Secretive virtual/augmented reality startup Magic Leap has at last unveiled its headset, over a year after Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment helped pump more than $1 billion into the company.
The Magic Leap One creator edition will ship in 2018 and is comprised of three parts. The Lightwear headset uses Magic Leap’s Lightfield technology, which uses photonics to blend digital objects into real-world settings. The Lightpack is a graphics processing device that can be clipped onto the user. The product also includes a wireless controller.
Along with the hardware, Magic Leap is planning on offering a Creator Portal with access to its open SDK.
The company did not give a specific launch date or pricing details for the Magic Leap One.
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The product reveal from Magic Leap rewards the patience of the many investors who poured money into the startup. Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment are two media companies that invested in Magic Leap, but other investors include Google, Qualcomm and Alibaba.
In October, Magic Leap raised another $502 million in Series D equity funding led by Temasek with further participation from Alibaba, Google and others.
“We’re excited to welcome Temasek and the other new investors in this round to the Magic Leap family. We also greatly appreciate the strong support and partnership from our existing shareholders,” said Rony Abovitz, founder, president and CEO of Magic Leap, in a statement.
Magic Leap’s official entry into the VR/AR market comes as the industry is poised for expansive growth over the next few years. Worldwide distribution of virtual reality and augmented reality headsets is expected to rise as shipments reach 59.2 million in 2021, up from 9.6 million in 2017.