Tunable Lenses for AR/VR and Smart Glasses

Ultra-thin and light liquid crystal lenses that actively adjust focus

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Adjusting the depth of images in AR and VR

Lightweight optics and user comfort are key for both augmented and virtual reality headsets – eliminating focal discomfort and lowering device weight provides a greater sense of immersion.

Our tunable LC lenses, built on optically ideal plastic (TAC) substrates, can actively adjust focus, bringing perceived and actual image depth together consistently, by compensating for focal differences between the virtual and the real.

At less than 100 microns thick and weighing a fraction of a gram, our lenses can be stacked for increased focal power, or combined with other flexible LC cells to provide additional features such as ambient dimming.

This breakthrough technology can be biaxially formed around existing optical components, further minimising product volume and improving optical performance for the user compared to planar glass optical components.

Benefits

  • Multi-dioptre lens power (push and pull lenses)
  • Large lens aperture: 30mm or more
  • Lightweight (<0.5g) and ultra-thin (100 micron) cells
  • Stackable for additional power and features
  • Polarisation independent – focus unpolarised light
  • Biaxial curvature – easily integrated into optics
  • Can be combined with our ambient dimming technology
  • Low power consumption

The technology

FlexEnable has developed a complete low-temperature manufacturing process for producing Liquid Crystal optics on lightweight, ultra-thin flexible substrates. Our tunable lenses are built on TAC film, a bioplastic with optical properties equivalent to glass, including low birefringence and high transmission. TAC retains these properties even after thermoforming to biaxial curves, making it an ideal material for the complex curvatures of AR and VR optics.