Ask how a pair of ordinary-looking glasses can paint text in the air and most explanations stop at the word “waveguide.”
01The problem: a screen with no screen
A near-eye display has to deliver a focused image and stay almost perfectly transparent at the same time.
02How a diffractive waveguide works
A micro-LED engine, an input grating, total internal reflection, and an output grating.
03Why it can be 0.7 mm thin and 98% clear
The whole optical path collapses into a wafer less than a millimetre thick.
04Why green, and why monochrome
The eye is most sensitive to green; green micro-LEDs are the most efficient; one colour dodges the rainbow.
05Why 25 degrees is the right field of view
Field of view is pinned by the refractive index of the glass and by étendue conservation.
“25° isn't where we ran out of room. It's the glanceable sweet spot.”
Wide enough to hold a line of captions; restrained enough to stay bright and efficient.
06One eye, on purpose
Monocular halves the optics, the power and the weight.
07Prescription is a requirement, not an add-on
Drop-in prescription inserts are engineered around the waveguide's optics.
The X1 is in active hardware development, designed around the waveguide first.
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Right-eye display, 25° waveguide, prescription-ready. In active development — get launch updates.
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