This mysterious startup wants to kill computers for good

A startup called Magic Leap is working on a headset that displays augmented reality (AR), which means overlaying virtual images on top of the real world. And if all goes according to plan, it'll be able replace all the screens in your life.

In fact, according to a new profile on Magic Leap in Wired, employees at the company "will soon abandon desktop screens altogether in favor of virtual displays."

What's a virtual display?

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Here's an example of one from Magic Leap's latest video, which was recorded directly from one of its headsets:

Magic Leap

Of course, it's just early days. Magic Leap has only given demos of its prototype headsets to a handful of people, and it's unclear what the device looks like in its current form. Is it still tethered to a computer? Is it big and bulky like the recent virtual reality headsets from Oculus and HTC? 

Who knows! (Well, Magic Leap knows, but it's being very careful with how it shares early versions of its technology with the world for now.)

But the fact that the company is at a point where it can start migrating some of its employees from computers to AR headsets shows how far it has come.

If you want to fast-forward several years when these headsets become smaller, lighter, and untethered, there's the potential to eliminate all screens from your life. Even your TV. Take a look at this patent from Magic Leap that imagines just that:

USPTO

There's no understating how significant that would be - a single gadget that replaces all the gadgets in your life, and delivers whatever you want from entertainment to the apps you need to do your job.

Check out the full video from Magic Leap to see what that could be like: