Magic Leap: From hype to disillusionment-the AR dreams burst!

Magic Leap: From hype to disillusionment-the AR dreams burst!

The world of the Augmented Reality (AR) is as fast -paced as it is rarely before. The story of Magic Leap, one of the most hyped companies in the AR area, shows that not always everything that shines. Founded in 2010 by Rony Abovitz in Südflorida, the company had the ambitious goal of developing AR glasses with light field technology, which was supposed to combine digital and physical worlds seamlessly. Abovitz, who was previously successful in the medical technology sector with Mako Surgical, managed to collect more than $ 500 million in risk capital, with well-known investors such as Google, Qualcomm and Andreessen Horowitz.

From 2011 to 2014, Magic Leap worked behind closed doors, without revealing a lot about the technology. The hype rose when the company received several partnerships with sizes such as Disney, Lucasfilm and Warner Bros.. This ultimately led to a total investment of $ 1.39 billion by February 2016, with Alibaba investing $ 793 million alone. But despite this massive support, there was no marketable product.

from the hype for disillusionment

In winter 2017, the company presented the first headset, "Lightwear", and the associated arithmetic module, "Lightpack". Finally, the "Magic Leap One" was released in 2018. With a price of $ 2,300, however, the product was expensive and quite chunky. The announced light field technology did not find itself in the final product; Instead, a conventional wave conductor display was used. The sales figures remained behind the expectations, and only a few thousand devices could be sold.

Internal problems contributed to the downward spiral. A chaotic leadership culture and decisions by Abovitz, which often did not based on technical expertise, led to a lawsuit for gender -specific discrimination and other criticisms of corporate culture. In the spring of 2020, Magic Leap was in front of the bankruptcy and dismissed 600 employees. Abovitz resigned as CEO in May 2020 and Peggy Johnson took the lead.

A new investment of $ 350 million secured the company's survival, but the success story was far from in sight. In 2022 the "Magic Leap 2" was presented, which was geared towards the areas of industry, healthcare and defense. This model was more technical, lighter and more persistent than the previous model, but the initial upswing remained characterized by job strokes and disappointments.

look into the future

Magic Leap's technology remains exciting and in motion. Rony Abovitz recently announced that the market launch of a flagship product was "not far away". However, the company has not yet announced an official launch date. In addition, the US patent and brand authority has approved a patent for the ornamental design of a new VR glasses, which shows the future ambitions of the company. The technical innovations, such as the ultra-thin optical metastructures, could significantly influence the design and functionality of future AR products.

Another exciting player in the AR area is the Swiss startup CREAL, which recently received $ 8.9 million in financing. With its patented light field microdisplay technology, CREAL offers impressive opportunities for lifelike pictures in the augmented reality. CEO Tomas Sluka emphasizes how important it is to make AR glasses healthy, comfortable and naturally usable. This could be the key to make AR really suitable for mass.

MAGIC LEAP stands as an example of the challenges associated with the hype for new technologies. Even if the company still leaves many questions open, it remains a fascinating topic in the rapid change in technology.

For everyone who wants to dive deeper into the matter, there is numerous more information in the respective articles: Heise reports on the challenges of Magic Leap, Magic Leap shows ambitions through new patents and Research work and [Inide-it illuminates the startup CREAL and its progress in the Lichtfeldtechnology] (https://www.inside-it.ch/ar-Grillen-startup-Creal-Sammelt-8%2C9-millions of dollar-20250715).