Ultra Lightweight Graphics Engine for Augmented Reality (UL GEAR)

Tectus Corporation (dba Mojo Vision) is developing the world’s first Augmented Reality Contact Lens (AR CL). First customers are likely US Government and persons with low vision, with a follow-on generation targeting commercial and consumer users. The worldwide market consists of nearly four billion people, making this a trillion-dollar market over time. The company has raised over $220M in private financing from sophisticated investors, has multiple government contracts totaling over $16M and has an experienced executive team.    Tectus is currently under or has completed multiple US Government contracts including: SBIR Phase II to enable the AR CL to access and display tactical data without having to look away from the action. Strategic SBIR Phase IIB to expand the DoD’s eyes up, hands free access to tactical data for evaluation first in the laboratory and then in the field, all with the goal of transitioning the AR CL into a program of record. SBIR Direct to Phase II to research and develop silicon wafer bonding to scale fabrication of nano-displays with improved performance and reduced cost while facilitating even higher image density and the future introduction of color to our display.  AFRL Phase II project exploring the use of sensors to measure cognitive states including fatigue.  DARPA seedling contract to explore DoD uses of some of the AR CL’s embedded sensors. Work program with unnamed government customer.   Tectus is redesigning the components of the AR CL from primarily in-house custom chips to those commercially available, including a shift from a custom radio linked to relay accessory that communicates with a smartphone to a Bluetooth chip directly communicating with a smartphone. This change also means shifting most computation activities from the relay accessory to a System on Chip (SoC) “on lens”. This architectural shift has the potential to unlock huge benefits including elimination of relay accessory, extending AR CL runtime, reducing cost and enabling scalable manufacturing. However, the cost of making these changes is a drastic reduction of compute & power budgets, requiring all software to be highly optimized. Given the fact that graphics processing is by far the largest consumer of compute and power, a hyper-efficient AR graphics engine is a critical component which is not available off-the-shelf today. ONR SBIR funds will enable Tectus’ development of the AR graphics engine we call Ultra Lightweight Graphics Engine for Augmented Reality or UL GEAR, which will enable Tectus’ proprietary eye-controlled user interface and the data flow for all applications launched.