Things are looking up again with Magic Leap

Things are looking up again with Magic Leap

San Francisco, Jan. 15, 20222.

Four healthcare companies will have early access to Magic Leap’s augmented reality headset ahead of a general launch in mid-2022.

The once-hyped AR company has shifted from consumer to enterprise customers in 2020 after poor sales of its Magic Leap 1, which launched in 2018.

Companies using the new headset include vision correction company Heru, mixed reality surgical software tool Brainlab, heart mapping startup SentiAR and neurotechnology company SyncThink.

SyncThink, for example, plans to use the partnership to research balance disorders that cause dizziness. CEO Peggy Johnson Magic Leap already indicated that the second-generation headset would be „slightly“ more expensive than the previous model – which would sell for $2,295 and up.

Background: Magic Leap was once a tech darling, receiving billions of dollars from leading companies like Google and Alibaba. At its peak in 2019, Magic Leap reached a valuation of $6.7 billion before the company found that the end-user market for AR glasses was largely non-existent.

After announcing layoffs in 2020, the company secured a $375 million lifeline from an unnamed investor to stay afloat. In October2021, the company announced $500 million in new financing. Johnson has said it would be open to the consumer market again as AR applications increase and the technology gets smaller.