By Judith Sudilovsky, NoCamels -
Lumus Optics is using the world’s oldest optic technology—mirrors—with a modern high-tech twist to help create the cutting edge of stylish augmented reality (AR) glasses, which could be on the market for everyday users within a decade.
Steeped in a background of military and medical applications technology, Lumus has now set its sights on revolutionizing consumer optic tech with AR glasses designed to liberate users from the constant gaze of their smartphones, instead projecting directly onto the lenses in front of their noses.
“I would consider wearing AR glasses to be an upgrade from what we’re doing today,” Lumus VP Marketing David Andrew Goldman tells NoCamels.
“We’re all constantly looking down at our phones… and we’re sort of stuck with these little black mirrors that we walk around with in our pockets.”
The tagline for the company is “The Future is Looking Up” because they envision a future where people won’t be looking down at their cell phones, but will be able to have their hands free and heads up, using the AR glasses to gather the information they need or want, Goldman says.
Founded nearly two decades ago, Lumus initially focused on military solutions such as transparent displays for pilots.
These displays, integrated into military-grade helmets like the Scorpion, allowed pilots unprecedented situational awareness and accuracy in combat scenarios.
Expanding beyond military applications, Lumus partnered with medical innovator Augmedics for their xVision AR surgical navigation.
This uses AR to enhance spinal surgeries by overlaying critical patient data directly into the surgeon’s line of sight as he operates, reducing cognitive load on the doctor and the length of surgery times.
About eight years ago, Lumus pivoted towards consumer technology, anticipating a post-smartphone era dominated by AR glasses. The challenge was making their optic technology consumer-ready—compact, stylish and affordable, according to Goldman.
“We use mirrors, which are the oldest optical element that exists, and we’re using them in a unique way,” he says.
While keeping the tiny projector out of the way, content is projected onto what is called a waveguide, so called because it directs the light waves.
This glass substrate (underlying layer), with embedded partially reflecting mirrors, is where the light gets guided through the piece of glass and projected to the users’ eyes.
“If you wanted to watch a movie, or if you wanted to do gaming, it would be possible,” Goldman says. “We can do that with our optics, and those will fit in what looks like a natural pair of glasses.”
The waveguide is the only part of the smart glasses that doesn’t exist in another device, Goldman explains. For example, the micro display and the projector are technologies that are part either of smartwatches, mobile phones or screen monitors.
The only new piece of technology for the AR glasses is going to be the waveguide, and that’s why it’s so critical, Goldman says.
“In Israel we have a good reputation in optics from the Weizmann Institute [of Science]. Most of our research has come out of there and we are leaders in this space, which is good for Israel,” he adds.
In fact, a good number of Lumus’ 97 employees hold doctorates in physics, optics and other relevant areas of studies.
Lumus is located in the Israeli city of Ness Ziona, neighboring Weizmann’s hometown of Rehovot. The two locales form the base of a growing number of manufacturing, production and technology transfer organizations.
The company also has a production line in Penang, Malaysia through Germany’s SCHOTT, a leading international technology group in the areas of material innovations, specialty glass and glass-ceramics. It has another production facility in Taipei, Taiwan through its partner and Fortune 500 company Quanta Computer, which produces many consumer products including the Apple watch and the MacBook Pro.
And there is an appetite for this tech among consumers, mostly younger consumers under 40, Goldman asserts.
“This market is going to come. The companies are very committed to it. They’re spending billions of dollars on R&D right now, not just in America, but also in China, in Taiwan, to some degree, but less so, in Europe,” he says.
He estimates that smart glasses will be on the market within a few years for the early adopters. After that, he says, we will see “millions of units” become available.
As such, Lumus is working with their manufacturing partners on building a supply chain robust enough to handle millions of orders that he is optimistic will come once consumers become more used to the concept.
“We are poised to go now, though initially it won’t be millions of sales. It’s a really big ask to go from using a mobile device to suddenly using a display near the eye, and so it’s going to start in the tens of thousands of orders a month, then to hundreds of thousands a month, and eventually… millions,” he predicts.
Lumus is at various stages with various customers whose names he is unable to reveal at this time, he says. In some cases, they are working on a real product with a target date for release and in others, they are doing pilot programs with large technology companies or just evaluating whether they want to use Lumus or one of their competitors.
Goldman explains that the Lumus AR glasses allow the wearer to remain in the present while using the technology, making it an asset rather than a distraction.
“We don’t want you to be separated from the world,” he says. “If we were to meet face to face, and you forgot my name, you would see my name through the glasses – it would be floating just above my head.”
He ticks off some of the other improvements he believes AR glasses will help with, including real-time translations, seamless navigation without ever taking your eyes off the road, and 3D projected holograms of the people you are talking via video calls, giving you the sensation of being in the same room.
“It’s a quantum leap,” he says.
Highlighting the company’s discreet optical engine weighing in at about 11 grams per eye and the lightweight design aimed at mimicking conventional eyewear aesthetics, Goldman says the eyewear is practically indistinguishable from some of the heavier-framed glasses favored by designers such as Armani.
“That was the goal. And for the kinds of companies that we’re working with now, it has to look good,” he says.
“It won’t be considered wearable if no one wants to wear it, right? So, we have an expression here- ‘the face is sacred space.’ No one wants to wear anything that makes them look like a dork.”
