Virtual reality (VR) technology may have come on leaps and bounds in recent years but its sister tech, augmented reality (AR) isn’t far behind. Championed by the likes of Microsoft with HoloLens and Meta with its Meta 2 headset, as well as more consumer grade tech like Pokémon GO and AR app Blippar, it performs a variety of tasks VR can’t. One company heavily invested in AR and mixed reality (MR) is Magic Leap, the startup valued at $4.5 billion USD. As yet no official product has been announced, released or even publicly shown. Most recently its been reported that the company’s engineers a gearing up for a board meeting by trying to produce a working prototype.
This meeting is due to take place next week reports Business Insider, with a source saying the “whole engineering group is scrambling” to produce a prototype dubbed ‘PEQ’ (Product Equivalent). This is to showcase that the company’s technology can be shrunk down to a compact form factor, and as such ready for public release (or at least something showable).
Citing former employees of Magic Leap, the site states the current prototype requires two belt packs that are cabled to the main headset, with one containing the battery while the other contains the processing power. These packs were supposedly all-in-one, having to be split because of concerns about heat. Each individual pack has been described as being the size of a can of pop.
As with everything involving Magic Leap concise details are always shrouded in mystery and very little ‘official’ information is release on the headset. Those that have seen it have been suitably impressed – hence all the money the company has secured without having anything to sell. Although one person who was reportedly unimpressed was Beyoncé, who ‘was bored by it’, when shown a personalised ‘mermaid’ demo.
If Magic Leap does decide to surprise everyone and make a public announcement VRFocus will let you know.