Microvision LiDAR Demonstration Video

New Video From MicroVision - Interactive Projection

Do people want an interactive touch screen on a wall or table that's focus free? That supports gesture controls?

This is a 3D "Time of flight sensing" -- in an engine that is going to be made by ST Microelectronics. 

Time of Flight sensing - Apple, STM.

I suspect the answer is yes.

"Here's a quick tutorial on how our interactive display engine with time of flight 3D sensing works."

Fusion -- found on Reddit

This seems to support the notion that Qualper was a smokescreen for some other company. What exactly is going on, I have no idea. 

This has the trademark 1920 x 720 Sony module resolution.

I'm dubious that this is anything more than someone floating a trial balloon, or hunting ad clicks.

LeMonde Numérique ( Source )  
Author/owner Twitter
LemondNumerique WhoIS information

Listed on Website - we'll see if it exists soon enough. (I checked about 10 different and common products -- top listed, and no product posted is available.)

Reddit MVIS Discussion

Techniquement, le smartphone Fusion s’appuie sur un processeur MediaTek MTK6753 octo-core cadencé à 1,5 GHz associé à 2 Go de mémoire vive et 32 Go d’espace de stockage interne extensibles via une carte mémoire micro SD. Il a un écran de 5 pouces affichant une définition Full HD. L’image projetée adopte une définition de 1920x720 pixels.

Le smartphone Fusion dispose d’un appareil photo numérique de 8 MP avec flash LED au dos et d’un autre capteur de 5 MP en façade. Il embarque une batterie d’une capacité de 4000 mAh. Le fabricant ne précise pas l’autonomie en mode vidéoprojection. Un test complet pourrait nous en dire plus…


Technically, the Fusion smartphone is based on a 1.5 GHz MTK6753 October-core MediaTek processor coupled with 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage space expandable via a micro SD memory card. It has a 5-inch screen displaying a Full HD definition. The projected image adopts a resolution of 1920x720 pixels.  (Sony Original Release)

The Fusion smartphone features an 8MP digital camera with LED flash on the back and another 5MP sensor on the front. It has a battery with a capacity of 4000 mAh. The manufacturer does not specify the autonomy in video projection mode. A full test could tell us more ...

Projected Reality -- Cool Prototype

Microvision had a game gun a few years ago, that did something similar, and described this kind of use.

But someone apparently made their own prototype. Cool Stuff.

Kopin, MicroVision and Vuzx

Comparing these two Vuzix suppliers... 

So, Kopin's chip on the top, MicroVision's entire display engine below. Both featuring $0.25 US. 

So, from Today's Report (The Street/Morgan Stanley)

"DLP generally has the disadvantage of bigger form factor vs. LCoS, yet our read from Vuzix’s press release suggests that this has been overcome. In addition, MicroVision, the solutions provider for laser MEMS micro display technology, became one of Vuzix's key suppliers starting from 2015."

Below is a picture of Kopin's LCOS chip....(the equivalent of the 1mm mems in the MVIS engine) and another picture of Microvision's entire projector engine. (And in some applications it's my understanding that the EPM can be moved or handled with software of the computing platform.) **

Kopin: Capabilities

Kopin has just issued a press release that states their intention to enter the OLED microdisplay market, offering panels that will serve augmented and virtual reality applications. At CES 2017, they will announce more detail on the first panel and demonstrate it in novel optical solutions as well. I will get a sneak peak at these devices before CES, but you will have to wait until January 2017 before I can say more.

Now, Kopin has added OLED to it repertoire of microdisplay technologies. According to Fan, “Kopin is pioneering a new business model for OLED fabrication which we think is the future for expanding availability of OLED microdisplay devices.”

After two years of development, Kopin is now ready to start showing their new OLED-on-Silicon microdisplays. Such a device consists of two key elements: the silicon backplane that contains circuitry to drive the OLED pixels, and the OLED emissive frontplane layer. What is unique about Kopin’s business model is that both of these operations are outsourced to dedicated foundries. All of the design expertise resides within Kopin, but all of the capital investments and infrastructure are external, with manufacturing expertise on both sides. It is the first fully fabless OLED microdisplay business model.

**
The PSE-0403-101/2 display engine is an all-in-one unit combining an integrated photonics module (IPM) containing MEMS and lasers and an electronics platform module (EPM) containing MicroVision’s proprietary ASICS and system control software. Some customers prefer a flexible solution of the IPM and standalone MicroVision ASICS that they can combine with the electronics of the device into which the engine is embedded. The form factor of the IPM, which measures only 4.66 cubic centimeters, is a critical attribute for OEMS considering incorporating pico projectors inside their consumer products. We plan to be ready for mass production in early Q2 2017.   MICROVISION DISPLAYGROUND

Vuzix, Kopin, Microvision

What follows will be simply cutting out all the mentions of microvision from that 10K report.

Chances of this being some kind of "error" are zero.

Vuzix 10K March 2016   "As of March 30, 2016, there were 16,097,951 shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding."

***

In 2010, our previous largest competitor, MyVu, ceased operations. Its intellectual property assets were sold to unnamed parties in Asia. Other companies that have stated their intention to enter this market when their product development is complete are Lumus and Microvision Corporation. At recent CES tradeshows, Lumus demonstrated a see-through HD optics engine in a pair of Video Eyewear. They have not yet announced a product that is production ready. Microvision has also announced that they are currently focused on the Pico projection markets, as described below, and that they are not planning to introduce a wearable display solution. 

****

We currently purchase almost all of the microdisplays used in our products from Kopin and Microvision. Our relationship with these microdisplay suppliers is generally on a purchase order basis and neither firm has a contractual obligation to provide adequate supply or acceptable pricing to us on a long-term basis. We procure a small percentage of our microdisplays from other sources such as Syndiant and Texas Instruments. While we do not manufacture our components, we own the tooling that is used to make our custom components with the exception of certain authentication chips and connectors that may be required to support industry standard device connectivity. We believe that we are not dependent on our relationships with any supplier other than Kopin or Microvision. Kopin before we sold the defense divisions had also been a significant customer of our night vision display electronics modules and owns just under 3% of our common stock. Some of our accessory products are sourced from third parties as finished goods. We typically have them print our Vuzix brand name on these products of they are co-branded. Such third party products represented less than 5% of our sales in 2015.

****

There are a number of competing providers of microdisplay-based personal display technology, including smart glasses, and we may fail to capture a substantial portion of the personal display market.

In addition to competing with direct view displays, we also compete with microdisplay-based personal display technologies that have been developed by other companies. Our primary personal display competitors include Carl Zeiss, Inc., Sony, Epson, Google, Brother International, 5DT Inc., eMagin Corporation, Oculus VR (Facebook), Kopin Corporation (Kopin), MicroVision, Inc. (Microvision), Lumus Ltd. (Lumus), Kaiser Electro Optics Inc., Toshiba, Garmin, HTC Value, TDG Acquisition Company, LLC, and Accupix of Korea. Oculus, which was purchased by Facebook in March 2014, intends to introduce a very wide field of view head-worn goggle system in spring 2016. Samsung since September 2014 has been shipping a head worn goggle frame, called the Gear VR which allow users to mount their smart phones inside it to create an Oculus content compatible immersive VR system. There are similar smart phone mounting and viewing systems now available from a variety of manufactures ranging from simple ones like the Google Cardboard which can turn most smart phones into a display device to view basic interactive VR content, to more advanced systems similar to the Samsung Gear VR. Numerous other start-up companies have announced their intentions to offer AR smart glass and VR products and developer kits in the near future. In 2015 Razer demonstrated its Open-Source VR Gaming head worn goggle system similar to the Oculus developer kit, and Carl Zeiss demonstrated its VR One, a head worn goggle for existing smart phones with larger direct view screens for VR applications, like the Samsung Gear VR. Further, industry blogs have speculated that companies such as Apple may offer or support VR and AR Video Eyewear products in the near future. In January 2015, Microsoft introduced its Hololens project, a head worn AR smart glass helmet with transparent holographic optics. No pricing, technical details, or formal release date has been released other than developer kits now being available to select developers. Another new company, Magic Leap says it is working on a head-mounted virtual display system for AR applications, however no details have been public regarding its technical capabilities or release date. 

MS Downgrades HIMX, The Street Acknowledges Microvision - Updated

It's been my experience (whether right or not I'm not sure) that The Street's articles can be difficult to re-locate or disappear. So, I've pulled the whole article out for posting here.

Himax was the key display provider for Google Glass, and an apparent supplier to Hololens -- although word was that Hololens was going elsewhere as well. (That was referenced here, I will update when I find the link.)

Thanks Joe

Morgan Stanley Downgrades Himax Technologies (HIMX) to Underweight Amid Growing Competition

(Updated - February 6, 2017 1:23 PM EST)

Morgan Stanley downgraded Himax Technologies (NASDAQ: HIMX) from Equalweight to Underweight with a $4 price target (down from $6), implying 24% downside.

Analyst Charlie Chan said New AR smart glasses are adopting micro display technology other than Himax's LCoS. This could jeopardize the company's leadership in this market in the long term.

Chan said while the stock is down 49% since September 1, 2016, it could de-rate further if its leading position in micro displays gets challenged.

"We now see further threats to the dominance in micro display technology of LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon)," Chan commented. "Vuzix, one of the leading vendors of AR smart glasses, won the CES Innovation Awards for its Blade 3000 and M3000, which incorporates DLP technology from Texas Instruments. DLP generally has the disadvantage of bigger form factor vs. LCoS, yet our read from Vuzix’s press release suggests that this has been overcome. In addition, MicroVision, the solutions provider for laser MEMS micro display technology, became one of Vuzix's key suppliers starting from 2015."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Himax Technologies click here. For more ratings news on Himax Technologies click here.

Shares of Himax Technologies closed at $5.24 yesterday.


Barrons Blog

Morgan Stanley analyst Charlie Chan says Himax’s display technology is no longer cutting edge, current customer Microsoft (MSFT) is going to cut orders, and its December quarter earnings may disappoint. Chan wrote:

We now see further threats to the dominance in micro display technology of LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon). Vuzix, one of the leading vendors of AR smart glasses, won the CES Innovation Awards for its Blade 3000 and M3000, which incorporates DLP technology from Texas Instruments (see Exhibit 1). DLP generally has the disadvantage of bigger form factor vs. LCoS, yet our read from Vuzix’s press release suggests that this has been overcome. In addition, MicroVision, the solutions provider for laser MEMS micro display technology, became one of Vuzix’s key suppliers starting from 2015.

Augmented Reality potential | Final Fantasy

For some reason, gamers will exert a crazy amount of effort doing things for fun that would cost a lot to get developed. Here you see a main display, with AR displays to augment the central displays.

This could be coming to your office soon. A lot of us who deal with a lot of information, design, etc could make great use of this. 



Windows Central

Systems like the Nintendo 3DS and Wii-U also make use of extra displays to show menus, maps, and other UI elements to prevent them from interfering with the main game itself.

Microsoft has also dabbled with these sorts of features, with Xbox Smartglass. Using a phone app, some games were able to display second-screen functionality and even gameplay. An early version of Tom Clancy's The Division had a full-blown tablet companion game, allowing users to control an in-game support drone via Windows 8-based touch devices. I saw The Division's drone companion app running on a Surface 2 back at Gamescom 2014, and found it to be very impressive. Sadly, it never made it to the full game due to balancing issues. HoloLens could make these second screen experiences far more compelling.

iPhone8 to use STM Time of Flight Sensor?

A lot of these rumors come to nothing -- this one has more weight than most in that it's being reported in a number of places, and that it's very specific.

Something to watch.

It's also interesting that Ming-Chi-Kuo blew it on his last estimate. Maybe Apple is taking a little more control of what leaks and what doesn't. This guy has had Apple dead to rights for a long time, but didn't get it this time.

WCCfTech

 Today, we’ve got some news about the sensors that Apple will use on the device. European manufacturer STM released its earnings lately and the manufacturer saw a massive increase in Capex. Interested? Take a look below to find out more.

The iPhone 8 Will Use Latest Time-of-Flight Sensors Manufactured By STM Suggest Analysts

With each passing day, our smartphones get more and more complicated. The huge array of components and sensors which tick under the hood ensure that users get a seamless and fruitful experience out of their devices. Now, Apple’s got similar plans for the iPhone 8. The teardown of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus by Chipworks unveiled a host of components ticking under the hood.

Out of these, one was STMicro’s ToF sensor, which helps the iPhone carry out a variety of tasks. It helps the device to gauge the distance between the camera sensor and the photographic object. Dubbed as Time-of-Flight, the sensor achieves this completely independently of the reflected light’s level.Now, after the iPhone 7, Apple will also include the sensor in this year’s iPhone 8.

PicoP Scanning Engine Target Specifications

Got this from a friend.

Interesting specs, the date is up there.  

The Size of Our Market

I have no idea if MVIS will ever be in Apple. It does seem like a good fit though.

This reference is only for size of market. Apple is about 10% of the smart phone market, they are apparently about 30% of the tablet market.

Both types of devices are places PicoP could show up. It's a big market.


MarketingLand

All product lines posted increases. Across the board it was Apple’s best quarter; however, the iPad was the weakest of the product lines in terms of analyst expectations. Here are numbers:

• iPhones: 78.3 million units, $54.4 billion in revenue
• iPad: 13.1 million units, $5.5 billion in revenue
• Macs: 5.4 million units, $7.2 billion in revenue
• Services (including Apple Pay, Apple Care): $7.2 billion in revenue
• Other (including Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products): $4 billion in revenue

Tablet Market - Forbes

The numbers come from IDC's latest report that looks at tablet device sales. It covers the second calendar quarter of 2016, and shows that worldwide tablet sales stand at 38.7 million devices, a 12.3 percent year-on-year drop.

The Bicycle Problem

A great reason to have a medium range high-definition 3D Lidar.

Volvo

SpectrumIEEE
Robotic cars are great at monitoring other cars, and they’re getting better at noticing pedestrians, squirrels, and birds. The main challenge, though, is posed by the lightest, quietest, swerviest vehicles on the road.

“Bicycles are probably the most difficult detection problem that autonomous vehicle systems face,” says UC Berkeley research engineer Steven Shladover.

Nuno Vasconcelos, a visual computing expert at the University of California, San Diego, says bikes pose a complex detection problem because they are relatively small, fast and heterogenous. “A car is basically a big block of stuff. A bicycle has much less mass and also there can be more variation in appearance — there are more shapes and colors and people hang stuff on them.”

*****

Further strides, meanwhile, are coming via high-definition maps such as Israel-based Mobileye’s Road Experience Management system. These maps offer computer vision algorithms a head start in identifying bikes, which stand out as anomalies from pre-recorded street views. Ford Motor says “highly detailed 3D maps” are at the core of the 70 self-driving test cars that it plans to have driving on roads this year.

Put all of these elements together, and one can observe some pretty impressive results, such as the bike spotting demonstrated last year by Google’s vehicles. Waymo, Google’s autonomous vehicle spinoff, unveiled proprietary sensor technology with further upgraded bike-recognition capabilities at this month’s Detroit Auto Show.

*****

Volvo began offering the first cyclist-aware AEB in 2013, crunching camera and radar data to predict potential collisions; it is rolling out similar tech for European buses this year. More automakers are expected to follow suit as European auto safety regulators begin scoring AEB systems for cyclist detection next year.

Apple Earnings Summary

As a target for Microvision technology, important to pay attention to Apple. They reported earnings last night.

Their earnings beat expectations. 

The size of their horde of cash is stunning -- it will be able to return to the US now, US tax laws kept it over seas.


CNBC

Analysts were also assured by Apple CEO Tim Cook's positive tone around tax reform under President Donald Trump.

TheMacObserver

Apple’s cash hoard swelled to a staggering $246.09 billion in the December quarter, an increase of $8.49 billion. This, despite returning some $15 billion to shareholders in the form of stock buybacks and dividends. It’s an unprecedented concentration of corporate wealth in a financial web spanning the globe.

Communities Digital News

CNBC online provides the following breakdown:

• EPS: $3.36 vs. $3.21 expected by a Thomson Reuters consensus estimate
• Revenue: $78.4 billion vs. $77.25 billion expected
• iPhone sales: 77.42 million, revenue of $53 billion
• Services revenue: $6.91 billion
• Q2 guidance: $2.08 EPS, revenue of $53.79 billion

I'm not sure that a watch and earbuds are a "rich lineup" of wearable products. I wonder if there's more waiting in the wings.

GeekWire  "Apple Watch, Huge Growth"

Apple, which first debuted the Apple Watch in April 2015 and released an updated version this past September, also recently began selling its new Airpod wireless headphones.

“We now have a rich lineup of wearable products,” Cook said. “Their design, elegance, and ease of us make us very excited about the huge growth potential for wearables going forward.”

Augmented Reality in Industry

Augmented Reality improvement in productivity.

There will also be projected onto the surface applications.  Boeing

This kind of productivity improvement is where HUGE money gets made.

There is going to be a lot of demand for near eye displays. 


IndustryWeek

The tipping point, Ryan said, was a large project, sustained over three months in 2012, that introduced “digital storyboarding, a kind of mobile (virtual reality) solution” that cut down on the need for the massive drawings used for reference throughout the yard: “When we bring in a new generation of shipbuilders, giving them a drawing that’s three feet wide, two feet tall and a foot thick is not how they’re going to want to go to work.” Of course, the digital storyboarding also demonstrated a 35% cost reduction in the construction of one craft over those three months, which helped spark the overall shift toward digital.

****

Since then, Ryan said, “we’ve fielded more than 50 projects into our industrial waterfront using augmented reality to reduce cost, improve quality, improve safety, and reduce schedule—the four pillars.”

****

AR has a learning curve, like any developing technology, and jumping in by ordering dozens of smart helmets, smart glasses, or even tablets, makes about as much sense as installing a new IIoT plan without a whit of research. Using the hardware might feel like second nature, but it’s not.

A couple of things from the Kiplinger Letter

Things to look forward to in 2017

Blazing-fast wireless service is on the way:5G, or fifth-generation wireless technology. It will revolutionize the mobile internet industry.

Web speeds will be 10 to 100 times as fast, enabling HD movie downloads in under five seconds, with lag times of less than a thousandth of a second and ultra-low-power sensors that last for years.

Expect full-fledged service by 2020 or so.Major trials will get under way next year, with AT&T and Verizon leading the early parade. Hundreds of billions of dollars will be spent yearly to update wireless infrastructures and services.

The U.S. is poised to lead in 5G adoption in the wake of rules from federal telecom regulators that unleashed huge swaths of untapped airwaves.

Life will be different in 2030

In 2030, a pair of lightweight virtual reality glasses will sell for as little as $200 to $400. They’ll help you function in your everyday world — seeing and hearing everything around you while receiving texts, interacting with talking 3-D images of people and more. Your gestures, eye movements and voice will direct the images you see in your VR glasses.

A real-estate agent might use such glasses to sell homes. Prospective buyers wearing augmented reality glasses will be able to visualize a building on an empty lot, for example — walking around it, seeing it with solar panels, etc. Doctors will wear them to read vital patient info while performing surgery. Heck, on the golf course, your glasses will tell you the distance to the hole, wind conditions, scores and more.

Wearers will even be able to lose themselves in an environment outside their surroundings. Experiences will include everything from climbing Mount Everest and visiting Mars to re-creating crime scenes and sitting down with an overseas relative in a virtual park.

Motomods vs. Project ARA -- Developer kits

Some insight about Motorola's MotoMods. Some good stuff about developer kits and encouraging small developers to get involved.

gadgets.ndtv.com

McDonnell is quite dismissive about Ara. "They didn’t really think about the consumer at all," says McDonnell. "Their whole idea was based around technology, what can you do, but not what the customer wants."

"They wanted to do things like change the specs but that doesn’t really change the consumer experience," he adds. "It was exciting for developers, but they got the priority wrong. I think with LG and Friends - they wanted you to switch off your phone to change parts, and it was a whole process, who is going to do that?"

****

The way to create and sell a module is straightforward - buy an MDK from Motorola, prototype your idea, and follow the self-certification procedures. Once that's done, Motorola will verify your plans, and then it sells you a license as an official Mod. Motorola can also help developers find partners for manufacturing and distribution of the Mods, and would help with marketing too, McDonnell adds.

But would small developers in India want to commit precious funds to buy an MDK to start with? "As of now we're distributing the MDK to people who register with us," says Sharma. "We will need a project outline to determine how feasible your idea is, and if it looks like it can be done, then we'll give you an MDK." And in a few months, Motorola also plans to launch a Mod Store, to help highlight all these new products - a bit like Apple showcases MFi products.

Another Modular Smartphone?

Not a lot of detail here, but modular is interesting. So far projection is high on the list of things to do with modules on phones. So we have another place to watch.


Gadgets360
UberGizmo
GSMArena

There aren’t a lot of details available at this point in time about the Alcatel modular smartphone but it’s claimed that users will be able to add to the handset’s functionalities by slapping on replaceable back covers.

This in fact could be the Idol 5 we're talking about here, by the way. Price-wise expect it to go for around €320 or more unlocked. All of the details should be unveiled during Alcatel's press conference on February 26.

Interesting Patent From Microsoft, Possible now with Microvision

So, Joe sent this to me on Friday morning.

This is good stuff.

It looks a lot like the video from Microvision. 

And similar in concept to what NVDIA showed at CES (Fast forward to 30:00)

Just recently hit Patently Apple

From Patently Mobile.

Way beyond voice activation, Microsoft's system will offer a highly sophisticated 3D depth camera in tune with a pico projector to allow video conferencing to occur in any room in your home or office as the imagery could be projected on a wall instead of a computer display as noted in our cover graphic. Microsoft's home automation system could be set up in a user's home or office and act as a form of video-intercom. The system could be set up in a home in various configurations such as a device like the Amazon Echo or on the wall or ceiling so that a conversation could take place while a user is moving from room to room.


*****

The projection unit 100 also comprises a rotating projection module #304 comprising at least one pico projector and optionally comprising an optical arrangement comprising mirrors and/or lenses configured to optically move light projected by the pico projector.

Race for the smart Home

Alexa more likely than Apple.... 

SouthChinaMorningPost

For the smart home, the key developer partners are the makers of household devices ranging from lighting systems to refrigerators. There are currently about 250 devices that are certified to work with Alexa, and Amazon has encouraged rapid development of third-party applications with its open-systems approach and even financial incentives for some partners.

Apple’s Homekit, by contrast, has about 100 certified devices. And the reasons behind that gap show both the risks and the potential rewards of Apple’s approach.

****

The devices have to be made in special factories that are certified by Apple. A confidential Apple document obtained by Reuters lists more than 800 of these factories, but only a few specialise in home automation products.

Developers can ask Apple to certify an unlisted factory they want to use. But the limited selection means that device makers can’t always get the best prices or work with their preferred factories.

****

Alexa, by contrast, only requires smart home companies to write software code and submit it to Amazon for review. There are no special chips. To earn the “Works with Alexa” label -which isn’t required to function with Alexa but does help promote products on Amazon’s website - startups must have their products physically tested. Amazon does allow that to happen in a third-party lab, however.

Once those certifications are in hand, Amazon says it will decide whether or not a device gets the “Works with Alexa” label within 10 days.

Goldman's view of the future.

A little bit of a view of the future from Goldman Sachs

Interesting how a little company called Microvision fits into big parts of what they're about.