Magic Leap impressed consumers as well as tech companies worldwide with promotional demo videos of the AR product it has been planning. The company impressed so much, in fact, that the likes of Google have even invested into the company. According to a new report, though, not everything may be as the company initially made it out to be. In a detailed report conducted surrounding the company, it appears that a number of the high-tech marketing campaigns that were said to show off their product were in fact made by a special effects company. Now, while the concepts that were shown off in the video are most probably the company’s end goal, for now, it appears the company will be keeping things more realistic. So realistic, in fact, that the product may be similar to Microsoft’s HoloLens.
It was no secret that many of the live demos that were shown off by the company were made possible thanks to carts stacked by hardware. This hardware, while not as impressive as some of the promotional videos, is still in development by the company and will form the basis of the end product. Initially, the company planned on using a new optics technology that would have allowed for much better graphics in a smaller package, though it appears the company has put this idea on hold for now and has decided to utilize a different approach which, as well as being cheaper, is much easier to manufacture. According to the report, the graphics that Magic Leap’s product presents are extremely similar to Microsoft’s HoloLens, hence the comparisons, though they do appear to be slightly less detailed, yet more in-depth.
Although the company’s first product may not be as impressive as they initially advertised, it is certainly looking like the company is doing its best to pack the best hardware into a relatively small package. The special effects videos that it created, on the other hand, most likely show what the distant future holds for the company. With no final release date set for their eventual first product, though, the company may have a hard time playing catch up to Microsoft with its HoloLens, especially in a market as new as AR, where the initial pioneers are often the company’s that end up succeeding.