At the recent PIE Photonics West 2022 conference, Kevin Curtis, vice president of optical engineering at Magic Leap, unveiled a lot of new information in a forum that gave us a deeper understanding of Magic Leap 2.
Previously, Karl Guttag brought magic Leap 2 in the analysis of liquid crystal electronic dimming solution, which from the patent and picture analysis of this program does not have practical value.
At the same time, Magic Leap officially recently released several product maps of Magic Leap 2, but it is basically close to the previous Karl Guttag discussion.
Related Reading:
Karl Guttag: Feasibility analysis of magic leap 2 applications to To B
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Magic Leap 2 Analysis (3): Dimming solutions are investor-oriented, not user-oriented
From kevin Curtis's sharing, we learned the details of its optical design, sensor layout, operating system and so on.
1, dynamic dimming lens scheme
Previously, Karl Guttag analyzed it more fully, believing that the electronic dimming (soft pixel dimming) scheme is indeed a novel solution, but there are also many problems, which may also bring more serious other problems.
According to Kevin Curtis, the magic Leap 2 optical transmittance can be adjusted in the range of 0.3%-22%. 0.3% transmittance is similar to total black, 22% transmittance is similar to the effect of sunglasses, which means that the benefit is that it can be used outdoors, of course, the price is that the overall environment will be darkened.
The corresponding dynamic dimming brightness is between 20-2000nit, the dynamic dimming operating frequency is 120Hz, and the "partition dimming" is supported.
Zoned dimming can be understood as a Mini LED-style lighting scheme that adjusts the light transmittance according to the content area. We know that black pictures cannot be displayed in AR glasses, and Magic Leap 2 adds a "partition dimming" technology to make the black picture light transmission low, thus indirectly achieving the effect of seeing black images in AR. However, since the fineness of the partition dimming is not clear, the actual experience is still another matter. And the effect is almost invisible at 0.3% transmittance, so it only makes sense to "watch black" at 22% transmittance, but the specific effect still needs to be verified.
Because magic Leap 2 focuses on electronic dimming solutions, it is uncertain whether there will be zoom capabilities. Dual RGB with 6 color channels in Magic Leap 1 show two focal planes.
According to Kevin Curtis' slides, magic Leap 2 features an LCoS light machine, as well as real-time renderings from November 2020.
In the optical module, the MAGIC Leap 2's FOV is 2 times that of the previous one, reaching 50 degrees, while the optical machine is smaller, the PBS module is eliminated, the brightness is higher, the light efficiency is more than 12 times that of the Magic Leap 1, and the Eyebox is 2 times that of the previous one.
Another feature of Magic Leap 2 is to support the screen real-time correction system, the optical waveguide module is equipped with a calibration input (OCG), the left side of the above figure is a sensor for detecting optical deformation, used to correct the alignment and color of the two sets of optical waveguides in real time, and then the real-time feedback system for physical and optical compensation.
At the same time, it was also mentioned that Magic Leap has more than 20 years of experience in 1D, 2D, 3D nanostructure imprinting and production, which can quickly make prototypes.
2, design and wear
In terms of design, Magic Leap 2 continues the original design style, and the overall is more neutral. In addition, there are no longer two sizes of head circumference sizes to choose from. Magic Leap 2 is only available in one size, and a single SKU is more conducive to device conditioning and management. Of course, the main reason why the Magic Leap 1 offers two sizes is that the Eyebox is small and doesn't support IPD tuning.
The Magic Leap 2 headset part of 248g, which is 22% lighter than the 316g of the first generation, and also lighter than the HoloLens 2, of course, so unfair, because the HoloLens 2 is an all-in-one machine, and the Magic Leap 2 also has a split calculation module.
But in any case, the debate between the two schemes of split and monolithic in to B will continue.
3. Sensor
In terms of sensors, the Magic Leap 2 has a total of 9 sensors and 9 cameras, including: 1 ambient light sensor, 2 altimeters (1 each for the headset and the calculation unit), 2 magnetometers, 4 IMUs (2 heads, 1 handle, 1 calculation unit).
The cameras include: 5 external cameras (depth and environment perception, including a 12MP RGB camera that supports QR code scanning), and 4 eye-tracking cameras (2 per eye).
In terms of eye tracking, a single module has 6 micro LEDs embedded to illuminate the eyeball, which looks better in terms of the accuracy of eye tracking. In addition, it can also be seen that the logic of partition dimming is based on eye tracking data, so it also directly affects the visual effect.
4. Calculation unit
Kevin Curtis said: The performance of the Magic Leap 2 computing unit will be 2-3 times that of the 1st generation.
Magic Leap 1 adopts the NVIDIA Parker SOC, and according to the news exposed in June 2021, Magic Leap may be working with AMD to carry out a custom SOC, but it is uncertain at present, and the new SOC features the addition of a computer vision processor CPU.
According to the information, the Magic Leap 1 generation uses a custom version of the NVIDIA Tegra X2, and the Switch host is a custom version of the Tegra X1. In contrast, the non-mobile home console Xbox and PS series both use AMD custom chips.
However, one of the challenges for Magic Leap is that from the ARM platform to the X86 platform, the software accumulation is almost completely absent. For AMD, an important opportunity is to gradually start in the AR and VR markets, but it has to be said that the current mainstream is almost all ARM platforms, so there are also many challenges in the energy consumption ratio, especially for lightweight, miniaturized AR and VR devices X86 is difficult.
The calculation module is still wired, visual cable or fixed connection, non-flexible and detachable. In terms of connection performance, Magic Leap 2 uses USB-C interface charging, supports Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1.
5,Credit
Kevin Curtis said: Magic Leap 2 handle supports 6DoF positioning, but the principle is changed from electromagnetic tracking to computer vision scheme, characterized by a larger tracking range, even if the handle is out of view, or placed behind the camera, etc., because the controller does not have a camera, so the guess is still supplemented by IMU combined with AI algorithms.
The overall design of the handle has not changed much, only one trackpad, board, back and home buttons.
6. Turn to the Android platform
Remember that Magic Leap One spent a lot of effort on the self-developed Lumin OS system (also based on Android), and now Magic Leap 2 decided to use the Android platform directly, the reason is nothing more than for the adaptation of enterprise-level applications, but also from the perspective of development. It's not clear whether a wider range of Android native apps are supported, but it's likely.
Kevin Curtis said: For enterprise users, Magic Leap 2 can be a good way to get through Active Directory.
In terms of final price and release date, it is still unknown, but it seems that it is not far from the release.
Image credit: Nataliya Kosmyna, reddit