Magic Leap CEO Says Leaked Hardware Prototype Isn’t Its Augmented Reality Wearable
The “leaked” photo of Magic Leap’s prototype “PEQ0” may just be all smoke and mirrors. Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz claims that the leaked photo is of a test rig they use in their office, not its rumored AR product.
Abovitz tweeted that the photo demonstrated a “R&D test rig where we collect room/space data for our machine vision/machine learning work.” He noted that the rig is intended to help developers better understand lighting, texture, and surfaces. Abovitz insisted that the actual AR glasses and accompanying machinery are much sleeker than the “leaked” photo. No photos have been released by Magic Leap to corroborate this claim. The only images the public has seen are the illustrations in Magic Leap’s patent.
The Florida-based company is purportedly developing head-mounted AR retinal displays. No one has been able to confirm how the glasses are being made, what they will incorporate, and when they will be released. One researcher who studied the company’s patent suggested that Magic Leap is utilizing stacked silicon waveguides.
Rumor has it that as of January, however, Magic Leap’s glasses prototype was empty and non-functioning. Many are concerned that the company will be unable to get its act together before its upcoming board meeting.
The notoriously secretive company has raised over $1.4 billion USD in venture capital since its 2011 conception. Interested parties include Google, JP Morgan, Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, Fidelity, Alibaba, Warner Bros., and Legendary Entertainment. The public will just have to take a “leap” of faith and patiently wait for now until an official announcement.
Abovitz tweeted that the photo demonstrated a “R&D test rig where we collect room/space data for our machine vision/machine learning work.” He noted that the rig is intended to help developers better understand lighting, texture, and surfaces. Abovitz insisted that the actual AR glasses and accompanying machinery are much sleeker than the “leaked” photo. No photos have been released by Magic Leap to corroborate this claim. The only images the public has seen are the illustrations in Magic Leap’s patent.
Image Credit: Business Insider
The Florida-based company is purportedly developing head-mounted AR retinal displays. No one has been able to confirm how the glasses are being made, what they will incorporate, and when they will be released. One researcher who studied the company’s patent suggested that Magic Leap is utilizing stacked silicon waveguides.
Rumor has it that as of January, however, Magic Leap’s glasses prototype was empty and non-functioning. Many are concerned that the company will be unable to get its act together before its upcoming board meeting.
The photo shows an @magicleap R&D test rig where we collect room/space data for our machine vision/machine learning work.
— Rony Abovitz (@rabovitz) February 12, 2017
The notoriously secretive company has raised over $1.4 billion USD in venture capital since its 2011 conception. Interested parties include Google, JP Morgan, Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, Fidelity, Alibaba, Warner Bros., and Legendary Entertainment. The public will just have to take a “leap” of faith and patiently wait for now until an official announcement.
