Before the letters MAGI came to be the acronym for the Mathematical Applications Group, Incorporated, they formed the plural of the singular magus, which came from the Latin meaning "sorcerer.” From this root came the word magic. This is entirely appropriate, as we shall see.
Magic is not a bad word to describe what is going on at the MAGI facilities in Elmsford, NY, and Santa Monica, CA. With the publicity that has accompanied the film Tron, it is unlikely that you are entirely unfamiliar with the work of MAGI. If, in addition, you have seen commercials for the arcade game Zaxxon, or the home video game Worm War 1 (which, by the way, was written by my predecessor at Creative, David Lubar), you have seen the work of MAGI. What you have seen is vivid, computer generated imagery, real enough to captivate.
I recently had an opportunity to visit the Elmsford labs of MAGI, and to speak with some of the people who are responsible for these remarkable effects. Crossing the Tappan Zee Bridge on a misty morning, I made the turn into Elmsford. I fought back the urge to look for the tower of the Master Control Program, and followed the directions I had with me.
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