Peter H. Diamandis recently released a photo of the Magic Leap 2 from which the front of the Magic Leap 2 control handle can be clearly seen. This photo shows what appears to be two camera sensors on the control handle, suggesting that it most likely supports inside-out tracking.
It is understood that the original Magic Leap 1 controller used magnetic tracking, so there is a strange square component (containing a receiver for detecting magnetic fields) on the right side of the headset. According to Peter H. Diamandis, the Magic Leap 2's controller seems to employ inside-out tracking, so the square component of the headset has disappeared.
It is worth mentioning that there was earlier news that Meta will debut this year's high-end headset Project Cambria will also use inside-out tracking for the controller. Assuming magic leap 2 hits the market earlier than Meta's Project Cambria, this will be the first time a commercial XR headset has adopted this approach.
Other all-in-one XR headsets, such as the Quest 2, typically use headset-based inside-out tracking to capture their control handles (or the user's hand). That said, this method is to use the camera on the headset to look for control handles (usually arranged with infrared LEDs) and use their position to map their movement relative to the headset.
Although this approach works, it only assumes that the controller is within the field of view of the headset camera. This means that if the controller is too out of the camera field of view, the headset loses tracking of the controller. However, if the controller is positioned independently, tracking can be achieved regardless of where the controller is located.
In addition to more comprehensive tracking coverage, placing inside-out tracking directly on the control handle means that headsets won't need to be equipped with as many cameras (the Quest 2 uses 4 cameras, while the Rift S has 5), and it means that the removal of the "tracking ring" (which is visible on the control handles of most all-in-one headsets) will make them more stylish and perhaps less susceptible to damage.
There are many more potential benefits, such as an easier combination of multiple input methods, such as holding the controller in one hand and tracking bare hands with the other. This is a challenge at the moment, as headset cameras tend to use different exposure settings for the tracking controller compared to tracking hands. In addition, separating the controller trace from the headset is expected to reduce the controller trace delay.
This method is good, but it is not without its drawbacks. Adding inside-out tracking to the control handle could mean placing a dedicated processor inside the handle that needs to have enough power to compress incoming images and calculate position, which is expected to result in higher costs and more battery consumption than using simple infrared LEDs.
In addition, the on-board camera has motion blur problems. Despite the headset's excellent inside-out tracking technology, the controller can move much faster, especially in intense game sessions. In fact, it was the high-speed motion of this controller that prompted Valve to update its SteamVR tracking technology.
As you can imagine, for use cases like Beat Saber that cause high-speed controller motion, such a fast swing is likely to cause motion blur of the image sensor, especially in dark scenes, where additional exposure time is required to collect more light.
Of course, Magic Leap 2 isn't designed for gamers, so that might not be a problem for B-side users. Or is the image sensor on the control handle fast enough to avoid motion blur situations even when moving fast? Or the most likely solution is that the sensors aren't above average, but the control handle will rely primarily on IMU-based tracking until the control handle slows down to get the right position.
Magic Leap said earlier that the headset is expected to launch this year, but the specific release date has not yet been announced. It is worth mentioning that Peter H. Diamandis said that Magic Leap CEO Peggy Johnson will attend his Explosive 360 event at the end of April, which may indicate that the company will disclose more details about the headset next time.