LightField

Project "LightField" data sheet

The following table provides information about the project.

 Partnership

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Map

 Project 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.