Magic Leap is a leading augmented reality (AR) startup company. Magic Leap had raised more than $1.3 billion of venture funding from Alibaba, Google, Qualcomm, and other investors since its foundation in 2010. Financial Times valued Magic Leap at $4.5 billion. Following analysis regarding Magic Leap AR strategy is based on its recent published patent application US20160026253.

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Magic Leap Augmented Reality Strategy Insights from Patents
Alex G. Lee (alexglee@techipm.com)
Magic Leap is a leading augmented reality (AR) startup company. Magic Leap had raised more than $1.3 billion of
venture funding from Alibaba, Google, Qualcomm, and other investors since its foundation in 2010. Financial
Times valued Magic Leap at $4.5 billion. Following analysis regarding Magic Leap AR strategy is based on its
recent published patent application US20160026253.
System Design Strategy
 Biomedical engineering approachto the complex human visual perception system for producing and
providing the AR contents
 AR technology that facilitates a comfortable, natural-feeling, rich presentation of virtual image elements
 AR system that work with the visual configuration of a typical human to address various challenges in AR
applications (e.g., speed of the system in delivering virtual content, quality of virtual content, eye relief of
the user, and size and portability of the system)
Enabling TechnologyDevelopment

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 To accommodate comfortable viewing with minimal hardware, a larger field of view can be created by
aggregating the outputs/reflections of various different reflective and/or diffractive surfaces:A frame-
sequential configuration in which the eye is presented with a sequence of frames at high frequency that
provides the perception of a single coherent scene.
Example: The reflective surfaces 100 can be intentionally and sequentially activated with frame-sequential
input information 106, in which each reflective surface presents a narrow field of view sub-image which is tiled
with other narrow field of view sub-images presented by the other reflective surfaces to form a composite wide
field of view image.

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 To assist with the comfort of the AR experience of the user, the arrayed optical elements are combined with
exit pupil expansion configurations: With a larger exit pupil, the system is less likely to be sensitive to slight
misalignments of the display relative to the user's anatomical pupil. Thus, a greater comfort for the user can
be achieved through less geometric constraint on relationship with the display.
Example: With a small lens 138 placed at each exit point from the waveguide 124, the exiting light rays can be
steered through a nodal point and scanned out toward the eye to provide an array of exit pupils that is usable by the
user as he or she gazes toward the display system.

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 A waveguide in conjunction with a variable focus optical element configuration is facilitated for the
perceptions of Z-axis difference (e.g., distance straight out from the eye along the optical axis).
 A stacked waveguide assembly can be utilized to provide 3D perception by having several waveguides weak
lenses configured together to send image information to the eye with various levels of wavefront curvature
for each waveguide level indicative of focal distance to be perceived for that waveguide level.
 Various aspects of diffraction configurations for focusing and/or redirecting collimated beams can be used.
 Various software approaches are utilized to assist in the presentation of darkfield of the dark virtual object in
the AR displace scenario.
System Configurationsand ValuePropositions
 User devices (e.g., smart phone, tablet device, head-mounted display, gaming console, wearable device) are
designed to communicate other user devices, local gateway, and local or remote servers.
 Software programs running on the servers and optionally user devices and gateways are used to generate
virtual worlds with which users interact with user devices.
 The user device provides an interface for enabling a visual, audible, and/or physical interaction between the
user and a virtual world.
 The rendered scene can be presented in various formats suchas 2D or 3D visual displays, sound, and haptic
or tactile feedback.

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 Virtual worlds that can be experienced by the users are provides in various formats that are depend upon the
capabilities of the user's device.
 The sensing system includes several sensors to detect certain features, characteristics, or information related
to the individual and to obtain data from the physical environment around the user.

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User Interfaces Design
 The AR system creates a user interface based on a location of the user. The user's location can be determined
through any of the localization techniques (e.g., GPS, Bluetooth, topological map, map points related to the
user's AR system).
 Various pre-configured user interfaces can be stored in a user interface database suchthat an appropriate
user interface is retrieved from the database.
 The AR system recognizes various gestures of the user indicating to the system (e.g., modify parameters of
the virtual content).
Example: When a user makes circling motion in palm of hand with finger from other hand, the AR system scrolls
through the menu, rendering fields of the navigation menu in a field of view of the user so as to appear to be on or
attached to a portion of the user's hand.

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ApplicationScenarios
 The AR system provides the dynamic room mapping. The AR system provides a user interface that allows
users to create or modify virtual rooms or virtual spaces based on a set of preferences set by the user. For
example, the AR system provides a virtual room in which the user enjoys entertainment using a virtual
television.
 The AR system provides the shopping experiences in a supermarket. For example, the AR system provides
virtual friends who can provide opinions or comments regarding the various produces (e.g., wine, cheese,
crackers). The AR system provides a virtual map in the field of view of the user with directions for
navigating to the desired product.
 The AR system provides the health care related applications. For example, the AR system allows the patient
to perceive any type of relaxing environment through a virtual setting selected by the patient.
 The AR system provides the outdoorphysical environment. The AR system provide a notification to a user
walking home along a city street, which includes a number of establishments (e.g., buildings, restaurants,
and stores, building), when the user turns and gazes at an establishment's sign or logo. The AR system can
find locations with matching physical objects.
 The AR system provides a game to appear in the user's field of view. The user can use a totem as a launching
structure (e.g., sling shot), which can be an inanimate object or can be the user's own hand.