Magic Leap One

Magic Leap One. © Magic Leap.

After raising some 2.3 billion dollars and working draped in secret for 8 years, the mysterious startup Magic Leap is finally releasing a product, the augmented reality headset Magic Leap One, for US$2,295. This headset is relatively light (415g) because the Nvidia Tegra X2 chipset micro-PC is offloaded on a CD-sized saucer worn on the belt. The battery has 3 hours of use time. Though this AR headset is undeniably superior, early testers say it is far from revolutionary, and even disappointing in light of the marketing hype that had geeks drooling (remember the video of a whale breaching from the floor of a gym?). Furthermore, the Magic Leap One unfortunately has the same flaw as the Microsoft HoloLens, i.e. the field of view is just 50° diagonally, compared to 110° for VR headsets.

⇨ The Verge, “I tried Magic Leap and saw a flawed glimpse of mixed reality’s amazing potential.”

⇨ Wired, “Inside Magic Leap’s quest to remake itself as an ordinary company (with a real product).”