In life, we live and we learn. For tech companies working within XR, this mantra holds water more than most.

2018 saw the release of Magic Leap's first AR device, Magic Leap One. It was successful – but it wasn't quite the earth-shattering, era-defining success its investors expected.

So the startup made a hard pivot. When it reemerged with Magic Leap 2 (ML2) in 2022, it had regrouped, restructured and brought in former Microsoft executive Peggy Johnson as CEO.

And with its fresh outlook came a new business strategy. Magic Leap exited the consumer market and focused all its efforts on enterprise.

The results are crystal clear.Magic Leap  is as far from a gimmicky gadget as you can get. It's a powerful enterprise solution that promises hundreds of potential applications across dozens of industries.

This is evident in the amount of industry-ready packages that Magic Leap provides. Each includes innovative hardware and software marriages, combined with a host of supporting services to meet sector-specific challenges.

With its enterprise focus, Magic Leap 2 is a heavyweight performer with world-class architecture in a featherweight chassis. The device weighs in at a mere 260 grams.

But what's actually going on beneath its sleek exterior? What power has Magic Leap packed into this lightweight headset?

Let's take a look.

Inside Magic Leap 2 - Information centre

Specs only tell half the story, but they're a good place to start. Here's what you'll find underneath the hood…

• A quad-core AMD Zen 2 CPU and an RDNA 2 GPU, which deliver lightning-fast and crystal-clear digital rendering for ultra-realistic AR graphics.
• A huge 1440X1760 display, ensuring no detail is lost.
• A separate computer pack hosting 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage – the most storage of any AR device you'll find on the market.
• A battery that promises up to three-and-a-half hours of continuous use.
• A handheld controller for seamless control over your tasks.

Cutting-edge optics

Magic Leap 2 sets a new precedent in AR visualisation. While most glasses offer around a 50˚ field of vision (FOV), Magic Leap 2 boasts one of the largest FOVs of any AR headset at 70˚.

Magic Leap achieved this by expanding the vertical axis of vision, claiming that this modification reflects more accurately how we perceive our surroundings.

To do this, Magic Leap 2 deploys a combination of liquid-crystal-on-silicone (LCOS) microdisplays and LED waveguide illumination. Complicated? Yes. Clever? Very.   

The expansive 70˚ FOV allows users to collaborate on large-scale CAD models without compromising on breadth and scope. Magic Leap 2 aims for total creative immersion. 

By harnessing its cameras and time-of-flight (ToF) sensors, Magic Leap 2 maps your environment with over 300,000 discrete 3D points. This gives you complete control over your task by creating a robust interactive workspace that feels natural and intuitive. 

Dynamic dimming

One of Magic Leap 2's most exciting new features is its dynamic dimming technology. Among its 32 layers of stacked optics – right in front of the RGB waveguides and just behind the front lens, to be precise – is a separate display that controls brightness.

Magic Leap 2 has two dimming features: global and segmented. 

Global dimming reduces the light across the user's FOV. This brings augmented text or images into sharper focus and allows for greater concentration by occluding peripheral information. The global dimming feature can also be used to control lighting in work environments – perfect for taming harsh office lights. 

But the dimming feature also means natural light can be reduced, optimising Magic Leap 2 for usage outdoors where virtual information is often washed out and less legible.

Segmented dimming, meanwhile, allows users to dim specific areas of their FOV to help bring digital content into focus.

While global dimming offers higher levels of immersion – closer to that of VR displays – segmented dimming provides better situational awareness. It comes into its own when performing tasks where legibility and transparency are essential, such as surgery.

Staying in control with Magic Leap 2

Magic Leap 2 comes box-ready with an intuitive controller. Its ergonomic design and comfortable layout give you complete control over the headset and its capabilities.

On the controller, you'll find:

• A touchpad for scrolling and sliding through menu items.
• A menu button to bring up Magic Leap 2's applications.
• A home button for returning to the home screen, re-centring and turning off the controller.
• A ray for targeting and selecting virtual objects.
• A bumper button to change the virtual keyboard layout.
• A trigger for selecting and "grabbing" on-screen objects.

Trivia aside, the Magic Leap 2 controller is a deceptively powerful little tool. It promises optimum accuracy and control across a range of professional settings.

Onboard are cameras for optical tracking, as well as an inertial measurement unit (IMU). This consists of a three-axis accelerometer and gyroscope sensors for precise angular momentum and force detection. The controller also features inbuilt active infrared sensors.

All of the controller inputs can be customised for enterprise-specific solutions, allowing users to maximise Magic Leap potential and minimise time-wasting. 

Best-in-class spatial audio technology

Audio spatialisation is a technique that involves "placing" sounds realistically in virtual space. To the user, it appears that these sounds come from definite locations in virtual or augmented reality.

Magic Leap has developed its own solution to spatial audio called Magic Leap Soundfield Audio (MSA). 

MSA comes with some impressive functionality that increases the levels of immersion and realism for users.

Firstly, automatic acoustic mapping allows the integration of audio with other virtual elements in your specific enterprise solution. This means  teams can work (and listen) in dynamic AR environments that are purpose-built for collaboration. 

In addition, Magic Leap 2's spatial audio engine features a powerful new acoustic scene design feature. This gives spatial and acoustic properties to rooms with virtual objects in them.

This feature is particularly useful for architects and designers who want to introduce acoustic provisions into their schemas.

The Magic Leap 2 finds a perfect balance of form and function – a world-class performer with style and comfort in mind.

Want to explore the potential of augmented reality for enterprise? Expand Reality is a specialist supplier of industry-ready extended reality devices. Buy Magic Leap 2 today via our online store – or get in touch to arrange a free product demonstration.