Magic Leap One, Augmented Reality Headset, Launches Next Year

Magic Leap announced their new augmented reality headset on Dec. 20. Called the Magic Leap One, this promising piece of technology is slated for a 2018 release.

MAGIC LEAP ONE SHIPS NEXT YEAR

Although the company has yet to release a product on the market, Magic Leap is making a splash; the company has raised no less than $1.9 billion dollars to help bring its vision to reality. Magic Leap’s founder is Rony Abovitz, whom Rolling Stone describes as the “bombastic bioengineer who helped design the surgery-assisting robot arms of Mako Surgical Corp.”

The Magic Leap One is comprised of three pieces of equipment. The headset itself is called the Lightwear, which adorns your face, allowing you to sense the company’s “environment mapping, precision tracking and soundfield audio.” These goggles are linked to a Lightpack, the portable computer that provides power. A controller is also being developed, too, which will grant movement that “feels smooth, intuitive and responds to your every gesture.”

Among the luxuries the Magic Leap One will grant is the ability to have many screens open at once, which will enhance your work and your fun time. A creator portal will launch sometime early next year, giving inspired users access to Magic Leap’s, “tools, documentation, learning resources” and SDK.

Magic Leap has maintained secrecy over their work, but the company recently invited Rolling Stone‘s Brian Crecente over to give the One a test run. In his assessment, he clarified how seeing the Magic Leap One’s creations in his world rather than on it was impressive. His second demo was with Gimble, a levitating robot who grew more detailed the closer he walked over to it. Likewise, a virtual woman was able keep eye contact with Crecente, moving her eyes around as needed. Between these and the other demoes exhibited, it seems as though Magic Leap has a budding success on their hands.