![]() The Leap 1's biggest shortcoming is a problem other failed platforms share: no killer app. It does not deliver on almost any of the promises that allowed them to monopolize funding in the AR investment community. It is less of a functional developer kit and more of a flashy hype vehicle that almost nobody can actually use in a meaningful way, and many of their design decisions seem to be driven by that reality. The Verge called the Leap 1 " flawed" and The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern said "only developers should buy these glasses." Oculus founder Palmer Luckey wasn't kind either, calling the AR headset a " tragic heap."įrom Luckey's brutal review: Unfortunately, their current offering is a tragedy in the classical sense, even more so when you consider how their massive funding and carefully crafted hype sucked all the air out of the room in the AR space. Lame, right?Īnd you don't have to just take my word for it. For example, if the screen is calibrated to be above you and you're sitting down, it's possible you can't see what's inside of it. The AR illusion completely falls apart when the literal screen limits how much you can see within it. I was glad to see the FOV was wider than the one on the original Microsoft HoloLens, but frustrated that I was still peering through a virtual window nonetheless. ![]() Unlike VR experiences that surround you within a 360-degree virtual environment, AR experiences in Leap 1 are akin to looking through a large floating window. Worst of all: the headset's field of view (FOV) really sucks. Maybe it was the buzz of seeing something new for the first time, but whatever those early writers described seemed like some kind of fever dream.ĪR comics is the best Magic Leap can do? Magic Leap Whatever guys like Kelly saw in the prototype stage didn't live up to what shipped in the Leap 1. Their suspicions were correct.Īs someone who tried Magic Leap on several occasions, I can say the reality distortion field was turned up to 11 inside and outside of the company. The years leading up to its launch were crucial and the secrecy became so deafening - the company let only a few outsiders see its technology - that it was inevitable that reporters would start wondering if the hype was real. Magic Leap even roped in sci-fi legend like Neal Stephenson to act as "Chief Futurist." Giants like Google, Disney, Alibaba ended up collectively throwing $2.6 billion at the startup to develop and ultimately commercialize its groundbreaking AR headset. ![]() Magic Leap was going to bring Star Wars holograms to life. Morsels of leaks (some right and many wrong) found their way online as it secretly worked on blending virtual, holographic-like objects with reality.Ī glowing cover story in the May 2016 issue of Wired described Magic Leap's AR objects as nearing "photographic realism" with author Kevin Kelly saying he "almost felt their presence" as he walked around them and examined them from different angles. ![]() Over-hyped from day oneįor years, Magic Leap operated in stealth from its office near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The news has rattled some confidence in the AR space - Apple is rumored to be working on an AR headset for launch as early as 2023 - but in retrospect, the writing for the company was on the wall from the start. Now, Magic Leap is reportedly exploring a sale for "more than $10 billion" according to Bloomberg. I left the hotel disappointed and didn't publish any story on it when the embargo for the demo lifted a few weeks later. It was hardly the kind of killer experience that merged virtual objects and physical space that I was expecting from the hyped AR headset.ĪR comics certainly didn't convince me the $2,300 headset was worth the money, early adopter premium or not. Flat, 2D graphic novels displayed on the headset's virtual screen that you could page through with the controller. The demo I ended up playing with was for Madefire's AR comic books. Having not tried out the "creator edition" of the Leap 1 AR headset when it soft-launched in the summer of 2018, I was intrigued enough to finally put it on and see for myself if all the years of hype, secrecy, and massive amounts of venture funding was worth the wait. ![]() I was told very little information about what I would be checking out, except that it would be worth my time. A little over a year ago, I was invited to a chill hotel in Manhattan's Lower East Side to try a new visual experience for the Magic Leap 1 augmented reality headset. ![]()
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