Alibaba Invests Big In Magic Leap, A Move Beyond Virtual Reality
The current art of virtual reality looks like a kid’s toy compared to technology by Magic Leap, which has just received nearly $800 million in a funding round led by Alibaba ( BABA ). The Florida-based company has not revealed the technology used to create its stunning video images, such as a whale leaping out of nowhere and splash landing on a high-school auditorium floor. “Absolutely not VR,” said a Magic Leap spokesman in an email exchange with IBD. “We are developing Mixed Reality.” In an interview with the Financial Times , Magic Leap co-founder and CEO Rony Abovitz, described the technology as a new kind of “hyper-personal computing” that seamlessly mixes rich digital graphics with the physical world. In the newest funding round, totaling $793.5 million, investors besides Alibaba include the venture capital arm of Qualcomm ( QCOM ) and Alphabet ( GOOGL ), through its Google unit, as well as Warner Bros. and Fidelity Management, among others. “We invest in forward-thinking innovative companies like Magic Leap that are developing leading products and technologies,” Joe Tsai, executive vice chairman at Alibaba, said in a statement announcing the funding round. “We believe Alibaba can both provide support and learn from such a partner.” Google, before it became a unit of Alphabet, was a prior investor in Magic Leap. It led a $542 million funding round in Magic Leap in October 2014. Qualcomm was also an investor. The latest investment by Alibaba, Google and others comes as Facebook ( FB ) is betting big on its Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Facebook priced the headset at $600 and is expected to begin shipping next month. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal in 2014, Abovitz said he sees Magic Leap as a new interface that could replace the PC monitors and smartphone screens that define the modern era of computing. The article said the first product in development by Magic Leaps “is a mobile and wearable device for the eyes, with the hardware and software designed by Magic Leap.” At its core, said the article, Magic Leap’s technology can project images onto the eyes, making it possible to see virtual 3-D objects as if they were part of the real world. Abovitz told the WSJ that it tricks the mind into believing that virtual objects are actually part of the physical space. In announcing the new funding round, Abovitz said “we are creating a new world where digital and physical realities seamlessly blend together to enable amazing new experience.”