Google-backed augmented reality startup Magic Leap, Inc. has signed a deal with the Walt Disney Company owned Lucasfilm Ltd. to bring Star Wars characters to Magic Leap’s yet to be launched augmented reality headset.

The announcement, made at the Wired Business Conference in New York Thursday, will see both companies (through Lucasfilm’s ILMxLAB) establishing a new lab for joint research in San Francisco’s Presidio, where Lucasfilm has a big campus.

It’s not clear from reports whether the deal will only cover Star Wars characters or will include other Lucasfilm properties, but a demonstration video shows the characters C3PO and R2D2 overlaid in proper augmented reality style within a private living room.

“Might I have a word with you please?” C-3PO asks in the video while standing directly in front of the viewer. “I regret to report that due to unforeseen circumstances, we have not yet reached the desired arrangement with Jabba the Hutt regarding Captain Solo’s debt.”

R2D2 then comes around the side of a table in the room and projects a hologram on the tabletop.

“The future of Mixed Reality and immersive entertainment holds incredible promise, and we are honored to work with Magic Leap to shape that future,” Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy said in a statement. “At Lucasfilm and ILM, innovation has always been in our DNA; through this collaboration, ILMxLAB further propels our legacy of exploration and leadership on this new platform for experiential storytelling.”

“Lucasfilm has created some of the most iconic characters of our time. Ones that dare us to dream, unlock our imagination and excite us to go on a journey with them,” Magic Leap Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer Rony Abovitz added. “Magic Leap is creating a whole new medium: Mixed Reality Lightfields, designed to harness the power of your imagination and take you to places you never thought possible. Collaboration between our two companies is a perfect fit, and I can’t wait to share the results with the world.”

Impressive

While it’s far too early to judge Magic Leap given it has still failed to bring anything to market, the company has long been hyped for its incredible demonstrations, and there’s no question, viewing the video above, that the results of this hookup with Lucasfilm are impressive.

Content is without question going to be one of the key drivers of the uptake of both augment and virtual reality headsets and in those terms the announcement is definitely a big win for Magic Leap.

Image credit: Magic Leap/ Lucasfilm