Nandini Roy Choudhury, writer
Brief news
- Distance Technologies has raised €10 million ($11.1 million) from GV and other investors to develop mixed-reality technology for automotive and aerospace applications, eliminating the need for head-mounted devices.
- Their technology transforms transparent surfaces into augmented-reality displays, enhancing user experience by projecting images based on eye fixation.
- The company aims to advance its optics technology and transition from research to product development, focusing on collaboration with potential customers.
Detailed news
The Finnish business Distance Technologies has secured 10 million euros ($11.1 million) from GV, Alphabet’s venture capital division, and other investors with the goal of bringing mixed-reality technology to any automobile windshield or airplane cockpit.
Distance secured more funding in a seed round led by GV, with current backers FOV Ventures and Maki.vc also contributing further capital, the firm informed CNBC on Thursday.
Distance, based in Helsinki, creates technology that purportedly transforms any transparent surface into an augmented-reality display, allowing users to perceive 3D digital items superimposed on the panel they are observing.
This eliminates the necessity for cumbersome technology, such as a mixed reality headset or augmented reality glasses, which necessitate the user to don a physical device over their eyes to engage in the experience.
Urho Konttori, CEO and co-founder of Distance, stated in a recent CNBC interview that a significant obstacle for mixed reality is that requiring a head-mounted device precludes it from being a seamless or aesthetically pleasing solution. Konttori previously served as the chief technical officer of Varjo, another mixed-reality company located in Helsinki.
Distance largely concentrates on sales within the automotive, aerospace, and military sectors.
Distance operates by employing tracking technology to ascertain your gaze direction and subsequently calculate the appropriate light field to correspond with the precise locations of your eyes, as stated by Konttori.
Distance’s solution incorporates a series of optical layers atop most liquid crystal displays (LCDs), enabling its technology to project a picture onto the areas where the eyes are fixated.
This approach allows Distance to segregate the light fields for the left and right eyes, while simultaneously generating a second optical layer beneath that enhances brightness.
Distance asserts that their technology possesses “infinite” pixel depth, enabling the creation of a life-size field of vision in any environment, whether operating an automobile or piloting an F-18 fighter jet.
GV, previously known as Google Ventures and exclusively partnered with Alphabet, expressed to CNBC its interest in investing in Distance owing to the “potential to develop next-generation user interfaces.”
Roni Hiranand, principal at GV, expressed enthusiasm on the imminent paths for market introduction in the automotive and aerospace sectors, which enable customers to access this technology.
Commercializing mixed reality is a challenging endeavor. Firstly, mixed-reality gadgets remain costly. Apple’s Vision Pro and Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 gadgets each commence at a price of $3,500, and their manufacturing costs are also substantial. Meta introduced a new design for AR glasses on Wednesday, which apparently costs the company $10,000 each unit to manufacture, according to The Verge.
Augmented reality heads-up displays, or HUDs, are not a novel occurrence in the automobile sector. Companies have been endeavoring to incorporate augmented reality capabilities into vehicles for some years, with technology leader Huawei being one of the initial innovators of this technology in China.
Numerous additional display technology companies are creating their own augmented reality heads-up displays for automobiles, including First International Computer, Spectralics, Envisics, Futurus, CY Vision, Raythink, Denso, Bosch, Continental, and Panasonic.
Distance Technologies Chief Marketing Officer Jussi Mäkinen stated that the company’s solution can include the whole area of any transparent surface, rather than being restricted to a particular corner or the lower half of a display – a constraint encountered by most car AR HUDs currently.
Mäkinen stated to CNBC, “The primary distinction is that our motivation stems from the software.”
The business previously exhibited a proof-of-concept version of their technology at the Augmented World Expo USA 2024 mixed-reality industry trade exhibition in June.
Currently, Distance has utilized basic optics and standard LCD panels to showcase its technology to potential partners and investors. Konttori stated that he is preparing to activate a “very expensive” initiative: improving Distance’s optics technology to what he refers to as the next generation early next year.
The CEO of Distance stated, “We are currently engaged in the research cycle.” “We are now transitioning into the product cycle.” The essential task is to collaborate with individuals who will become your customers, ideally one or two, to work intimately with, followed by a finished product definition.
Source : CNBC News
