Virtual reality is one of the hottest fields in the tech sector today, with dozens of companies of companies developing new VR systems. According to many tech industry heavyweights, a start up company named Magic Leap is working on developing one of the most promising VR technologies. Moreover, according to analysts and the company, Magic Leap’s VR system represents much more than a single product or even a product line, as it is likely to become the leading virtual reality platform for almost all applications.
New investment round for Magic Leap
Magic Leap, Inc. (“Magic Leap”) announced on Wednesday, October 22nd that it had finalized a $542 million Series B financing round. The company statement noted that it plans to use the proceeds to accelerate product development, release software development tools, expand its content ecosystem and commercialize its proprietary mobile wearable system.
Companies included in the investment round are Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG), Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM), Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, private equity firm KKR & Co. L.P. (NYSE:KKR), Vulcan Capital, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and film studio Legendary Entertainment.
“Cinematic reality” technology
Details on Magic Leap’s VR technology are hard to come by, but the company has trademarked the term “cinematic reality”. Just what that means or how the technology, however, remains unclear. But when Legendary Entertainment CEO Thomas Tull recently got an up close look at the VR system, he reportedly said, “It’s one of the few things I’ve ever experienced in my life where I came out and said, ‘This changes everything. This is a marker of the future.'”
The company described its project in a statement on its website several months ago, where it claimed that it was working to “develop and commercialize what we believe will be the most natural and human-friendly wearable computing interface in the world.”
Richard Taylor, co-founder of the digital effects house Weta Workshop who worked on the Lord of the Rings films, was equally enthusiastic about the potential of the VR technology.
“What [Magic Leap CEO] Rony [Abovitz] and the Magic Leap team have created is nothing short of remarkable and will forever change the way we interact with images and information,” commented Taylor, who has since joined Magic Leap’s board of directors. “We are now at the threshold of giving people a dynamic image interface that harmonizes with their senses in a completely natural way…”
