A newly unveiled patent listing from Magic Leap which was officially filed under the patent number D795,952 may provide some insight into what the company’s upcoming “mixed-reality” smart glasses will look like. A company spokeswoman has since said that the glasses in the patent are not exactly accurate due to the amount of time it takes for a patent filing to be completed, though recent reports indicate that the final product is expected to be similar to that shown in the filing’s images – included below – but perhaps not so sleek or slim.
That is apparently backed up by sources close to the project and company, with one of them claiming that the real hardware is likely to be bigger and bulkier than the one detailed in the recently uncovered patent filing. Furthermore, the final product design is said to include a centrally located depth sensor, with another insider claiming that the product will only have a single camera on the outside of each lens, attached to the arm of the glasses, rather than the two shown in the patent D795,952. That same source also claims that the final product will be “thick-rimmed” and have heavier arms, with those claims reportedly being backed by investors and individuals who had a chance to try out a prototype earlier this year. Some of those people have said that the set was smaller than the currently available VR headsets but larger than Snapchat’s Spectacles, for example. They effectively described them as being more like a larger take on the swimming goggles. However, the demo set was also attached to external units for computing and power, recent reports indicate.
Bearing that in mind, it makes sense that this initial, more sleek design, may have been scrapped by the Florida-based startup. The firm’s final product will likely incorporate computational components and power source into a single unit. To keep the design exactly like the patent filing would require either rapid advancement and breakthroughs in components, serious innovation in battery design, a unit that’s substantially bulkier, or any combination of those things. In any case, the company has raised $1.4 billion toward the creation of AR smart glasses and is reportedly planning to launch its first product at some point this year.
