PRESS RELEASE: Adlens tackles AR/VR through adaptive lens technology
Oxford, UK – April 30, 2020 – Adlens, pioneers in the development of lenses that change focus like the human eye, is tackling issues that impact the Virtual and Augmented Reality (AR/VR) market place through its adaptive lens technology.
There are significant challenges that currently prevent VR and AR from realising their potential. In the VR space, vergence accommodation conflict (VAC) occurs because the optics in headsets are set to a fixed focal plane in the distance. This breaks the normal way that our eyes triangulate on objects as they move closer and further away. The resulting mismatch makes VR feel visually unrealistic and can cause discomfort, eyestrain and even nausea. In addition, virtual content needs to be designed to stay at least one metre away. This has obvious limitations across a huge variety of industries and scenarios that require VR to be all-day wearable or provide accurate, immersive experiences.
Focal rivalry is a problem that is currently impacting the AR market. This issue occurs in current AR products that are unable to truly integrate real and virtual content in a believable way, preventing a genuine mixed reality experience. This limitation impacts the use of AR in any application that requires natural interaction with both real and virtual objects and is especially vital for any commercial tasks requiring precision or accuracy.
A free IDC Technical Spotlight, sponsored by Adlens, is now available exclusively on Adlens.com, revealing the importance of the optical interface in helping the VR and AR market reach a predicted value of $128 billion by 2023 (IDC WW Augmented and Virtual Reality Spending Guide, Nov 2019). The Technology Spotlight highlights major challenges to usability, immersion, realism and accuracy that will require a new approach to the design of VR and AR headsets.
Author of the technology spotlight, Giulia Carosella, Research Analyst at IDC, commented, “We expect the AR/VR market to reach $128 billion by 2023, driven by multiple technology factors such as the ability to overcome current device challenges. Adaptive focus lenses have great potential to help solve some major optical challenges in the space and help unlock market growth, generating new opportunities for the broader AR/VR ecosystem”.
Adlens is innovating in the area of the optical interface between the eye and the screen. It plays in the space between the pixels and the person. The interplay between its dynamic lens system and display technology will deliver a step change to the realism of the experience. By addressing the remaining visual cues, adaptive optics can dramatically improve immersion in VR, enabling content to come convincingly within arms reach. In AR, Adlens’ adaptive lenses enable the accurate placement of virtual content in the real world creating a genuinely mixed reality experience.
“Adlens is all too aware of the vital importance of optics in delivering on the future promise of VR and AR. The truth is that no amount of screen resolution or processing power can resolve fundamental issues with the ways our eyes see virtual content. If these issues are not addressed in hardware, VR and AR will never meet the basic requirements of usability, comfort and realism required for a huge array of mainstream commercial and consumer applications,” said John Kennedy, CEO Adlens.
The IDC Technology Spotlight, “Realizing AR/AR Market Growth: The Importance of the Optical Interface in Unlocking AR/VR Potential” is sponsored by Adlens and available for free download here.
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Adlens has spent 15 years exploring the science of vision to bring about a revolution in sight. It is pioneering the development of lenses that will have a profound impact on the future of AR, VR and eyewear. In VR it is developing SEE technology (Stimulated Eye Engagement) that allows the human eye to focus on virtual content in a natural way to make virtual worlds feel genuinely three dimensional, more realistic and comfortable. In augmented reality, it is developing DFI™ technology (Dynamic Focal Integration) to take AR beyond smart glasses and make it possible to place real and virtual objects together accurately and believably in the real world. Adlens is also developing adaptive focus lenses to better address presbyopia, the natural deterioration in near vision that we all experience as we age.
Adlens media contact
Max Deeley, Eugene Afanasy and Seb Alferez-Jones
Platform Communications
+44 (0)20 7486 4900
