Dania Beach Tech Company Raises $542 Million In Funding
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DANIA BEACH (CBSMiami) - Virtual reality has been heralded as the next step in technological advancement. Companies have promised the seamless integration of the real and unreal. But is VR ready to make the leap?
Several big-name investors believe Magic Leap can provide that new groundbreaking experience.
The relatively unknown, under-the-radar startup located in Dania Beach just announced on Monday it has received $542 million in funding from Google, KPCB, Andreessen Horowitz, Obvious Ventures, Qualcomm and Legendary Entertainment.
"We are excited and honored to have such an extraordinary group of investors to help us bring our vision and products to the world," Magic Leap's CEO Rony Abovitz said in a statement.
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Sundar Pichai, senior vice president at Google, added, "We are looking forward to Magic Leap's next stage of growth, and to seeing how it will shape the future of visual computing."
Abovitz said the reason so many companies have lined up is because his technology isn't limited to one field. The multi-use application of his new tech means the potential market size is in the trillions of dollars annually.
According Abovitz, Magic Leap is creating "what we believe will be the most natural and human-friendly wearable computing interface in the world."
On the company's blog, Abovitz wrote that past and current technologies lacked visceral experiences. Abovitz said he wants a product that can transform the world. A device that can "positively transform the process of education" or "make video game experiences in our system really freaking cool," while still maintaining a natural feel.
His views are a direct challenge to the current devices being built.
Facebook spent $2 billion acquiring the VR company Oculus Rift, while Sony Computer Entertainment built Project Morpheus in house. Both VR devices create stunning virtual worlds.
For example, at the last Electronic Entertainment Expo, Project Morpheus gave guests a chance to test the tech. One demonstration allowed the user to enter a medieval world where they could fight a dragon with a sword and shield.
The caveat? The user had to wear bulky headset.
This means that both Project Morpheus and Oculus Rift are currently limited to home or office use.
On the other side of the spectrum, Google Glass augments the world around the user with small reading-like glasses.
However, unlike the immersive world created by the other VR technologies, Google's product doesn't create a dreamlike world. It might draw a line to the nearest coffee shop or pull up your friend's Google Plus profile, but there won't be lifelike dragons roaming the sky.
Abovitz said that even though Google has invested in the project, Magic Leap is not a tack on to Glass.
If Magic Leap is anything like Abovitz's former company MAKO Surgical, it is bound to be successful. The company created robotic arms that were used to perform orthopedic surgery. MAKO sold for $1.65 billion in December.
There is no release date for Magic Leap's product, but Abovitz said a consumer launch is coming "relatively soon."
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