More details about Magic Leap One glasses have been revealed, including the approximate date of release of the developer version.
Magic Leap conducted an Internet broadcast, during which it revealed further information concerning the long-awaited Magic Leap One glasses of the augmented reality. The producers of the device presented fragments of the demo application made for developers, some details on the specification, as well as the approximate date of release of the AR headset development version.
It turns out that the laptop-like portable LightPack, which will be connected to glasses using two cables, will be equipped with a new Nvidia module, Tegra X2, incorporating an ARM A57 quad-core processor, a Denver 2 dual-core processor, and an NVIDIA Pascal-based 256-core CUDA-based GPU. It is a revolutionary new generation of computing units used by the Nintendo Switch console (Tegra X1).
Magic Leap’s chief gaming designer, Graeme Devine, described the glasses as “This is a console”, emphasizing how the device’s hardware resources are distributed. Some of them are reserved exclusively for developers, as is the case with various types of game consoles, and contrary to open platforms such as PCs, where unrelated processes and applications running in the background may affect the performance of active applications.
During the presentation, an excerpt from a new development application called “Dodge” was also displayed, where we can see the ways in which the user interacts with virtual objects. The following material has been recorded using the View Capture function, which captures real-time images from a camera installed in the glasses and then adds computer-generated components to the camera.
Unfortunately, there was no separate area of the field of view (FOV) visible to the user of the glasses on the recording. One of the journalists who had the opportunity to participate in a closed headset show some time ago compared the FOV to the area occupied by a VHS cassette with its line of sight halfway out of his reach. Probably we will learn a bit more about it soon because Magic Leap One Creator Edition – a version designed for developers – will be released this summer.
The release date of the consumer version is still a secret, but it is known that AT&T, one of the leading mobile operators and the largest cable TV network in the United States, will distribute glasses in the USA. The American company has just invested an undisclosed amount of money in start-ups and AT&T Communications CEO John Donovan has joined Magic Leap’s board of directors as an observer.
We still do not know the price at which the device will be sold. According to Magic Leap, glasses will cost as much as a premium computer.
The full record of this transmission can be viewed below.