XPANCEO, developer of smart contact lenses, has entered into a partnership with JBD, a MicroLED display producer. This collaboration aims to deliver ultrathin and comfortable smart contact lens with an integrated MicroLED display.

XPANCEO’s goal is to merge all existing devices into one interface, enabling users to enjoy the most common apps and software they use on screens in infinite extended reality (XR). For this, it is necessary to integrate an image source into the contact lens. As the human eye cannot naturally focus on objects closer than 5-7 cm to its’ surface, complex optical solutions are required. With JBD’s assistance, two approaches were tested.

The first approach uses a projector and hologram combination. This method projects the image at a distance using a hologram so the eye can focus on it. XPANCEO successfully tested this approach with JBD’s MicroLED projector for the hologram. Currently, the projector is external, but efforts are underway to integrate it into the lens.

The second approach features an integrated microdisplay that projects the image directly from inside the lens. This method uses a custom collimation system to direct the image as a parallel beam of light, enabling the eye to focus on it. JBD’s display facilitated the creation of a prototype for this integration scheme, proving that total lens thickness of less than 0.5 mm is achievable with this approach.

Switching from smart glasses to smart contact lenses solves many issues that have plagued augmented reality (AR) for years. By lowering the resolution in the periphery, where the eye does not need high resolution, the load on the video controller is greatly reduced, and the packaging can be much smaller. The loss of the brightness from display to the eye is three times less compared to the now classic waveguiding scheme. Overall, power consumption is expected to be under 10 µW, which is 100-300 times less than comparable prospective AR glasses.

XPANCEO has chosen JBD as the display partner for their next-generation project. Leveraging years of know-how and innovation in MicroLED and IC technology, JBD’s microdisplays offer brightness and low power consumption of only a few microwatts in a miniscule high PPI display package that is almost imperceptible to the naked eye. These features ensure that clear and vibrant augmented information is displayed to the user in all ambient lighting conditions, whilst operating within the smallest power budgets available, essential for all-day wearability of AR smart devices.

“The MicroLED market is rapidly evolving, and I am confident that its continued growt will result in the development of new, more compact image display systems for various gadgets. The partnership with JBD is a clear demonstration of this trend,” said Dr. Valentyn Volkov, co-founder and CTO of XPANCEO.

“The development and widespread adoption of AR smart contact lenses will require continued innovation across a range of technologies. JBD remains focused on advancing our MicroLED technology to meet the growing demands of wearable devices, including those in the AR space,” added Dr. Xiaoling Qiu of JBD.