Smart glasses and AR technology provider Vuzix and optoelectronic technologies developer Plessey announced an exclusive display device design and long-term supply agreement. With the agreement, the two companies will work together on AR products development and productions combining Micro LED light source from Plessey and smart glasses expertise of Vuzix.

Vuzix has developed a Smart Glasses portfolio including Vuzix Blade, which won the CES 2019 Innovation Award. The glasses are equipped with a smart display, offering a see-through viewing experience via its waveguide optics that enables users to see high-resolution graphics, images and information superimposed over images from the physical or real world.

(Image: Plessey)

Plessey’s Micro LED solution will significantly simplify existing smart glasses’ complex optical system of red, green and blue light sources and their additional optics by replacing it with a single self-emitting display which has integrated micro-optical elements. Size, weight and power reduction are key considerations in the AR wearables market. Existing light source systems have considerable losses all the way through to the waveguide and the optical systems around them are bulky and complex, whereas an emissive Micro LED has very simple optical requirements, allowing for a much smaller footprint with minimal system losses by placing the light source directly in front of the waveguide.

Paul Travers, President and CEO of Vuzix, commented, “We are very excited to expand our relationship with Plessey. Their Micro LED technology represents a key part of the solution needed to bring the form and functionality of Vuzix next generation smart glasses to the look and feel of fashion forward glasses, solutions the world will be clamouring for.”

“By overcoming the difficulties of manufacturing Micro LEDs on a commercial scale, Plessey is playing a central role in providing next-generation technology to the Augmented Reality (AR) and display markets,” noted Mike Lee, President of Corporate and Business Development at Plessey.