Magic Leap CEO Rejects Leaked Augmented Reality Headset; Investor Says Tech Not Ready For Release Yet

On February 11, Business Insider reported a photo of what appears to be a working prototype of the highly-anticipated portable augmented device by Magic Leap. The USD4.5 billion startup backed by Google is said to be working against time in building technology that would allow people to “augment” human vision with digital imagery.

According to a single photo obtained by an unnamed source, the working prototype is a series of hardware attached to a backpack. An eyewear/headset connects to the backpack via a long piece of black, plastic or rubber-coated wire.

However, this has since been refuted by CEO Rony Abovitz, who dismissed theories that the bulky backpack is the final product. He tweeted, "The photo shows an @magicleap R&D test rig where we collect room/space data for our machine vision/machine learning work. We do this in order to understand lighting, texture, various surfaces.”

Techspot said that even as a prototype, the leaked image was a sharp contrast to the sleek version filed and patented by the company. Instead of a backpack, the image from the patent shows a small device that can be easily attached to a belt like a battery pack. Andreessen Horowitz partner Benedict Evans seems to agree, basing on his latest tweet. Andreessen Horowitz invested in Magic Leap during the company’s Series B funding round, Vanity Fair reported.

Evans believed that although the AR technology is yet to be ready for public consumption, “gloating about any negative news (real or fake) about a start-up is just as bad as uncritical praise. Maybe worse.”