Magic Leap unveiled on Wednesday a new “creator edition” product, lifting the veil of secrecy around one of the most mysterious unicorn start-ups.
The product, called “Magic Leap One: Creator Edition” appears to be a standalone mixed-reality headset called “Lightwear” with a portable power and processing pack (which looks somewhat like a discman player) and remote. The portal is coming early in 2018, according to the company’s website.
There doesn’t appear to be a way to pre-order the product yet —the website prompts users to sign up for an email list.
The Florida-based mixed reality start-up made headlines earlier this week with a musical collaboration with indie rock darling Sigur Ros. The company has also sent emails foreshadowing an upcoming release over the past few weeks.
The company, which is valued at nearly $5 billion, according to CB Insights, is backed by big names like Qualcomm Ventures, Alibaba, Morgan Stanley, T. Rowe Price, Google, Fidelity, Kleiner Perkins and Andreessen Horowitz, according to Crunchbase. But past reports by publications like The Information have cast doubt on the veracity of Magic Leap’s claims about its technology.
Magic Leap has been relatively slow to come to market, compared to Microsoft’s HoloLens, another high-end mixed reality device. But the company’s backers have been staunch defenders of the start-up, despite allegations that Magic Leap’s previous demonstrations have been dressed up with special effects.
— CNBC’s Sara Salinas contributed to this report.
Source: Tech CNBC
Magic Leap has finally revealed its first major product, a mixed-reality headset