Diffrative waveguides for AR developer WaveOptics (owned by Snap) announced a strategic supply partnership with Jade Bird Display (JBD) for MicroLED microdisplays. JBD will supply its 0.13-inch VGA microdisplays to WaveOptics, to be incorporated into the company's Leopard development kit.
The Leopard AR reference kit has a form-factor similar to traditional consumer eyewear available, with a single projector (right-side only), providing a monochrome (green) image. The Leopard uses WaveOpticsâ âKatanaâ waveguide platform, its thinnest and lightest waveguide at 1.15 mm thick and 7 grams. The light engine, called Loki, is designed by WaveOptics with the JBD microLEDs and weighs 6 grams and has a volume of 760 mm3.
In early 2020 WaveOptics signed a similar agreement with Plessey to developer an optical module based on Plessey's FHD green microLED display. This deal was probably canceled following Plessey's acquisition by Facebook.
Earlier this year smart glasses developer Vuzix announced that it will release its first microLED microdisplay powered AR glasses in 2021 using JBD's microdisplays.
In May 2020, JBD announced its 0.13" VGA microdisplay - which it says is the world's smallest microdisplay. The JBD4UM480P microLED display is a monochrome 640x480 0.13-inch display, that offers a brightness of 2 million nits (green), 200,000 nits (red) or 150,000 nits (blue), with a power consumption of a few hundred milliwatts under average operation conditions.
