Projector + Contact lenses = private TV screen?

The contact lenses that could do away with TV screens: System that projects images onto the eyeball to be unveiled next week

• iOptik allows users to see digital data such as directions and video calls
• Tiny 'screens' sit directly on users' eyeballs and work with a pair of glasses
• They provide an experience equal to watching a 240-inch TV at 10ft away
• A working system is due to be revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show 
• 
  

By ELLIE ZOLFAGHARIFARD

PUBLISHED: 15:06 EST, 3 January 2014 | UPDATED: 16:05 EST, 3 January 2014

Contact lenses that allow the wearer to see high-definition virtual screens are to be unveiled in Las Vegas next week.

Dubbed iOptik, the system allows the users to see projected digital information, such as driving directions and video calls.

The tiny 'screens', which are the invention of Washington-based group Innovega, sit directly on a users' eyeballs and work with a pair of lightweight glasses.

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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2533463/The-contact-lenses-away-TV-screens-System-projects-images-eyeball-unveiled-week.html#ixzz2pS1ok0hc
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Innovega

Microvision Connection

VIDEO

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MVIS Heads Up Display

From this Technology Review Article

On the road: A mock-up shows a driver’s view of Microvision’s head-up display.

Head-up displays, which project visual data onto the windshield and the driver’s view of the road, are debuting in a growing number of car models. But more vibrant, compact, and efficient displays being developed by Microvision, a company based in Redmond, Washington, could help the technology become much more common. 

Japan’s Pioneer Corporation plans to release its first head-up display product based on Microvision’s novel technology this year. Major carmakers in Detroit are also planning to integrate the technology into their vehicles by 2016, says Lance Evans, a director of business development at the company. Microvision’simage projector relies on semiconductor lasers and a microscopic mirror. 

The company’s head-up display is already in some concept cars but has so far been too costly for commercial models, says Evans. Now, falling prices of green lasers—a significant cost component of the display—should make the technology competitive with conventional displays, he says. 

 Most existing head-up displays generate images using LCDs. Light-emitting diodes produce light and liquid crystal arrays act as shutters, controlling whether or not light reaches each pixel. This approach drains power, and the images often aren’t bright enough to be visible in daylight. Newer displays use either liquid crystal devices or hundreds of tiny mirrors to reflect light onto each pixel. While more energy efficient, these displays are still not very bright. 

 Microvision’s system uses a set of three lasers—red, green and blue—and a single, millimeter-wide silicon mirror that tilts on two axes. The lasers put out light at different intensities, and the three colors are mixed to produce the final pixel color. As the lasers shine light on the mirror, it rapidly scans horizontally and vertically, painting the image onto the windshield one pixel at a time. This happens so fast that the image looks static. Evans says that the lasers’ pure, saturated colors result in more vivid images with a higher contrast ratio, so they are visible in daylight. Illuminating one pixel at a time also saves energy. And the use of a single mirror rather than an array makes the device smaller, simpler, and cheaper. 

 The final cost of Microvision’s product will hinge on the price tag of advanced green lasers. Materials for true green lasers have traditionally been difficult to engineer, so most green lasers contain semiconductors that emit infrared light, which is converted to green using complicated optics. In the past few years, though, half a dozen key players, such as Nichia,Osram Opto Semiconductors, and Soraa, have developed cheaper pure-green lasers. They’re slowly scaling up production, which should lower costs. Evans expects that costs should fall to a tenth of current levels by the end of this year. 

“Green lasers alone are $200 each now,” he says. “Car companies are looking at the whole display to be that much.” Microvision’s laser-scanning display technology beats its competitors in terms of image quality, says Krishna Jayaraman, an analyst at Frost & Sullivan. 

While other companies are also developing laser-based head-up displays, Microvision was the first to propose the approach and has a technology lead. Chris Chinnock, president of the display market research firm Insight Media, points out that mobile connectivity is on the rise, and drivers need more and more information to be displayed in the least distracting way possible. That means the head-up display market for cars could be on the cusp of significant growth.

"Desk Free Computer" from Apple

With Laser Powered projector and wireless charging.

By Mikey Campbell

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday awarded Apple a patent for a completely wireless portable computer that uses a projection system, rather than a conventional LCD display, as its primary mode of visual output. 

Full Article Here

Just because this looks REALLY cool

Beam of darkness makes objects invisible from a distance

A research team from the University of Singapore has developed a device that can make objects invisible by bathing them in a beam of darkness.

The system takes the conventional approach to optics -- which generally aims to make images as sharp and clear as possible -- and turns it completely on its head. Usually imaging systems focus light into a pattern known as a point spreading function, which consists of a spiked central region of high intensity (the main lobe) surrounded by a concentric region of lower intensity light and a higher intensity lobe after this. In order to achieve the best resolution, the central region should be narrowed and intensified, while the outer lobe is supressed. This makes sure that the image is very bright and sharp with well-defined edges.

Full Article Here

Hud for Ski-goggles from Recon Instruments.

• See the website Here:
  Speed is accurately calculated by GPS and barometric pressure data
• Jump analytics show airtime either in the park, or backcountry kickers
• Track your vertical feet by run, by day and over the course of the season
• The onboard altimeter tracks your altitude to within 1 meter
• Find your way around new resorts and easily track down points of interest
• Never lose track of friends or family on the slopes again
• View calls and read text messages immediately, as you receive them
• Be in full control of your favourite tunes as you ski or board

New Smartphone Batteries

Advanced Lithium/Sulfur Cells Developed for Smartphone Batteries

Posted on Dec 1 2013 - 10:00pm by Giancarlo Perlas

The most commonly used Smartphone batteries are Lithium-ion-based (Li-Ion). Some variations of this type of battery also exist like the Li-Po or the Lithium-ion Polymer used by the iPhone 5. But a new battery that runs on lithium and sulfur cells might become a game-changer in the future.

According to a new report from Gizmag, a new kind of battery has been discovered. This new material is made up of advanced Lithium/Sulfur cells and is known with the abbreviation Li/S. The revolutionary invention was made by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Advantages of Li/S Cells for Smartphone Batteries

Based on the news, the advanced Li/S offers a unique combination of enhanced power, faster recharge speed, more durability and increased energy capacity.

Gizmag explained that the increased energy-storage capacity is made possible by the two electrons produced each time a molecule is processed through the battery’s structure. Then, its composition of lithium anode, carbon-sulfur cathode and electrolyte enables it to produce approximately 1.7 to 2.5 volts depending on the charge state of the cell. The voltage produced is double the amount of current that the usual Li-Ion battery gives off.

Looking at the advantages stated by the report, Smartphone batteries with Li/S cells will surely address one of the top Smartphone problems users which is related to the quick draining of the battery.

Read more at http://thedroidguy.com/2013/12/advanced-lithiumsulfur-cells-developed-for-smartphone-batteries/#66ErzBcGyqg8Xtbi.99

Stock Trades with Microvision Insiders

Form 4 Filings On November 18, 2013

November 19th, 2013 
by Dawn Goetter

We have had a number of calls today regarding several Form 4’s that were filed with the SEC yesterday by MicroVision. There seems to be confusion and a mis-impression that company executives sold shares when in fact the opposite is true.

The Form 4’s filed on Monday were the result of a tranche of restricted stock unit (RSU) awards vesting on November 15, 2013. The vesting of these shares creates a tax withholding obligation. Each officer surrendered to the Company a number of shares with a value that equals the tax obligation. No shares were sold by the officers. Disclosure codes (F and D) on these Form 4s indicate that there was a payment of tax liability by the executive delivering stock to the Company upon vesting of the RSU. In addition, there was a footnote on the Form 4 that stated: “Shares were withheld for payment of $___ tax liability on the vesting of a restricted stock unit award.”

Separately, the trading window for MicroVision employees just opened following the issuance of last week’s Q3 financial results press release. Alex Tokman, our CEO, purchased 20,000 shares today in the open market. His purchase is reflected on a Form 4 disclosure filing made today.

If you still have questions regarding these transactions, please let us know by email ir@microvsion.com or call us at 425 882 6629.

- See more at: http://microvision.com/displayground/uncategorized/form-4-filings-on-november-18-2013/#sthash.cqgnqyBh.dpuf


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Interesting Day.

Apple buys company behind Kinect technology: Report

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 Published: Sunday, 17 Nov 2013 | 2:35 PM ET

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Devin Coldewey | NBC News

The Kinect unit itself, with microphone, time-of-flight unit, and traditional camera.

Apple has bought PrimeSense, an Israeli maker of chips that enable three-dimensional (3D) machine vision, for $345 million, the Calcalist financial newspaper reported on Sunday without citing sources.

PrimeSense has raised $85 million from Israeli and U.S. venture capital funds such as Canaan Partners Global, Gemini Israel and Genesis Partners, Calcalist said.

"We are focused on building a prosperous company while bringing 3D sensing and natural interaction to the mass market in a variety of markets such as interactive living room and mobile devices," a spokeswoman for PrimeSense said. "We do not comment on what any of our partners, customers or potential customers are doing and we do not relate to rumors or recycled rumors."

PrimeSense's sensing technology, which gives digital devices the ability to observe a scene in three dimensions, was used to help power Microsoft's Xbox Kinect.

The acquisition of PrimeSense would be Apple's second purchase of an Israeli company. It bought flash storage chip maker Anobit in January 2012.

Article Source

And these folks were involved with this... note the PicoP on the shoulder.

Auto-Parts Industry Thrives by Shift to High Tech Gear

Eight years ago, auto-parts maker Delphi Corp.'s bankruptcy filing heralded the storm that would engulf the U.S. auto industry and drive some of its biggest names into Chapter 11.

Now leaner and profitable, a renamed Delphi Automotive DLPH +1.93% PLC is back and again leading the way—this time toward a healthy automotive industry built on high-tech electronics, software and fuel-efficiency-boosting products.

The Troy, Mich., company's return on invested capital is 34%, nearly double the 18% industry average. It reported a profit of $1.08 billion last year, compared with a loss of $4.75 billion in 2004, the year before it filed for bankruptcy.

The biggest factor in its turnaround: Delphi is steering away from low-margin steering wheels, ball bearings and spark plugs to technologically complex products, especially "active safety products," such as adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning systems and front and rear cameras, which help prevent accidents. The company also is working on technology that allows a vehicle to see and react to objects, signs and pedestrians....

Full Article

Penbook

Penbook

The PDF document linked at the end is also very interesting.

excerpt:
"IMPLEMENTATION
In the following, we first introduce the custom-built hardware setup and its components. Second, we detail the software architecture and integrated components. As there is currently no available slate device which features a built-in projector and paper-like cover, we designed and built such a system consisting of four main components which are described in the following:

1) A tablet computer (Motorola Zoom 2) that serves as the upright touch screen.
2) A smartphone (Samsung Galaxy SII) connected to a laser pico-projector (Microvision ShowWx+ HDMI) in order to control the projected screen and its content. The optical path of the projection passes two mirrors in order to increase its overall length. Despite the low brightness of the projector, the projection can be seen very well in standard indoor lighting due to the short distance to the projection surface and the innate sharp focus of the laser projector.
3) An Anoto pen, which supports hand-written input on paper equipped with a specific pattern. The pen does not dispense ink; instead, strokes made with the pen are projected on the paper. The pen tracks the Anoto pattern on the paper to track its position on the projection screen using a built in infrared camera. The information is sent via Bluetooth to the mobile phone. We reverse-engineered the communication protocol of the pen and wrote a driver to connect the digital pen to Android that allows fine-grained control over its features. Additionally, a capacitive cap was added to enable pen-touch input on the touch screen. The above mentioned components are integrated into an aluminum case with a flexible stand and a foldable cover that contains the projection screen.

The commercial availability of projector phones (e.g. Samsung Galaxy Beam) indicates that that device could be built in a form factor similar to standar slate devices. The Penbook software components are jointly distributed between the devices."




http://www.uni-ulm.de/fileadmin/website_uni_ulm/iui.inst.100/institut/Papers/Prof_Rukzio/2013/its128na-winkler.pdf