Magic Leap update offers location-based experiences
Want to check out a resort in Aruba before you book? Now, using a special wearable computer, you’ll be able to immerse yourself at a great international destination before actually flying there.
The feature, or a location-based experience, is one of the new applications being touted by Plantation-based Magic Leap. The company on Tuesday announced an updated version of its Magic Leap One product, goggles that provide “spatial computing,” or a computer-generated interactive experience.
In 2020, JetBlue Vacations will offer the chance for customers to explore one of their premier international hotel destinations using Magic Leap One. “The experiences bring the digital world into live events and physical spaces,”
Magic Leap said in a news release.
Other ways to showcase the feature include pop-up experiences or permanent installations at sports venues, museums, trade shows and college campuses, Magic Leap said.
“We believe spatial computing has limitless potential to positively impact our lives,” said Rony Abovitz, founder and CEO of Magic Leap, in a news release.
The technology “is a seamless blend of the digital and the physical,” said Carlos Penzini, senior vice president at Magic Leap, last week told the audience at IT-Palooza, a South Florida technology event.
“We’re now live in a world where you don’t have to play [video game] Fortnite on a screen. You can be running down Las Olas playing Fortnite,” Penzini said.
Magic Leap’s goal is to eliminate the need for screens, such as mobile phones, TVs and laptops for interactive technology experiences. “We’re going to look back on this era where we have screens and say ‘why did we have screens?’ This is so much better,” he said.
The company said Tuesday that its business version of Magic Leap’s wearable computer, priced at $2,995 — a $700 more expensive than its first model — also could be used for modeling buildings, generating virtual bodies for use by medical students and in surgery, staging houses for sales, and training workers.
The company also has a partnership with AT&T and has begun selling its first model for $2,295, in some stores in Florida, California, Illinois, Massachusetts and Texas.
Magic Leap has raised $2.6 billion and employs more than 1,600 people, with the majority at its Plantation headquarters. The company, which was founded in 2011, has not released sales on its first product. Tech industry publications have reported that sales have been slower than expected. Magic Leap has declined to comment.