Lumus is preparing new waveguide designs for smaller and lighter AR glasses

Israeli Lumus, the developer of reflective waveguide technology for augmented reality (AR) glasses, has introduced its second-generation technology to enable the development of smaller and lighter AR glasses.

The Lumus Z Lens 2D waveguide architecture builds on 2D Maximus to enable the development of smaller, lighter AR glasses with high-resolution image quality, outdoor-compatible brightness, and seamless prescription eye integration. The AR modules can be as much as 50% smaller.

The new technology will be publicly demonstrated for the first time at CES 2023, the major tech trade show in Las Vegas this week. Lumus hopes the technology will be the AR bridge to the exciting possibilities of the metaverse.

“For AR glasses to meaningfully penetrate the consumer market, they need to be both functionally and aesthetically impressive. With Z-Lens, we are aligning form and function, eliminating barriers to industry entry and paving the way for widespread consumer adoption,” said Ari Grobman, CEO of Lumus, in a statement. “Our introduction of Maximus 2D reflective waveguide technology two years ago was just the beginning. With all of its enhancements, Z-Lens unlocks the future of augmented reality that consumers are eagerly awaiting.”

Great functionality, small size

Lumus’ new Z-Lens waveguide architecture retains the excellent image quality and high luminance efficiency advantages of its predecessor, Maximus, but features an optical engine that is 50% smaller. The new architecture also provides more flexibility for eyewear manufacturers to place the entrance opening in different positions.

This allows for significantly more compact AR optics for natural-looking glasses that reduce the weight and bulk of many of today’s solutions.

Z-Lens’ new lightweight optical engine features 2K x 2K resolution and rich, vibrant colors for superior image quality. With a brightness of 3,000 nits/watt, consumers can enjoy augmented reality in daylight through glasses that are – from the outside – virtually indistinguishable from non-AR glasses.

Lumus’ Z-Lens architecture also enables direct connection of prescription eyewear optics, which can be licensed and used by manufacturing partners. This feature allows consumers to customize their AR glasses to fit their vision without bulky, heavy inserts, allowing them to be used as normal glasses.

Other key benefits include a smaller micro projector, a larger field of view and a distortion-free view of the real world. Remarkably, the battery efficiency is up to 10 times that of any other waveguide on the market, and the forward light leakage (forward projection) is negligible.

“AR experts call the face a ‘sacred space’ – and that’s absolutely true. Natural-looking glasses with augmented reality functionality will unlock the consumer market and advance the industry,” said Grobman. “Manufacturers will need to create aesthetically pleasing eyewear before mass adoption can ever become a reality, and Z-Lens enables them to do just that.”

The new connection feature within Z-Lens also enables dynamic focal lens integration that helps resolve vergence accommodation conflicts (VAC), a visual phenomenon that occurs when the brain receives mismatched cues between vergence and accommodation from the eye.

Z-Lens is critical to a positive user experience and also eliminates ambient light artifacts on the lenses – a common effect in AR glasses where tiny rays of light hit the optical display elements when the displays are off. And, like the original Maximus, the Z-Lens architecture prioritizes privacy by eliminating light leakage, meaning third parties have absolutely no way of seeing what the AR wearer is viewing.

In AR glasses, lenses using Z-Lens reflective waveguides function as the “screen” on which content is displayed, sourced from a variety of microdisplay technologies, including microLED, LCoS or laser-based microprojectors, integrated into the upper perimeter corner of each lens cutout.

All Lumus reflective waveguides contain a series of ‘cascading’ partially reflective mirrors that direct the signal through the waveguide to the viewer’s eye. These transflective partial mirrors expand the image along both the “X” and “Y” axes, enlarging the image vertically and horizontally. This 2D extension architecture allows for a large field of view, while a small projector remains discreetly hidden in the temple of the goggle frame.

The first prototypes of Lumus Z-Lens will have a 50-degree field of view, but the company has a product roadmap reaching more than 80 degrees. Z-Lens can be integrated into finished products that look almost identical to standard glasses.

The future of AR

According to Grobman, Lumus’ Z-Lens architecture will play an outsized role in advancing the AR glasses market – a category on the cusp of rapid growth.

“The metaverse is becoming more and more a reality and AR glasses will be essential to participate in it,” he said. “AR glasses are poised to transform our society. They offer better ergonomics than smartphones, new ways to interact with different environments and businesses, and a much more seamless experience than wearable devices. The future literally looks up.”

Lumus holds more than 430 patents, with more than 540 additional patents pending, placing it among the world’s top AR optics patent holders.

Lumus developed manufacturing processes together with its world-class supply chain partners, including Quanta Computer Inc. and SCHOTT, to achieve scalability for mass production. The company’s technology is at the heart of several existing AR products, including Thales’ Scorpion full-color head-mounted display, Augmedics xVision system for guiding surgeons, Lenovo’s ThinkReality A6 released in 2019, and Thirdeye’s X2 MR goggles.