Augmented Reality is Real...

Facebook will be ticker MVRS


Apple Google Facebook Microsoft are all working on Augmented Reality.

MicroVision's near eye display is so good that Microsoft created their AR device around it. (Their words, not mine) and then claimed credit for creating it.

Microvision CEO says "our AR display is DONE."

Mentions that it fits in RayBans during a recent interview. (If someone can come up with the time-stamp, and use the e-mail form for the moment in the interview, I'll include it here.)

Near eye display guy who was at Microvision and moved to Microsoft, moves to Facebook... on the same day that Facebook announced a deal with Rayban

Then, Facebook, does a big presentation about AUGMENTED REALITY -- the METAVERSE

And Facebook is intending to invest 10 Billion in AR THIS YEAR (Only two months left.)

The AR vertical (In my humble opinion) is for sale.

Facebook would be wise to offer more than 10 billion, or they may lose to a higher offer from Apple, Google, or Microsoft.

(I'd vote my shares to taking the higher offer, unless maybe it's from Microsoft who claimed credit for MicroVision's hard work, Microsoft will have to do WAY better.)

Whoever buys us gets to sell AR displays to the other three for a LONG time.

Joanna Makris has a lot in common with Kelli Stavast

The original investing premise for Microvision: Everyone wants a smaller device and a bigger screen

STILL HOLDS TRUE.

Just add some LiDAR into the mix.

The video (I'm about 4 minutes in so far, is a great explanation of AR, and how MicroVision can create more screen real estate.)

AUGMENTED reality Near Eye Displays are worth at least what LiDAR will be worth.

I think a LOT more. 

We are likely in my opinion to get more value in the near term from LiDAR.

What's it worth? 

My recent price target was Minimum of LAZR X 2 Market cap. 

I stand by all my valuation estimates still and I'm happily holding.

APPLE, GOOGLE, AMAZON & MICROSOFT are ALL WORKING ON AUGMENTED REALITY AND SELF-DRIVING VEHICLES....

 Four Companies are all working on two things as "the next big things" Augmented Reality and Self driving vehicles.

Combined they are worth 6.921 Trillion
Together they have 340 billion in cash

If they have a bidding competition for key technology that will give them an edge against the others, how much would they be willing to pay? 

Is 20 Billion too much? (That's about $130/share)

Whats the difference between Niantic and IVAS?

What's 1,000,000,000 / 120,000?

According to my calculations the Niantic heads up we got last week is 8,333 times better than the IVAS news.

There have been more than a billion downloads of Pokemon Go, and the IVAS go-ahead is for 120,000 units.

Pokemon Go is still going strong -- that's Niantic.

Grayson is pretty on top of things.

WATCH THIS BEFORE YOU GO FURTHER -->>>

If you haven't done so, watch this video that he posted last year comparing Digilens to MicroVision. (If it walks like a duck... you know the saying.) HERE
                               

<<<--- WATCH THIS BEFORE YOU GO FURTHER

Don't get me wrong, the IVAS news is FANTASTIC -- it proves the value, proves it works, proves that it's tough enough to fit Military Standards (Look HERE) The dual news flash... wow. 

But the 120,000 units and the volume from that contract isn't the big news.

Volume of production would be the big news. Niantic is that. (Not yet confirmed, I know, but I'm confident it's right.... whether or not you are confident is up to you.)

Pokemon Go information from Business of APPS 

The game launched in July 2016, and became not just a smash hit game, but a global cultural phenomenon; in the summer of 2016, it seemed as if there was no getting away from Pokémon GO. There was even a Pokémon GO Frappuccino! How many games get a drink named after them at Starbucks? How many games inspire 200,000 Spotify playlists?

Pokémon GO Overview

Launched	July 2016
Parent company	Niantic
HQ	San Francisco, California
Key people	Tatsuo Nomura (Pokémon GO director), John Hanke (Niantic CEO)

Key Pokémon GO User Statistics

Cumulative Pokémon GO downloads
September 2016	500 million
February 2017	650 million
July 2017	750 million
May 2018	800 million
March 2019	1 billion

If you don't believe in Pokemon, you don't need to. Of course they wouldn't build single-purpose eyewear. You just need to believe in "walking around games" and Niantic is great at it, and so is UNREAL -- who builds their sofware engine for everyone.

Niantic VS IVAS

******************************************************************

You can change the static variables, but the share float doesn't change often, the tax rate is based on Large Tech companies, MicroVision expenditures are a guess -- actually all of this is a guess, but it is a way for you to play with some of the numbers.

When I test IVAS: (My numbers - you do your numbers.)
Augmented Reality Headsets Produced = 120000
How much will MVIS profit from each?  = 1000
% of AR headsets you think will use it? 100
PE when this happens? = 80

When I test Niantic - the consumer market: (My numbers - you do your numbers)
Augmented Reality headsets produced:     250000000 (250 Million)
How much will MVIS profit from each:   10
% of AR headsets you think will use it:     80
PE when this happens:                                80

Use your own numbers, and remember that buyouts happen with substantially different numbers. Calculating Buyout using EBITDA (To set the buyout number here, I'd guess at increases in sales, average the next five years set expenditures and tax rate to zero, and use 5-15 as the PE. -- remember this is a single vertical.)

(These numbers are without commas, because commas will make the calculator break. Javascript is a pain in the ass.)

What's YOUR price target? (Erase the "*" in the green space and pick your number.) My baseline is $5 ea / 90% of AR Headsets/ PE of 80
How much will MicroVison will profit from each AR Set?
What % of AR Headsets sold do you think will use it?
What do you think the PE of the stock will be when this happens?
Microvision Shares Outstanding { Static }
Augmented Reality Headsets produced (annual)
Total Microvision expenditures annual { Static }
Effective Tax Rate (%)  { Static }
* * * * * * * * *
Number of AR headsets with MVIS you expect
Total Earnings Before Taxes you expect
Microvision Earnings After Taxes
Microvision Net Earnings Per Share
Microvision Price Per Share that you expect

I am holding and will continue to hold

Some have called, texted, and emailed to ask about it.... so: I am holding and will continue to hold. 

There is some broader market uncertainty, and there should be... I think MVIS should be either largely unscathed by this or benefit from it. (Finding an issue with real growth potential in a market of shrinking issues could benefit us.)

 

The basic benchmark (for the time being) is LAZR.

Microvision's LiDAR is better than theirs, so for the LiDAR vertical we should equal or exceed their price.

12,000,000,000 / 155,000 = $77/share for Microvision. (For LIDAR)

I believe Microvision's near eye display is worth at LEAST what the LiDAR is worth.

$77 * 2 = $154 -- that's my target right now. { This isn't including the interactive laser display, display only, or other cool things MicroVision has in their bag of tricks. }

Eventually the LAZR comparison will break down - not sure what the trigger will be (yet)

Once AR gets renewed attention I believe it will effect MVIS at least as much as the attention that LiDAR has received.

This is all my opinion... I'm doing me. You do you.

Microvision in the news

 

MicroVision, Inc. Announces Progress on its Automotive Long Range Lidar A-Sample

PDF Version

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MicroVision, Inc. (NASDAQ: MVIS), a leader in MEMS based laser beam sensing technology, today announced that it has received necessary components and equipment to meet its April milestone of completing A-Samples of its Long Range Lidar Sensor. The Company also announced that it has started outdoor testing of key performance features on its development platform.

“We expect MicroVision’s Long Range Lidar Sensor, (LRL Sensor) which has been in development for over two years, to meet or exceed requirements established by OEMs for autonomous safety and autonomous driving features,” said Sumit Sharma, Chief Executive Officer of MicroVision.

“We expect our 1^st generation LRL Sensor to have range of at least 250 meters and the highest resolution at range of any lidar with 340 vertical lines up to 250 meters, 568 vertical lines up to 120 meters and 944 vertical lines up to 60 meters. This equates to 520 points per square degree. Our LRL Sensor will also output velocity of moving objects relative to an ego vehicle across our dynamic field of view in real-time 30 Hz sensor output. This sensor would accelerate development of Level 3 (L3) autonomous safety and Level 4 (L4) autonomous driving features that are important to potential customers and interested parties.”

“I am proud of the intense dedication of our team and the strong support from our global suppliers as we remain on track to have A-Samples ready in April. We believe our LRL Sensor offers two sustainable strategic advantages to potential customers and parties interested in strategic alternatives. We expect the capability of our LRL Sensor to meet or exceed OEM requirements, based on technology we have scaled multiple times over the last decade, as being a very strong strategic advantage. Additionally, our sensor being designed on scalable silicon wafer and laser diode technologies will be capable of achieving scale at costs below $1,000 ASP, a key price point expected for commercial success,” added Sharma.

But.... But what if Microvision gets so expensive that they won't pay it?

 Ha! -- interesting FUD, but ridiculous.

Recently I suggested 10 Billion for LiDAR and 10 Billion for Near Eye display. 20 Billion.

Let's look at the big tech companies: (Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft) They're ALL looking at self-driving cars. They're all looking at Augmented reality. They would all like to be leaders in one or both, and one company has the best specs in both. (MicroVision)

 

Apple Self Driving Car

Amazon Self Driving Car 

Google Self Driving Car 

Microsoft Self Driving Car

Apple Augmented Reality

Amazon Augmented Reality 

Google Augmented Reality 

Microsoft Augmented Reality 

 

All have market caps north of a Trillion dollars, and huge cash reserves (1.21.2021 - source, Yahoo Finance.)

Apple Market Cap: $2,270,000,000,000      -- Cash on hand: 91 Billion

Amazon Market Cap: $1,663,000,000,000    -- Cash on hand: 68 Billion

Google Market Cap: $1,300,000,000,000      -- Cash on Hand: 132 Billion

Microsoft Market Cap: $1,686,000,000,000  -- Cash on Hand: 138 Billion

They could pay way more than my "crazy" price target with jingle money and hardly notice.....

Keeping it REALLY Simple.

 Benchmark --- LAZR  -- Upstart LiDAR company.

Approximate Valuation: 10 Billion. (MicroVision's LiDAR is better)

At the same value: 10 Billion / 152 Million = $66

I consider the near eye display to be worth MORE than the LiDAR -- it certainly I think will be at least as widely used. Now that we have a value for LiDAR, I'm significantly adjusting my guess on NED -- I'm keeping my guess simple.

Market Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) is likely more important than fundamentals... And the fundamentals here are REALLY good.

Give it a comparable valuation:

$66 + $66 = $132


Review previous Value Posts

Value LiDAR

The Beats Exercise 

Near Eye Display

Market Growth

These are some graphics from a post done in 2018.

Not even the most awesome products hit the ground in a frenzy. A recent example is Instantpot : Founded in 2009, started moving in 2014, a frenzy in 2017. (Overnight success! says the media.)

We're sitting on two products that appear to be getting this kind of growth and adoption. LiDAR and Near Eye Display. LiDAR will be everywhere. So will Near Eye Display.

Good charts of adoption are difficult to find. You eventually end up with some kind of distorting compression that changes it in a way that the visual representation is distorted. ( partly because, as you'll see, they're difficult to fit on a screen and be readable at both ends.)

This page from PetaPixel. It has a couple of very interesting charts of adoption.

This is of CAMERA Sales.... Sucks to be in cameras? unless you think you just went back to sort of normal from a decade of amazing.

If we add cameras that are included on cellphones, we get a bit of a different picture. The GOLD area is cameras on phones..... except they fade out at the top of the graph.

Well, happily, they put something on there so we could see the top of the graph --- but the screen graphics kind of break down. Well, there you are with cellphones included.

That's how a market can grow.

LiDAR is for more than cars, and Near Eye displays are probably going to replace your cellphone screen in a few years.

US ARMY: IVAS

Start at 13:30 listen to 16:00

100% MicroVision's Near Eye Display.

Hololens 2 Display Module

Microsoft built Hololens around this display. MicroVision enables the key component.

Thanks to S2upid posting in the r/MVIS reddit board.

 

Easter Egg Patents

Thanks s2upid! & Mark

Retrieved from Reddit -- there are enough smart and dedicated people posting information there that I can't keep up. (and I have other things to do.) Occasionally there's a serious GEM posted there. This is one.

The "EasterEgg" refers to one of the patents listed in the most recent MicroVision videos (last post) mentioned by CEO Sumit Sharma during the last "Fireside Chat" (recounted here)

So the first MVIS easter egg patent "Phased locked resonant scanning display projection" has the following companies citing it (other than the Facebook patent above).

• Microsoft: https://patents.google.com/patent/US10484656B1/en?oq=10484656

• STMicroelectronics: https://patents.google.com/patent/US10602029B2/en?oq=10602029

• Samsung: https://patents.google.com/patent/US10338370B2/en?oq=10338370

• Hitachi: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9972278B2/en?oq=9972278

• Lite-On Technology: https://patents.google.com/patent/US9398276B2/en?oq=9398276   

• Qualcomm: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20180217237A1/en?oq=10690923

•  Magic Leap: https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2020082002A1/en?oq=10690923
  

AND FACEBOOK

Value Question: Lidar

Thanks Snowboard for the assist! 

As always, I show my work... (and I believe the exercise involved in finding a method is more important than the result.) This is all my own work, this is an exercise, Im not giving any investing advice, do you own homework, (etc.)

Coming up with a concrete number here is very difficult. There is little if any price/value history on LiDAR, and much of what is there is from experimental usage.

This is probably the most valuable part of the company -- The CEO is there because of LiDAR.

Coming up with any numbers here is difficult. Lots of guesswork  (I'm admitting it, the best we can get is a SWAG.)


A few assorted facts:

• All LiDAR will be using class 1 lasers. (Even though you can't see infrared laser light, stronger than class one could still damage eyes, and there is no blink reflex for infrared light.)
• MicroVision's target is 20,000,000 points per second, that's a lot of points. You can count hairs on people with that.
• The significant limiting factor on range is the Speed of light. (see chart below)

A few main areas of likely use: (There are more, like SLAM, scanning and 3D printing... )

• Gesture Control
• Security
• Adas

Gesture control:
This could be huge....
...but after wrestling with this off and on for days, I really can't come up with a defensible guess on it.

The potential is enormous though. You could, for example build a new home that has no wall switches at all, and have anything you want controlled by gesture. (Turn on the lights, raise or lower the blinds, adjust the temperature, etc.) With one sensor and one wire instead of multiple switches and needing to get up to do it.

I could come up with something, but the SWAG would emphasize the wild-ass part of it. After already exerting considerable effort in this direction, I've determined that further effort will not result in a good and measurable estimate of a future reality.

No Guess 

Security

Subscriptions + Hardware.

I've seen MVIS's LiDAR in action at a shareholder meeting. It can recognize people. This has been described on MicroVision's conference calls, and has been described with significant additional safety and convenience features.

• This could identify individual people
• Can distinguish between pets and people (or YOUR pet and the neighbors pet)
• Can distinguish between normal behaviors and strange things that could be of concern
• Could save face-scans of intruders and allow intruders to be identified later

Home Security Subscribers -- Approximately 10 Million last year

Would a MicroVision LiDAR improve a Home Security system setup? Would it improve the services one of those companies can provide?  

I'm a definitive yes on this.

I'll assume that 25% would like and pay for the capabilities, and they could perhaps add 25% of subscriptions. (Identifying people in the home would be huge, along with other benefits.) At an approximate $75/month additional to another subscription with 1/3 of that credited directly to the ability of the MicroVision tech. (Still a SWAG, remember.)


If yes, 25 * 5,000,000 = 125Million per month. = 1.5 Billion per year. Over a 5 year window you could run that out to 7.5 Billion ($53/share)

Like Beats, selling the subscription is the money center.

ADAS

What is the value of preventing accidents? It's huge in the amount saved in damage and life.

Will your car insurance rate change with ADAS

If you're using a self-driving car and it crashes, who's fault will that be? -- the company that programmed it and designed the system. (They'll obviously put a self-testing system in place -- and it won't move unless their system is working... or you'll have to disconnect it and take responsibility yourself.)

Car insurance premiums could drop by as much as $25 billion, or 12.5% of the total market, by 2035 thanks to the rollout of autonomous vehicles, consulting firm Accenture noted in its report.

Accenture calls it an $81 Billion opportunity. (If you give MVIS a 5% share of that number is $4 Billion or $28/share)

Government requirement. (Something small, cheap easy to install, high resolution is a GOOD thing to have in this market.)

What is the value of a self driving vehicle.
What is the value of a vehicle that is mostly ding-and dent proof?

American Family Insurance: Discounts for:

Forward Collision Warning

This car safety feature tracks a vehicle’s speed and compares it to the vehicle ahead. If the distance is closing too quickly, the system warns the driver to slow down through a visual alert, audible warning, or combination of the two. This warning gives drivers time to brake and avoid a collision.

Automatic Emergency Braking

If the driver doesn’t respond to the forward collision warning, some vehicles also have automatic emergency braking. This car safety feature automatically applies the brakes to slow or even stop the vehicle. Depending on your speed, automatic emergency braking can reduce the severity of a crash or even prevent it completely.

(AT Consumer Reports)

Lane Departure Warning and Lane Keep Assist

The lane departure warning system uses cameras to see road markings. If a driver drifts out of the lane without signaling, then this feature issues an audible or visual warning so the driver can steer the car back into its lane. Some systems also vibrate the driver’s seat or steering wheel to get the driver’s attention. Working along with lane departure warning on some cars is lane keep assist. This will gently nudge the steering wheel in the correct direction to help the driver stay in his lane.

Blind Spot Detection and Rear Cross Traffic Alert

When there’s a vehicle in the blind spot, this car safety feature alerts the driver with an audible or visual warning. Some systems issue a warning only if a car is in your blind spot when you use your turn signal while other systems activate a visual alert any time a car is in the blind spot, even if you’re not signaling to turn. Rear cross traffic alert is another system to help you see what you might miss. When the car is in reverse, it monitors traffic about to drive behind the vehicle and warns the driver of any oncoming cars.

SLAM Simultaneous Localization and Mapping

When robot's start moving among us, this will be very important.

This could have enormous impact in tool and die, manufacturing, etc, but it's very difficult to put a number to it. (Just making sure your tool doesn't crash into something it shouldn't this could be big.

Could heavy equipment scan the area for fragile items and LiDAR in concert with onboard software ensure that this equipment doesn't move anything it shouldn't? Probably yes, probably would save a lot. (Could a crane operator, for example move loads MUCH faster with much more confidence?)

No history --- no guess... but someone out there has a value for this..

Scanning / 3D printing

No guess.... this is another one of those items that could be a very big market, or very small... no way to know yet.

No guess. (There is value for this too.)

The RANGE AND RESOLUTION CHART

Included because it's interesting -- and because it provides understandings of important limitations.

The laser in a lidar must be class 1 (brighter could still damage eyes, even though the light can't be seen)

Range and resolution are limited by the speed of light.

I produced the spreadsheet below after listening to a bunch of engineers at a STM conference argue about LiDAR range. They spent some time arguing that the speed of light was a limiting factor. Since it's the fastest thing, I did this to understand that argument.

For each pixel of resolution, the light must leave the device, bounce off the object at the end, and return to the source.

Constants				All of this is a HARD LIMIT, not of the hardware, but a hard limit based on the speed of light.
Constant	Value	Scale	Name
Light Second	299,792,458	meters/sec	LightSec
720P	921,600	Pixels	LowHD			Lightsec div PS
1080P	2,073,600	Pixels	HD		Points / Second	Range in METERS
Refresh	60	Hertz	Refresh	HD X Hertz	124,416,000	2.41
Adjusting the Refresh rate (scans per second) changes the effective range (Using all the pixels of that standard resolution.) For 60 Hertz, we could use a number less than 60hz to account for error-rates, etc.				Low HD X Hertz	55,296,000	5.42
				for points per second it only requires the number of points and the speed of light to find the distance.	20,000,000	14.99
					10,000,000	29.98
					5,000,000	59.96
					1,000,000	299.79
				These range numbers assume 60hz

The Value Question: Part 1 -- Interactive Display.

I have stuff to do so I need to break this one up.

If MicroVision is for sale, it's a pretty good idea for the shareholders to get an idea of what it's worth. (This is all MY opinion, and I'm not making any recommendations.)

Interactive Display:

This was DELAYED, not destroyed.

From the November 6 Conference Call:

"Our activities related to our Interactive Display solutions resulted in a major step forward during the past few months as customer due diligence work has now led to negotiations for component purchase agreement that we aim to complete this quarter fora targeted launch of our interactive display module in 2020. As customer products come to market, we expect our company revenues could reach $100 million over a 12-month period, following product launches that we expect to start in the second half of 2020"
I have my reasons for believing that this customer is AMAZON. ($AMZN)

The Value question:

Company sale criteria (5x IBITDA)  If it's the only income and is expected to continue at this rate, then this vertical would be worth $500,000,000 (or $3.75/Share)

Or.....

100 million per year / # shares * PE ratio

100,000,000 / 140,000,000 = $0.71/share in earnings. (Yes, I know there are expenses that will have an effect.)

PE 20 (20*.71) = $14.20/share
PE 30 (30*.71) = $21.30/share

We don't need to take that higher.... whatever the case I think for this vertical the range is huge... something possibly less than $3.75 to somewhere north of $21.

Where it ends up, depends on the anticipated size of the market.

Given the amazing potential of "The Internet of Things" this could be significantly bigger than many of us believe. (I doubt it will be smaller.) My own theory is that everything that uses a powerful computer benefits from its own screen. (Doom on Thermostat)

The company knows a LOT more than I do.

Remember this is for one vertical, and probably the smallest one.

Barring significant interruptions, I'll be working through the rest of the verticals this week.
Hat tip to KYinvestor.
 

Things getting interesting...

I have zero idea how much weight to give anything like this. Maybe a lot, maybe none. But I'm sure there is considerable interest in the technology this little company has created.



Hat-tip to "Qlfang"

Reddit Reference

Google Translate Link

Microsoft acquires laser sensing company MicroVision to deepen vehicle technology layout

05-18 15:10 Source: Gasgoo 0 comments

　　According to foreign media reports, Microsoft Recently announced the acquisition of laser sensing and projection technology company MicroVision, which has a large number of patents related to laser beam scanning projection and sensing.
　　Previously, Microsoft had worked with the company to use the MicroVision MEMS engine in HoloLens 2 devices. The acquisition Microsoft may be concerned MicroVision broader knowledge property . Currently, MicroVision is cooperating with some important automobile manufacturers to provide laser sensor solutions for autonomous vehicle technology.
　　MicroVision has developed laser scanning technology for projection, 3D sensing, and image capture. Its display technology uses micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) scanning mirrors and lasers, photons, and electrons to project or capture images. The company's products are mainly licensed to OEMs , such as SonyAnd STMicroelectronics. MicroVision has also developed PicoP scanning technology, which is an ultra-miniature sensing and projection solution based on the company's laser beam scanning method. MicroVision's platform approach means that its technology can be widely used.
　　All along, Microsoft has been looking for ways to enter the automotive technology market . In September 2019, Microsoft announced the Connected Car Platform (MCVP). The platform is said to be an evolving system that auto companies can use to implement multiple services in their vehicles , including in-car experience, autonomous driving, advanced navigation, user interaction and insight, telematics and prediction services, and Connect and OTA.
　　In the 2019 MCVP white paper , Microsoft shared its connected car vision, "MCVP provides a consistent technical infrastructure and integrates vehicle configuration and solutions into a common data source through secure and scalable data ingestion. the platform, automotive manufacturers and partners can use the vehicle telemetry , create customized, innovative, for the consumer 's appreciation of the vehicle and cloud services, including telemetry, navigation, goods and services , etc. in addition, MCVP not only for the ride Used cars can also be applied to commercial and industrial vehicles, including cars, trucks, cranes, ships and drones. "
　　It is worth noting that MCVP is not an operating system , but the foundation of the platform created by OEM partners, providing partners with a complete cloud-based backend. However, MCVP will allow Microsoft to seamlessly integrate services such as Skype, Office 365 and Dynamics into in-vehicle systems. At present, the platform has been adopted by TomTom, LG, Volkswagen and other companies.
(Original title: Microsoft acquires laser sensor company MicroVision to deepen vehicle technology layout)

LiDAR Partners Program

From reddit


OnSemiconductor

The LiDAR Partners Program is an ecosystem consisting of module manufacturers, module customization partners, and component suppliers. It offers opportunities for LiDAR module manufacturers to benefit from our expertise, reference designs, and component partner ecosystem when designing LiDAR solutions. This program also allows OEMs to be better connected to these module suppliers by leveraging our worldwide sales force to promote the publicly available partner solutions more widely to the industry. If an OEM has specific design requirements, the ability to connect with a customization partner specialized in manufacturing based on reference designs makes turning custom specifications into a product easier for OEMs that do not want to design or manufacture their own LiDAR sensor.

Over the past month, we announced collaborations with a number of LiDAR module manufacturers using ON Semiconductor SiPMs in their sensors. We are pleased to introduce this first wave of partners, listed below, in the LiDAR Partners Program, and look forward to announcing many more in the coming months.

• MicroVision
• RoboSense
• Blickfeld
• SOS Lab

Find out more about our LiDAR Ecosystem Partners and their products today! For live demos of our LiDAR technology, visit us on February 4-6^th at the SPIE Photonics West Exhibition in San Francisco, California.

Video from CES

Thanks for the heads up Mike!

Great review and discussion of the Interactive display at CES

Interesting new Video from Microvision

Very interesting how they have improved projection by recognizing what not to project onto.

No reflections, and different surfaces... cool stuff.

The ability to not project on shiny things may have been a requirement for the market.

Amazon Breadcrumb

I've been fairly confident that Amazon is on board for some time.

Part of the story has been relayed here before.. I still won't name names, but I will say Amazon now.... (A Story That Can Now Be Told)

This is some new Sleuthing that's pretty good, how much weight you might give permissions, etc. (are they dropping a hint? I don't know.)

I know the reaction from an Amazon engineer when asking about an interactive display told me all I really needed to know.

I've also asked enough people who sell this thing that the addition of the screen is the number one requirement for the second speaker purchased.

Thank you Walt!


Microvision has a new Data Sheet

The Poached Salmon Platter seems pretty innocuous...

But it is the exact listing from The Whole Foods (wholly owned by Amazon) from Bellevue Washington... right down the street from MVIS HQ... 

Chevron Hololens

Collection of IVAS Articles

Thank you Walt!

It appears that the Army is taking this very seriously.


Soldiers Test new IVAS Tech

The final product -- officials say it will likely be fielded in the fourth quarter of FY21 -- will include a variety of features: a color see-through digital display that makes it possible for the user to access information without taking his eye off the battlefield; thermal and low-light sensors that make it possible to see in the dark, literally; rapid target acquisition and aided target identification; augmented reality and artificial intelligence, to name just a few.
 
How the Soldier Lethality Team



 Army's Tactical Network...

When optimized, the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) is a single platform that features advanced goggles connected to a body wearable computer, or puck, to perform multiple situational awareness functions, including a simulated training environment (STE), advanced night vision, target acquisition and language translation for enhanced situational awareness. 

 Soldier Feedback Drives Modernization

Real World 3D For Operations

Natick Experts... 

Army Tests Augmented Reality Headset

New Night Vision Goggles

Marines try out Mixed Reality  

Third IVAS Evaluation Slated for July 

New Goggles bring AI to soldier Training