Magic Leap shows off its Magic Leap One ‘Creator Edition’ AR headset, shipping in 2018

At long last, the day has come. Magic Leap has shared a first look at what they’ve been building with the cash they’ve raised from Google, Alibaba and others.

Today, the highly valued augmented reality startup shared early details on the Magic Leap One “Creator Edition,” an AR headset for developers (“Built for Creators”) that the company says it will ship in 2018. No details on price as of yet or when a consumer version could emerge, but hey, something exists!

It’s probably not the most understated product you’ve ever seen, but it’s not a helmet. The Magic Leap One “Creator Edition” consists of three pieces of hardware.

  • Lightwear: a headset utilizing the company’s “Digital Lightfield” display technology with multiple integrated sensors to gather spatial information.
  • Lightpack: a fairly hefty circular belt-worn hip pack that contains the computer powering the headset and is tethered to the goggles.
  • Control: a handheld controller that can be tracked in space that helps users navigate menu selections and the world Magic Leap is building.

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The headset is pretty similar to designs that have come out previously in patents and leaks, the bulkiness of the front of the headset is perhaps slightly surprising however and the size of the frames might call into question just how large Magic Leap has been able to expand the headset’s field-of-view. Though the company said it was using its “Digital Lightfield” technology, we still don’t actually know what that means and whether they are using true light field tech or something that can simply fake it. The startup detailed that in addition to the controller, the headset will utilize voice, gesture, head pose and eye-tracking input.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, the company said users will be able to purchase prescription lenses and the headset itself will come in two sizes.

On the software side, Magic Leap is highlighting their platform’s ability. A Creator Portal will be coming in “early 2018” that should give developers more to work with including documentation, tools and resources.

A lot is still unclear about what the company is aiming for in terms of a consumer release, but what is clear is that this design is based on what Magic Leap thinks it will be able to accomplish, it was sure to note in the announcement that the “product is continually advancing and may be different at time of shipment.”