17 Jun
The long-awaited Magic Leap 2 headset is scheduled to launch on September 30th for $3,299 as a starting price. Itâs a mixed reality headset and is a lighter and smaller version of the 2018 release. The Magic Leap 2 comes with other enhancements including a broader field of view as well as a higher cost. Magic Leap has already distributed the Magic Leap 2 to a few set of partners which includes neurotech firm SyncThink as well as other medical businesses. In September, the Magic Leap 2 will be made available for public purchase in several countries, which includes the US (where it’s distributed through their retail partner, Insight), the UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, France, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Spain. The launch in Japan, as well as Singapore, is scheduled for the end of the year.
The headset is available in three versions, including the $3,299 Magic Leap 2 Base the headset with a one-year warranty. Meanwhile, The Magic Leap 2 Developer Pro includes developer-specific software and sample projects priced at $4,099. The Magic Leap 2 Enterprise version comes with two years of support for enterprise-set software and is set at $4,999.
Each package comes with a Magic Leap 2 headset, the computer powering it, and an easy-to-use remote controller. The Magic Leap 2 is in the same basic form as its predecessor headset, which was priced at $2,295. However, itâs been slimmed down, reducing its weight from between 316 to 260 grams. It has a larger 70-degree field of vision and while it is smaller than its predecessor, the difference isnât significant. The majority of Magic Leap 2 specs were listed in January and Magic Leap has been hyping the device for over 3 years now. Itâs only recently that they uploaded the complete hardware specifications on their website.
Hereâs the complete Magic Leap 2 official specification as listed on their website:
- Memory/Storage: 256GB
- Weight: 260g
- Camera: 12.6M pixel autofocus RGB camera, 4k at 30fps or 1920 x 1080 at 60fps video
- The volume of View: 37cm to infinity
- CPU: AMD 7nm Quad-core Zen2 X86 core (8 threads), 14 core CVIP engine, up to 3.92 GHz max with 512kB L2 per core, 4MB total L3 cache
- GPU: AMD GFX10.2: 1SE 1SA 4 WGP (8 CUs) 2RB+, 1MB L2 Cache 964 MHz / Max 1.8 GHz
- Display: 1440 x 1760px resolution, 20 to 2000 nits brightness
- Spatial Audio: Built-in Stereo Speakers
- Sensors: 3 Wider FoV World Cameras, Depth Camera, RGB Camera, Ambient Light Sensor, 4x Eye Tracking Cameras
- Inertial Sensors: 4x IMU, 3-axis Accelerometer and Gyroscope, 2x 3-axis Magnetometer, 2x Altimeter
- Battery: 3.5hrs continuous use, 7hrs sleep mode
Security âĒ WPA3AMD Platform Security Processor, TMR, Security fencing between x86 and CVIP.
Peggy Johnson, Magic Leap CEO, stated earlier in the year that the company is primarily targeting three areas for the new AR headset: “health care, defense and public sector, and manufacturing and industrial settings,” and also possible collaborations with location-based entertainment and arts. There aren’t a lot of high-powered AR headsets available currently, aside from Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 and Magic Leap 2 might end up being used to explore areas in which the future, cheaper wearables for consumers are aiming to develop in the future.
Contrary to VR headsets that are self-contained similar to the Meta Quest 2, the smaller Magic Leap 2 is connected via a wire to a wearable device. It comes with a wireless handheld controller that allows you to navigate AR content. With over 12 years of research and development behind the hardware, many are anticipating amazing outcomes from Magic Leap 2, but with firms like Apple still yet to announce their own AR hardware, Magic Leap’s timing leaves it open to what is sure to be a very competitive near-future.
How Magic Leap 2 AR Headset is Another Leap Into a Virtual Reality Future
The two initial webs–Web 1.0 and 2.0–were rather static when compared to the future. Today, we’re at the brink of Web 3.0 and the metaverse, a web of interconnected places where transactions are recorded on the blockchain and powered by AI.
In the coming years, Web3.0 techniques like digital twins, smart spaces, smart spaces, and augmented reality, as well as advanced virtual assistants will revolutionize the way people communicate with one another. It is predicted that by 2026, 30% of all organizations in the world will be able to offer products and services to be used in the metaverse.
The metaverse is a virtual artificial intelligence (AI) platform running on a 3D user interface that offers an immersive experience for users. It’s enhanced with artificially-powered, conversational avatars that facilitate natural conversations in a variety of modalities. When viewed in this way it is an obvious evolution of conversational AI today such as Alexa, integrating with the 3D world of video games as well as other technology that are convergent, like VR as well as blockchain. It has become clear that conversational AI will play a major role in expanding and supporting Web3.0 as well as the Metaverse.
Big Tech experts predict the metaverse will become the successor to mobile.
Looking at the way messages on mobile devices have emerged as the most popular method for customer service, itâs easier to tell that conversational AI will continue to grow in significance, even in the realm of improving customer experiences for employees.
This is where conversational AI-based will play an important role in the metaverse:
Improved virtual collaboration in the workplace: In an era of merged workplaces, Metaverses will help bridge the gap between remote and in-person work. Personal assistants powered by AI can aid every employee working in the metaverse, taking care of all aspects of scheduling meetings, taking notes, to managing routine employee engagements. In addition to handling some of the most mundane and repetitive tasks, AI can also help workers to focus on the creative aspects of their work.
While the entire components that make up the metaverse are still unclear, what is certain is that new technologies are merging to create an increasingly integrated world Web3 that is enabled by conversational AI. According to Gartner, although the metaverse will not be fully developed until 2030, product managers must begin considering opportunities today. Businesses should now begin to implement the latest AI agents who can start their journey into the next stage of connectivity, which will alter our interactions with each other, providing a completely unique experience for users.
Next-gen classrooms: Think teleportation. We could “teleport” from a class in one country to another class held in another country–within a given interface. While metaverse experiences won’t entirely replace digital interactions with websites, apps, and other platforms, they could allow for different business models that can be optimized for these new use cases which will greatly increase the learning experience through real-time interactions between virtual avatars.
The industrial metaverse is for manufacturing: The industrial metaverse offers a myriad of opportunities to manufacturers. It can be anything from faster and safer training for workers, making use of simulations to enhance the quality of products before deployment, and making use of AR/VR to repair equipment. Avatars powered by AI that can converse will be essential in this regard, guiding employees through advanced human-like interactions.
Immersive retail experiences and commerce: Retail could expand its reach to provide an immersive shopping experience that makes it possible for more complex products with companies like Gucci and Nike already joining the trend of digital-based clothing and accessories. Intelligent AI agents will function similarly to personal shopping stylists who enable smart upselling and cross-selling as well as managing virtual properties inventory and allowing self-service probes.
Virtual experiences that make you feel like you are there: The metaverse could provide a more immersive and collaborative experience in virtual events. Imagine the metaverse hosting a concert in 10 locations around the globe simultaneously. Just like how The Travis Scott concert was held in Fortnite with his skyscraper-sized character engaging with more than 12 million viewers live. Conversational AI is expected to help further enhance such experience through digital avatars that can facilitate captivating audience engagement on a large scale, regardless of location, time, or even language.
How AR Keeps Growing Across Industries
AR has been massively adopted across industries over the past two years. In IBM’s retail index for 2020, the pandemic itself has increased the pace of digital shopping by five years. Global spending on AR/VR-related headsets, software, and services was up 50% from 2019 to 2020.
In a post-pandemic environment, businesses have the chance to create an immersive digital experience in real-time for their clients. One firm, Niantic, is taking things a step beyond: becoming the leader in the field of augmented reality.
The name, Niantic, has become synonymous with well-known real-world, virtual reality games designed to take people outside. The company has released games like Ingress and the global smash of 2016, Pokemon GO, and Pikmin Bloom. However, it is also probing the possibilities of AR across various industries and how it could enhance the experience of the geospatial map.
Niantic’s exclusive AR technology platform for development, Lightship, has been the engine behind many of the company’s biggest projects, including new games, such as Peridot, which was recently revealed. Peridot. In the latter half of 2021, Niantic made the platform available to developers, allowing them to start using Lightship’s AR development toolkit to develop brand experiences.
Since its inception, Lightship has worked on numerous immersive apps including The Coachella Valley Music and Art Festival’s Coachellaverse which immerses users in the real and digital festival. It interacts with the various points of interest to unlock unique experiences, like an enormous blue butterfly landing in a rainbow-colored tower at the festival site. The other exciting projects comprise Historic Royal Palaces’ Tower of London Superbloom and an AR-based mobile floral landscape launched at the time of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, and PGA of America’s shared-AR game with a safari theme named Jr. League Safari Par-Tee which turns any area into a virtual putting green.
Perhaps the most exciting advancement in the near direction of AR is the recent acquisition by Niantic of the world’s most popular web-based augmented-reality technology 8th Wall. The platform was initially launched in the last quarter of 2018 8th Wall has been the power behind more than 10,000 web-based apps and thousands of commercial applications for the top brands.
Web AR is a type of lighter-touch of AR development that permits marketers to easily interact with their customers on a variety of connected and mobile devices. Instead of having users download apps, this technology can be used through a click on a link or scanning images and QR code scanning.
Web AR also has a greater reach. It is not only possible to have the estimated five billion iOS and Android smartphones use the 8th Wall’s Web AR content, but users can also use the content on any tablet or personal computer using an internet browser.
Meanwhile, World Effects, which bind digital objects to the physical world, are popular in games like Pokemon GO, bringing Pokemon to life around you. In the past, Barbie’s Dreamhouse built a fully-sized interactive Barbie mansion that users can build anywhere and have animated characters, custom-made lighting and sound effects, and interactive games.
Image targeting is now a well-known Web AR feature for brands. It allows developers to incorporate AR elements into existing images, like logos, signs, and packaging. In a marketing campaign, Pizza Hut brought the classic arcade game PAC-MAN into people’s homes by embedding an AR game onto pizza boxes that customers could play while enjoying their pizza.
Web can create amazing outcomes for developers, marketers, and even brands. But for Niantic as well as 8th Wall, it all boils down to empowering developers. This past May, Niantic launched its inaugural event specifically designed for developers. It was called Lightship Summit, featuring speakers like Niantic President John Hanke, Niantic product executives, and developer partners, as well as the 8th Wall theme. 8th Wall team, including Emrich.
“We’re on a mission to make a metaverse for everyone,” Emrich declared, wrapping up his Day Two keynote.
