Optics

WaveOptics and EV Group collaborate on mass production of AR wearables

April 26, 2018

Goal is to produce low-cost, high-performance, waveguides for the consumer AR market.

AR wearables such as smart glasses enable users to see digital images overlaid on top of the real world. WaveOptics' waveguide technology transfers light waves from the light source and projects them into the user's eye.

WaveOptics (Abingdon, England), a designer and manufacturer of diffractive waveguides, is collaborating with EV Group (EVG), a supplier of wafer bonding and nano-imprint lithography equipment, to produce low-cost, high-performance, waveguides for the consumer augmented reality (AR) market.

WaveOptics CEO David Hayes said, "This partnership marks an AR industry inflexion point and is a critical step in the mass manufacture of high quality AR solutions--a capability that has not been possible to date. A combination of EVG's expertise together with our scalable and versatile technology will allow AR-end user products to be on the market for under $600 by the end of next year.

Related: Augmented reality project aims for broad acceptance by surgeons by BioOptics World chief editor Barbara Gefvert

Related: Diving into emerging AR/VR markets--opportunities for optics by contributor Michele Nichols

Related: Optical Engineering Design Conference, Oct. 24, Rochester, NY—talks on optical design for VR/AR by several experts, including Oculus VR scientist

Markus Wimplinger, corporate technology development and IP director at EVG, noted, "We develop new technologies and processes to outperform the most complex challenges, helping our customers to successfully commercialize their new product ideas. For the proliferation of our leading-edge nanoimprint lithography (NIL) technology, we have created our NILPhotonics Competence Center. Within this framework, which has strong policies to protect our customers' IP, we support our customers on their product development and commercialization journey."

Source: WaveOptics

About the Author

Conard Holton | Editor at Large

Conard Holton has 25 years of science and technology editing and writing experience. He was formerly a staff member and consultant for government agencies such as the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and engineering companies such as Bechtel. He joined Laser Focus World in 1997 as senior editor, becoming editor in chief of WDM Solutions, which he founded in 1999. In 2003 he joined Vision Systems Design as editor in chief, while continuing as contributing editor at Laser Focus World. Conard became editor in chief of Laser Focus World in August 2011, a role in which he served through August 2018. He then served as Editor at Large for Laser Focus World and Co-Chair of the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar from August 2018 through January 2022. He received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, with additional studies at the Colorado School of Mines and Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.