Apple starts trial production of semitransparent lenses for AR devices
Polarized and semi-transparent lenses for "Apple Glass" have reportedly begun trial production runs at Apple supplier Foxconn.
Lenses are going to be among the most complex and critical components of "Apple Glass"
Apple has reportedly entered trial production with Foxconn for the manufacture of lenses that are expected to be used in "Apple Glass." The lenses are critical to the use of augmented reality and ARkit, in how they will present computer-generated images to the wearer, alongside what that user can see of the real world.
According to The Information, the lenses are at least one to two years away from entering mass production, but they passed the prototype stage two months ago, and are now being manufactured for testing. This testing reportedly follows around three years of development work at Foxconn.
The Information notes that this timescale fits with when Apple bought lens startup firm Akonia Holographics. That company was using an LCD-on silicon display and proprietary lenses. However, it is not confirmed that this is the same technology being used in the new trial run.
Reportedly, the trial lenses are semi-transparent and polarized ones, made from multiple and extremely thin layers of various materials. The lenses have to be made in dust-free clean rooms and, according to The Information's unnamed sources, are slightly larger than ones typically found in spectacles.
Foxconn is believed to have turned over one production line at its plant in Chengdu, southwestern China, to the manufacturer of these lenses. This is the same plant where Foxconn is believed to produce the majority of Apple's iPads.
Lenses are going to be among the most complex and critical components of "Apple Glass"
Apple has reportedly entered trial production with Foxconn for the manufacture of lenses that are expected to be used in "Apple Glass." The lenses are critical to the use of augmented reality and ARkit, in how they will present computer-generated images to the wearer, alongside what that user can see of the real world.
According to The Information, the lenses are at least one to two years away from entering mass production, but they passed the prototype stage two months ago, and are now being manufactured for testing. This testing reportedly follows around three years of development work at Foxconn.
The Information notes that this timescale fits with when Apple bought lens startup firm Akonia Holographics. That company was using an LCD-on silicon display and proprietary lenses. However, it is not confirmed that this is the same technology being used in the new trial run.
Reportedly, the trial lenses are semi-transparent and polarized ones, made from multiple and extremely thin layers of various materials. The lenses have to be made in dust-free clean rooms and, according to The Information's unnamed sources, are slightly larger than ones typically found in spectacles.
Foxconn is believed to have turned over one production line at its plant in Chengdu, southwestern China, to the manufacturer of these lenses. This is the same plant where Foxconn is believed to produce the majority of Apple's iPads.
Comments
It is disconcerting that Apple continues to chose to outsource the prototyping of what will be state-of-the-art products to a company that will manufacture in mainland China. National security and technology transfer to an increasingly authoritarian regime do not appear to be on Apple’s radar.
Perhaps I wouldn’t be so bothered if China did not represent an increasing threat to the direction of technology development and the rise of the surveillance state.
The fortunes of Apple are already deeply intertwined with mainland China, which ought to be troubling enough for a company so keen on promoting human rights and equality. Why is Apple continuing to forge new and deeper dependencies with mainland China?
I think Tim Cook owes his loyal customers an answer.
Cook doesn't owe you shit. We all know why — because that's where the manufacturing infrastructure is.
But as I said, I wouldn’t be so concerned if the behavior of the mainland Chinese government was more benign. I’m not opposed to US companies manufacturing overseas. They will have to if they want access to most local markets. But the Chinese government hasn’t been behaving well on many fronts. Apple needs to pivot away from them to some degree. Moving manufacturing to India and other nations would be prudent at this time.
https://appleinsider.com/articles/20/07/10/apples-reportedly-pushes-foxconn-to-invest-1b-to-expand-iphone-manufacturing-in-india
BTW, you’re flippant answer about Tim Cook not owing us shit for an explanation betrays an unsettling lack of concern for our national security and China’s poor behaviors on the world stage. Maybe you don’t think those things are important. But many people do.
Yes, if they had cameras they could …and today I would even add “quite easily”.
Some the patents have a projector mounted by your temples that projects the images onto a lens surface. As such, there needs to be an opaque enough surface to reflect the projected images for your eyes to see, yet, has to be transparent enough to see the physical world in front of you. There would seem to be a rather gigantic compromise between image quality and transparency that needs to be made. Ideally, I want to have it good enough for the projected image to be like a video or a display monitor. Probably multiple iterations of the product before something like this is possible.
Anyone other there know anything about transparent films, how they can reflect light? What type of color rendition the reflected light would be? There are multiple implementations in heads-up displays for cars (and airplanes). So, all that needs to be miniaturized and vastly improved in terms of image performance.