What They Say
VentureBeat interviewed DigiLens, the maker of waveguides for AR/VR and HUDs about a new version of its smartglasses that is intended as a development system, based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 platform with the firm’s Crystal50 Waveguide. DigiLens CEO Chris Pickett said:
“We believe it’s the most advanced set of XR glasses in the world, with the most efficient 50° waveguides in the world, We built that purposely so that our partners can iterate to get to exactly the platform that they want to create their software”.
The Design v1 headset is a holographic waveguide display containing a thin-film, laser-etched photopolymer embedded with microscopic holograms of mirror-like optics. A micro-display is projected into one end of the lens and the optics turn the light wave, guiding it through the surface before another set of optics turn it back toward the eye.
The company claims that the new waveguide features 325 nits/lumen with 80% transparency, a 50° field of view, and 400% less ‘eye glow’ than the next best waveguide-based XR headset on the market.
The prototypes have different modules that can be swapped out based on what a hardware company wants to use. The optical technology in the glasses is said to be the lightest, brightest, and most cost-effective in a pair of smartglasses today. They currently weigh from 150 grams to 180 grams (0.33 pounds to 0.39 pounds). A final version would likely be as low as 110 grams. Normal glasses weigh about 50 grams, so these are considerably heavier in prototype form.
v1 comes standard with DigiLens’ Crystal50 waveguides, the Snapdragon XR2 Platform, and the option for partners to pair to their custom light engine or use the Coretronic 720p projector.
DigiLens’ Crystal50 waveguide has 4 times less eye glow than the optics in HoloLens 2, which makes it more transparent from the outside than Microsoft’s product. The glasses have an eyebox of 12mm x 10mm, a field of view of 44°(h) x 25°(v), 50°(d), with a landscape orientation and a focus distance of infinity.
The waveguide display lenses are detachable, so better waveguides becoming available could be used. DigiLens Design v1 will be available to partners starting at the end of June 2021.
What We Think
In a separate interview with The Information, Pickett said
“I think there’s two companies in the world that can do [waveguides] at a consumer price point. That’s us, and that’s Apple.”
Digilens is clearly trying to take a ‘platform’ approach to its business development to become the optical basis for device makers.
110gms is getting close to the 90 gms that Microsoft talked about as a target for consumer AR systems this week. (BR)
Exploded view of the DigiLens Design v1.
