Magic Leap, an augmented reality (AR) company, has shown the second generation of its headset, as well as $500 million in new funding. The AR Magic Leap headsets, unlike virtual reality (VR), project digital 3D things on top of the real environment.
The new headgear is designed especially for business use and has a broader field of view, according to the company. Magic Leap has been chastised for the length of time it took to create operational prototypes and products.
According to tech news site TechCrunch, this week’s $2 billion valuation and $500 million in new fundraising is nearly identical to a funding round in 2014 that valued the company at $2 billion.
“It seems investors are still addicted to handing them money,” the site writes, referring to the company’s $3.5 billion in fundraising since its founding in 2010.
The first headset sales didn’t start until 2018, more than three years after the Florida startup debuted a teaser video of the gadget.
Nreal, Microsoft, Facebook, and Snapchat are just a few of the well-funded competitors creating their own AR headgear.
Workers who need access to critical information while keeping their hands free could benefit from AR.
Magic Leap gives the following examples:
manufacture, by sharing 3D models of goods being worked on or getting remote assistance from a technician surgery, in which scans and other reference data are required while executing an operation design, in which several people may view and discuss modifications to 3D objects at the same time
Peggy Johnson, who joined Magic Leap from Microsoft last year, said the headset would be the industry’s “smallest and lightest device built for enterprise adoption” when demonstrating it.
It has the industry’s biggest field of view, according to her, as well as “dimming,” which darkens the surrounding environment, making the glasses simpler to wear outside and in bright environments.
