US smartglass optics firm NewSight Reality (NSR) Inc recently announced it had successfully demonstrated new technologies for its Transparent Optical Module (TOM).
The demo comes as NSR advances its partnership with the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) to develop TOM’s functionality.
The new solution is a near-eye display for AR and mixed reality (MR) displays which substitutes light and optical engines with a “multi-layer, hermitically sealed transparent module”, a statement read.
According to the company, the technology differs from current AR technologies as it weighs less than two grammes and is thinner than 2 millimetres. NSR can also embed the solution into numerous glasses, including headsets as well as prescription and planar glasses.
TOM can also achieve roughly 90 percent transparency and is available in several form factors, including “curved, monocular or binocular applications”, the firm said.
Due to the device’s hermetically sealed form factor, TOM does not require field calibration if dropped. Further benefits include highly-efficient energy usage and heat dissipation, allowing for brighter screens in daytime use.
Phil Garfinkle, Chief Executive officer of NSR, said:
“We are not competing with the large manufacturers or enterprise integrators that are building XR solutions. We are providing next-generation display and optics that will integrate with and improve XR products and solutions to deliver the true promise and value the market expects.”
NSR aims to incorporate its TOM display in “both enterprise and consumer application environments.”
The Jacksonville, Florida-based firm added it would seek out its first round of fundraising to accelerate the “delivery, scale, and market development” of its TOM solution, and aims to raise $10 million to $20 million. The company will also privately demonstrate TOM’s capabilities to investors.
Partnership with USSOCOM, Competitors in AR Market
The news comes after the firm struck a contract to develop a prototyped TOM model for the USSOCOM’s Directorate of Science and Technology, NSR announced in December.
The contract is valued up to $14 million over 40 months’ time, along with research and development (R&D) funding.
The developments come after several firms launched their own AR solutions in recent weeks.
Luxexcel, a 3D lens printing firm, revealed its VisionPlatform 7 solution in July, which allows companies and individuals to lightweight, thin prescription lenses for all smartglasses types.
Lenses include waveforms, liquid crystal foils, and others, to integrate all essential hardware.
Another AR lens firm, Kopin Corp, also announced it had developed fully-plastic Pancake optics for VR/AR/MR devices, adding it had filed three patents for its most recent solution.
The Massachussets-based firm said at the time its Pancake optics would provide lighter, thinner form factors and reduce birefringence, or double refraction of light, common to many other plastic lenses.
