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Swave Photonics, a self-described “true holographic display” company, today announced its development of the world’s first 3D holographic display technology for compact extended reality (XR) form factors.
Leuven, Belgium-based Swave’s Holographic eXtended Reality (HXR) will enable AI-powered spatial computing with a reality-first user experience, where digital elements complement, learn from, and interact with the physical world. The first application for the HXR display technology will be low-cost, lightweight, AR smartglasses with all-day battery life.
Swave’s HXR technology produces the world’s smallest pixel with a pixel pitch of less than 300 nanometers — small enough to steer light and sculpt high-resolution images.
Using proven non-volatile Phase Change Material (PCM) as a “pixel” on a standard CMOS semiconductor process, Swave achieves true 3D holography up to 64 gigapixels. The resulting images are realistic and accurately portray an image’s depth in comparison to its surroundings, providing a natural and immersive viewing experience.
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The chipset is designed to meet all the AR design goals — including size, weight, field of view, and brightness — for next generation glasses, headsets and other form factors.
The company is currently taking orders for HXR development kits for device manufacturers, which will reach customers in the second half of 2024. The development kit provides the hardware and software for companies to design, prototype and test new XR hardware and form factors with the chipset.
True dynamic holographic display chips
Swave’s proprietary technology is able to sculpt lightwaves into natural, high-resolution 3D images, achieving true holography through light diffraction and interference.
This allows the human brain and eyes to visually process the image naturally without waveguides, varifocal lenses or stereoscopy. The display technology solves the common industry issue of vergence-accommodation conflict, where stereoscopic images distort the relationship between vergence and accommodation reflexes, causing headaches, nausea and fatigue, the company said.
“Holography has been imitated for over 100 years but has never before been seen in its true form,” said Theo Marescaux, chief product officer at Swave, in a statement. “From Pepper’s Ghost to smoke and mirrors, the idea of holography has historically captivated audiences all over the globe. These effects only mimic what we are able to achieve through our technology advancement. By creating a chipset that achieves true holography, this phenomenon will go beyond illusion and depiction in fiction films and become a reality for everyday users.”
Holographic eXtended reality chip and XR form factors
Swave’s HXR chip is the first spatial light modulator specifically designed for digital holography and AI-powered spatial computing. The small, lightweight chip will enable compact form factors for everyday use. Together, the chip and XR hardware will work seamlessly with AI services like image recognition, visual search, navigation and translation.
By utilizing low-cost CMOS chip technology and efficient system architecture for manufacturing, Swave will provide a cost-effective, scalable, and swift path to commercialization. Swave’s chip manufacturing process uses established semiconductor technology trusted in many everyday technologies, and limits power consumption to avoid constant recharging, the company said.
“Today’s spatial computing experiences isolate the user and create mostly digital or unrealistic experiences, let alone an uncomfortable fit or look,” said Swave CEO Mike Noonen, in a statement. “Swave focuses on reality-first XR where the user sees, for example, 90% reality and 10% augmented images. And by using such a small chipset that delivers a high-performance display, our technology obviates the need for bulky headsets or overly conspicuous glasses.”
“By combining material science, semiconductor engineering, and algorithmic expertise, Swave delivers holographic solutions enabling a future where everyone has the power to visualize the world in a new way and accomplish more. Our goal is to make spatial computing more than just a novelty, but a reality,” said Noonen.
Swave’s technology can expand beyond smartglasses, including heads-up automotive displays, and eventually, an immersive holographic display experience without glasses or goggles.
Swave company history
Swave was founded in 2022 by Theo Marescaux, current CPO, and Dmitri Choutov, COO, who holds 12 impactful patent families. The company spun out of Belgium-based Imec after over 10 years of advanced development. Based in Leuven, Belgium and Silicon Valley, the Swave team has decades of experience in chip manufacturing, chip development and cutting-edge display technology.
Swave raised $11 million in seed funding and $5 million in non-dilutive grants to date. Noonen joined the Swave team in November 2022, bringing over 30 years of experience and expertise in semiconductor manufacturing and development to the Swave team. Beyond the C-suite, Swave’s seasoned team has experience from leading companies including Meta, Qualcomm, VividQ, Imec, and Texas Instruments.
The HXR technology and prototypes will be demonstrated at Display Week in San Jose, California. The initial HXR chips will be announced later this year.
The company has about 25 employees and it spun out of Imec in Belgium after 10 years of development.
Swave’s proprietary technology is able to sculpt lightwaves into natural, high-resolution 3D images, achieving true holography through light diffraction and interference. This allows the human brain and eyes to visually process the image naturally without waveguides, varifocal lenses or stereoscopy.
By comparison Light Field Lab uses panels to create the images, whereas Swave uses the world’s smallest pixel pitch to steer light and sculpt images.
The inspiration is to enable a new era of spatial computing for compact, lightweight XR form factors.
