, the man in charge of Googles core products, as a member of the startups board. And other investors carry their own cachet, including Qualcomm, Legendary Pictures, and venture capitalist bigwigs Andreessen Horowitz, Obvious Ventures, and KPCB.