Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MICROPIX (MicroLED Pixel Display for Augmented Reality Smart glasses)

Teaser

From the fitness tracker to smart glasses, from the desk lamp to the oven, from the bicycle to the car, everyday devices are becoming increasingly smarter and connected. Their interaction with users (mostly human beings) is enhanced thanks to displays. Greater brightness...

Summary

From the fitness tracker to smart glasses, from the desk lamp to the oven, from the bicycle to the car, everyday devices are becoming increasingly smarter and connected. Their interaction with users (mostly human beings) is enhanced thanks to displays.

Greater brightness, better integration and lower energy consumption: those are essential characteristics that devices’ manufacturers need for displays to their premium and future applications.

Most of modern devices have to be comfortably and safely used in all conditions (outdoor at sunlight, with reflective light from snow, sea, road…), so displays must provide users a sufficient brightness.

More and more devices are wearable and as they become smaller and smaller, all components have to miniaturized. The display has to be small and lightweight for a better integrability into devices.

The battery also has to be miniaturized for a better design but its duration is also very important to users. Indeed, even the most advanced device is not funny anymore if the battery lasts only few hours and has to be recharged several times per day, so the energy consumption must be low.

Current commercialized technologies (LCD, LCoS, DLP, LBS and OLED) don’t meet these requirements and are not adapted to microdisplays for premium applications (fitness tracker, smartwatches, augmented reality headsets, wristbands…). A new generation of microdisplays has to emerge and microLED technology is the most promising solution.

MicroLED technology is based on the same LED technology which disrupted the lighting industry, downsized at the microscopic scale (few microns) and adapted for displays. MicroLEDs bring tremendous advantages essential for next generation microdisplays: high brightness, low energy consumption, high reliability, long lifetime, high contrast, high framerate while operating at high range temperatures without overheating. MicroLEDs will bring only advantages compared to existing technologies but products are not commercialized yet.

Novagan is specializing for years in microLED technology, and the team is currently working on bringing microLED microdisplays to the market to give users a better overall experience with their devices. Novagan is targeting high growth and premium applications across various sectors: AR/MR headsets, automotive and avionic HUDS, military headgears and equipment, 3D printing.

We are aiming to reach €50 million revenue by 2025 with a team of 90+ FTEs.

Work performed

During the reporting period, we have compared all possibilities to fabricate microdisplays upon our microLED matrices. We studied current limitations and challenges to overcome to deliver a full color image, while keeping high specifications in terms of brightness and energy consumption. We identified driver suppliers to connect our microLED matrices for the microdisplay assembly, and compared their technical solutions when possible. We identified key partners and calculated funding needs to build-up a full in-house pilot production line, estimated production capabilities and optimized the scaling-up strategy from prototyping to high volume manufacturing.

We also validated the commercial feasibility thanks to a comprehensive market study (with updated data), an analysis of regulatory requirements linked to the exploitation and competitive intelligence to estimate our competitors’ development stage and targeted markets. We listed AR headsets manufacturers and did a comparative analysis of commercialized products and their specifications (display technology, size, resolution, battery autonomy, weight, price).

Our team also researched other applications for which microLED microdisplays and matrices can offer significant advantages bringing better performances and enabling new fabrication possibilities (automotive and avionic HUDs, medical devices, military headgears and advanced sights, 3D printing…). We identified key market players for each application, across each targeted sector.

The feasibility study, covering both technical and commercial aspects, enabled us to better understand market needs and therefore to develop further the commercialisation strategy and to update the revenue model with a clear product roadmap.

Finally, all findings from the feasibility study confirmed the huge potential for Novagan to commercialize microLED microdisplays and enabled to update its financial projections.

Final results

Novagan has developed for the first time worldwide a full color monolithic microLED matrix with a very small pixel pitch of less than 10µm. The benefits from the monolithic structure of such a RGB microLED matrix include the manufacturing simplification of full color microdisplays, a size reduction by avoiding light combiners, less raw materials, while keeping a very high brightness and a very low power consumption.

Thanks to the competitive intelligence carried out in the report, we are confident that our innovation is ahead the current state-of-the-art of commercialized technologies.

Delivering microLED microdisplays will first meet pressing needs from AR headsets manufacturers to offer a better overall experience to users. Automotive HUDs integrating microLED technology will provide clear and readable information to drivers in all conditions, in front of sunlight and reflective lights from environment, thus increasing passengers’ safety. Also, microLED microdisplays will bring significant advantages for medical and military applications (HMDs, advanced sights, scopes, imaging, equipment) thanks to increased performances.

Moreover, microLED technology is based on the same LED technology which disrupted the lighting industry, so it will have a green footprint compared to existing display technologies thanks to a lower energy consumption, potentially on billions of daily used displays.

Finally, we can conclude that developing our project has the potential to bring a high added value in the global microdisplay market (from $1B in 2018, up to $5.7B by 2027), representing high growth opportunities for Novagan.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.novagan.com/.