Mixed reality company Magic Leap has acquired the 3D branch of scanning company Dacuda. The acquisition will expand the capabilities of Magic Leap’s yet to be released mixed reality device.
Swiss company, Dacuda, is well known for their scanning innovations. They are creators of 3D Slam technology and “the world’s smallest wireless scanner,” the PocketScan. Florida’s Magic Leap has caused waves in recent years with their mixed reality technology. Such PR has led to the company amassing huge investment totaling over $1.3 billion, from companies like Google and Alibaba.
Magic Leap are one of many companies looking at creating mixed reality devices at the moment, including Microsoft with their HoloLens. The HoloLens mixed reality device was used recently in Latin America to help doctors perform surgery.
Startup DAQRI are also developing 3D printing applications for their augmented reality devices. While similarly, Dassault Systèmes are working on 3D software for the HTC Vive virtual reality device.
Moving Magic Leap forward
It is unclear currently how this acquisition will expand Magic Leap’s technology. Especially since the company are so very secret about the work they are doing. So far there have only been leaked photos of a prototype, and invitees to Magic Leap’s studios are required to sign strict NDAs.
The scanning company has released a statement stating that, “The complete Dacuda 3D team joins Magic Leap to form its first European presence.” Interestingly, the founder of Dacuda, Ilic, will now be working for Magic Leap and heading their Swiss office.
The rest of the statement from Dacuda reads,
The office in Zurich allows Magic Leap to further extend its leadership role in computer vision and deep learning technologies. Magic Leap Switzerland is led by Dacuda founder Alexander Ilic.
Under the lead of Peter Weigand and Michael Born, Dacuda refocuses its activities on its successful productivity solutions with leading customers such as Sunrise, Crealogix, Unisys, and SITA.
Gif shows jellyfish floating in mixed reality above someone’s office. Images via Magic Leap.
Magic leaping with Dacuda3D
The 3D scanning acquisition will help Magic Leap in created augmented reality experiences and will surely expand the capabilities of any device that they may be creating. The fact Magic Leap have acquired Dacuda3D either means the company is having difficulty with this part of the technology or are just simply expanding their workbase.
Nevertheless, Dacuda clearly has 3D scanning expertise, particularly on a small scale. The Dacuda3D team should be able to provide 3D scanning from a small wearable device. The technology remains impressive, but an end product from Magic Leap remains unseen. Hopefully this acquisition will accelerate the release of Magic Leap’s much-anticipated device.
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Featured image shows one of Magic Leap’s promo clips, an image that later turned out not to be what it seemed. Image via Magic Leap.
