Magic Leap Augmented Reality Firm Raises $542 Million From Google, Others

Magic Leap Augmented Reality Firm Raises $542 Million From Google, Others
Advertisement
Magic Leap Inc, a startup focused on augmented reality technology, said it raised $542 million in a funding round led by Google Inc .

Little is known about Magic Leap's product, but founder and CEO Rony Abovitz said in February that his company's mission was to "develop and commercialize.. the most natural and human-friendly wearable computing interface in the world."

Investors in the latest round included Qualcomm Inc , the world's No.1 mobile phone chipmaker, Andreessen Horowitz, KKR and Legendary Entertainment.

Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Android, Chrome and Apps at Google, will join Magic Leap's board. Paul Jacobs, executive chairman of Qualcomm, will join Magic Leap's board as an observer.

A key part of Magic Leap's plans involves a wearable device that will track users' eyeballs and project images on to them, sources told technology blog Re/code.

Magic Leap says it can deliver a more realistic 3D experience than those offered by current technologies including Oculus Rift, a 3D headset maker, Re/code wrote.

On Oculus Rift and every other virtual and augmented reality experience, what the viewer sees is flat and floating in space at a set distance. What Magic Leap purports to do is make the viewer think they're seeing a real 3D object on top of the real world, Re/code wrote.

Facebook Inc bought Oculus Rift for $2 billion earlier this year.

Florida-based Magic Leap said it would use the funds for product development, among other things.

© Thomson Reuters 2014

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Google, Magic Leap, Wearables
Apple Downplays Concerns Over Spotlight Queries and Location Tracking
Google Adds Nearby Multiplayer Feature to Google Play Games
Share on Facebook Gadgets360 Twitter Share Tweet Snapchat Share Reddit Comment google-newsGoogle News
 
 

Advertisement

Follow Us

Advertisement

© Copyright Red Pixels Ventures Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Trending Products »
Latest Tech News »