Apple, LG and Valve invested $ 10 million in developer displays for VR / AR-helmets

By: Bohdan Chub | 12.02.2018, 14:58
Apple, LG and Valve invested $ 10 million in developer displays for VR / AR-helmets

Known in narrow circles, the manufacturer of OLED microdisplays eMagin received $ 10 million investment from Apple, LG Display, Valve and other contributors. This became known from the documents of the Securities and Exchange Commission of the United States.

Why such interest?

emagin-display-comparison.jpg

eMagin in 2005 introduced a mass VR helmet Z800 3DVisor, but recently the company was mainly engaged in orders for the military and medical spheres. One of the latest developments - OLED-panel with a resolution of 2048x2048 pixels and a coverage factor of 70% (the ratio of the area of ​​the pixel and the active area that emits light). That's what it takes for a VR helmet. The usual Full HD-display smartphone and was not standing nearby:

emagin-display-magnified.jpg
Why did they take the old Galaxy S5? This comparison with the prototypes of 2015. The scale is the same

Now eMagin decided to storm the consumer market of virtual and augmented reality devices, attracting the attention of technology companies. In addition to Apple (working on AR-glasses), LG (which showed the prototype of its helmet) and Valve (the developer of the SteamVR platform), the Japanese manufacturer of VR-headsets for viewing the video content Immerex also got to the list of investors.

"We have concluded strategic agreements ... for the design and development of microdisplays for wearable head units and ... negotiated with mass producers to increase the supply," eMagin said in a statement on the issue of shares.

It seems that the first products with OLED-displays of the new generation may appear very soon.

Source: SlashGear