A UK-based VividQ company is powering a display revolution with computer-generated holography. Its software, and IP enable realistic and immersive visual experiences in next-generation digital displays. The company has recently raised $15 million to develop this technology and is already establishing its manufacturing partners in the US, Japan, and China.
The funding was led by UTokyo IPC, the venture investment arm for the University of Tokyo. Other prominent names also boarded the platform in support of the start-up, such as Foresight Williams Technology (a joint collaboration between Foresight Group and Williams Advanced Engineering), Japanese Miyako Capital, APEX Ventures in Austria and the R42 Group VC out of Stanford. Previous investors University of Tokyo Edge Capital, Sure Valley Ventures, and Essex Innovation also participated.
The funding will be utilized to gauge VividQ’s HoloLCD expertise, claiming to turn consumer-grade screens into holographic displays.
Based in 2017, VividQ has already laboured with ARM, and different companions, together with Compound Photonics, Himax Applied sciences, and iView Shows.
The company’s goal is to head for Automotive HUD, head-mounted displays (HMDs), and smart glasses with a Computer-Generated Holography that develops “actual 3D images with true depth of field, making displays more natural and immersive for users.” It further says that it has found a strategy to turn normal LCD screens into holographic displays.
“Scenes we know from films, from Iron Man to Star Trek, are becoming closer to reality than ever,” Darran Milne, co-founder of VividQ, said. “At VividQ, we are on a mission to bring holographic displays to the world for the first time. Our solutions help bring innovative display products to the automotive industry, improve AR experiences, and soon will change how we interact with personal devices, such as laptops and mobiles.”
Chief investment officer of UTokyo IPC, Mikio Kawahara, said, “The future of display is holography. The demand for improved 3D images in real-world settings is growing across the whole display industry. VividQ’s products will make the future ambitions of many consumer electronics businesses a reality.”
Hermann Hauser, APEX Ventures’ advisor and co-founder of Arm, further said: “Computer-Generated Holography recreates immersive projections that possess the same 3D information as the world around us. VividQ has the potential to change how humans interact with digital information.”
Talking on the call with me, Milne added: “We have put the technology on gaming laptops that can actually take make use of holographic displays on a standard LCD screen. So you know the image is actually extending out of the screen. We don’t use any optical trickery.”