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Magic Leap Finally Unveils a Mixed Reality Headset

A lightweight headset, belt mounted processing unit, and force control haptic wireless controller launches for developers in early 2018.

 & Matthew Humphries Former Senior Editor

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Oculus is all about virtual reality, Microsoft is a mixed reality shop, and Apple is all-in on augmented reality. Then we have Magic Leap, which has been promising us something amazing for years now without actually unveiling anything. That is, until today, when we got a look at the Magic Leap One.

As you can probably guess from the image above, Magic Leap is finally ready to show us what its own mixed reality headset looks like. Flying goggles come to mind, but overall it's quite a streamlined unit.

Magic Leap One

Two cables extend out the back of the headset, which feed down into a circular, belt-mounted hardware unit. Magic Leap refers to this as the engine that "drives our spatial computing platform." In the hand, there's a wireless controller offering force control and haptic feedback with six degrees of freedom, smooth movement, and intuitive gesture response.

Magic Leap promises an experience similar to what is already offered by Microsoft's HoloLens, including mixed reality gaming, the ability to fill the real world with persistent, lifelike digital objects, and soundfield audio adding to the overall "real" feel of the experience.

There is also a focus on "pulling the web out of the screen" suggesting Magic Leap will offer a web-first 3D experience. Add to that the ability to project multiple displays, "be present anywhere" when talking to friends or co-workers, and getting creative using that wireless haptic controller.

Of course, before consumers get to buy one, Magic Leap needs developers. A One kit creator portal will launch in early 2018 offering access to an SDK, tools, documentation, other learning resources, and a support system. After that, it's all about content and what developers manage to create.

Once the developer launch is out of the way we should hopefully hear about a consumer launch. Will that happen in 2018, too?

About Our Expert

Matthew Humphries

Matthew Humphries

Former Senior Editor

My Experience

I started working at PCMag in November 2016, covering all areas of technology and video game news. Before that I spent nearly 15 years working at Geek.com as a writer and editor. I also spent the first six years after leaving university as a professional game designer working with Disney, Games Workshop, 20th Century Fox, and Vivendi.

I hold two degrees: a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a Master's degree in Games Development. My first book, Make Your Own Pixel Art, is available from all good book shops.

My Areas of Expertise

  • PC components and system building
  • Raspberry Pi
  • Software development
  • Storage technology
  • Video games and gaming hardware

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