In a Twitter post on Friday last week, Peter H Diamandis, Founder and Executive Chairman for XPRIZE, photographed himself wearing the currently unreleased Magic Leap 2 mixed reality (MR) headset.
In the post, Diamandis holds a Magic Leap 2 controller and, until now, no details had emerged concerning the MR headset’s controller, despite the post noting small components.
Check out the MagiLeap2 AR Headset! Twice the field of View at half of the headset volume. Super brilliant colors. I LOVE IT! A major improvement over alternative options. i’m excited to host the CEO, Peggy Johnson, on my stage at abundant 360 at the end of April. #MagicLeap pic.twitter.com/NCYhypYGnY
— Peter H. Diamandis, MD (@PeterDiamandis) March 4, 2022
The most striking is a pair of cameras on either side of the controller supporting inside-out tracking, as well as an ergonomic design similar to the Meta Quest 2’s controllers.
Diamandis also announced he would host Magic Leap’s CEO Peggy Johnson at the Abundance360 Summit in April 2022. The Summit will convene various thought leaders, futurists, and CEOs across a three-day event featuring keynotes, workshops, and networking opportunities.
Magic Leap 2 Details
At the SPIE Photonics West 2022 conference on optics and photonics research in January, Kevin Curtis, VP of Optical Engineering, Magic Leap, revealed key details about the Magic Leap 2.
According to reports, the MR headset contains 18 built-in cameras and sensors to enhance real-world tracking and may also assist with controller tracking, based on the most recent leaks.
Furthermore, the Magic Leap 2 is a tethered device, meaning users will have to physically connect the headset to a secondary computing ‘box’ to offload processing power and improve battery performance.
Despite this, Curtis confirmed that the Magic Leap 2 includes an upgraded computing box providing twice as much power.
In December 2021, Magic Leap also revealed it would partner with AMD to supply a powerful graphics processing unit for the offboard computing device used in the Magic Leap 2. Previously, the first Magic Leap headset used an NVIDIA Tegra chip.
The Magic Leap 2 enhances the accessibility of MR experiences by improving the device’s eyebox — the horizontal and vertical distance from the lens to the eyes. The upgraded eyebox integrates focal distances twice as large as the original headset, allowing it to support various focal lengths easily.
The Magic Leap 2 will also introduce Dynamic Dimming, a new feature enabling users to display MR overlays in a dark room or outdoor environment without visual errors. Also, the new headset contains a secondary embedded eye-tracking device to enhance visual quality.
Magic Leap Annoucements
The news comes after Johnson discussed updates on the Magic Leap 2 headset in an interview last October with CNBC News. She claimed at the time the flagship device would have a powerful heads-up display (HUD) and field-of-view, which she claimed was “the largest [in] the industry.”
Johnson told CNBC that the Magic Leap 2 would release in 2022, with select customers acquiring the headset via an early access programme, although the company has released no updates of a 2022 release.
The news came after Magic Leap raised $500 million to revitalise the company. The fundraising efforts devalued the firm to $2 billion, down from previous estimates of $3 billion.
The fundraising came after a previous $350 million investment that allowed the company to restructure, following a challenging period for the startup.
