Objective
Monocular depth perception (eye accommodation) is missing in all today's virtual (VR) & augmented reality (AR) headsets & goggles. At best they provide an illusion of the 3rd dimension (depth, in this case) through stereoscopic vision using binocular cues only. Current devices use a flat display whereby each eye is forced to focus on a flat image. This results in so called vergence-accommodation visual conflict which causes an unpleasant eye strain & reduces the immersive effect of VR/AR. Research from the Samsung Mobile VR team has shown that most people with unimpaired vision start experiencing discomfort after using a VR headset longer than 20 mins. While this visual conflict is already a problem in VR applications, it is a major obstacle for AR applications, where an eye needs to focus on both the real & virtual objects at the same time.
We have developed a novel light-field display technology for VR/MR that creates genuine 3D virtual images & mixes them naturally with the real world ones. Our display technology correctly processes all information about the intensity & direction of light rays from the virtual images (by creating a light field), realistically blurs/unblurs virtual objects depending on their distance from the viewer.
Our patented technology works without eye tracking & has the potential to be scaled down to miniature form factors, effectively enabling VR/AR headsets the size of regular reading glasses.
We have started early sales of our technology closing a €50,000 deal with Samsung Mobile (KR). In 2018 we have raised €750,000 from the Swiss ICT Investor Club, Atmosclear Investments & prominent business angels.
We are currently working on bringing to the market our first product—a light-field projector for VR headsets.
We are aiming to reach €15m in revenues by 2023 & 50+ FTEs.
Programme(s)
Call for proposal
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
1024 Ecublens
Switzerland
