Magic Leap mixed-reality working prototype leaked; CEO says it's just an R&D test rig

Magic Leap is the mixed reality startup that is backed by Google. It is working on augmenting human reality with digital imagery, and is on a deadline to finish a working prototype (of what could in the future be a portable AR headset) before an important board meeting according to Business Insider.

The site has revealed the first photo of the Magic Leap working prototype which houses the augmented reality device inside what seems like an open backpack with multiple wires out of the backpack.

https://twitter.com/redletterdave/status/830218023214653440

According to Business Insider, this early prototype has been described at ‘PEQo’.  The source who has reached out to the site says, that though the prototype seems from early January, there have been improvements to it since.

The board is expected to see a working prototype of the PEQ by Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz next week. There will be belt-packs instead of the backpack seen in the leaked image.

In a response to a piece by The Information about the speculations and over hype around miniaturisation of the prototype, Abovitz sent a memo to his employees in December:

“I used a PEQ0b (our 3rd mini-production run) about a week ago. We still have more cycles to go (PEQ1-PEQ5), but it was awesome. In 2014 (just over 2 years ago) we were still in a little warehouse-strip mall thingy and just rolling into the DCOTA, and just turning on the first WDx series (WD1, WD2, WD3, etc.). We now have a working factory and PEQ systems in hand.

We only have one response that matters.

Ignore all of this. Focus on what we are doing, and we ship a great product. That will speak loudly and reverberate for many years.”

According to Business Insider, the prototype is still in early stages as far as becoming a commercial reality is concerned. For instance, in the image, the right hand of the tester is holding a battery pack.

https://twitter.com/rabovitz/status/830577618227515392

Magic Leap’s Abovitz has taken to Twitter and said that the image sees in the Business Insider story is just an R&D test rig, which is used to collect room/space data for machine vision/machine learning work.

Magic Leap has been backed by some of the top names in technology. It has raised $1.39bn in venture capital, valuing the company at $4.5bn. The investors include Google, JP Morgan, Alibaba, Kleiner Perkins among others.