OmniVision Technologies has announced at CES 2018 a collaboration with Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute company (ASTRI) to develop a reference design for production-ready augmented reality glasses.
This complete AR glasses solution combines OmniVision’s single-chip, HD liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) display and OV9282 image sensor, with ASTRI’s reference design, which integrates optics and system electronics to give a 60-degree-wide field of view.
‘Customers are looking for a complete turnkey reference design solution for AR glasses with Wi-Fi connectivity to any mobile device or PC,’ said Sam Yoshikawa, LCOS marketing manager at OmniVision. ‘We partnered with ASTRI because they are an early adopter of AR technology and they have strong expertise in AR design. The collaboration allows us to rapidly bring our high-resolution LCOS display to the AR market as part of a qualified reference design.’
ASTRI’s wireless reference design will offer OEMs and ODMs the opportunity to license the technology, obtain a prototype and accelerate their product launch. High-quality optics from ASTRI allow 60-degree field of view as part of its fully qualified, complete electronics system for AR glasses. This system also integrates 802.11ac Wi-Fi connectivity.
The reference design uses OmniVision’s OP02220 LCOS display and OV9282 image sensor to enable inside-out tracking such as simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM), 3D room scanning, and hand and tool tracking. The OV9282 is built on OmniVision’s high-speed OmniPixel3-GS pixel technology to capture 1,280 x 800 pixel images at 120fps with low latency.
This joint reference design and all specified components are currently available. A prototype will be demonstrated at OmniVision’s CES private suite.
OmniVision Technologies has also announced a turnkey active stereo 3D camera reference design for smartphones. The reference design’s small form factor and low power requirements enable smartphone manufacturers to quickly and easily incorporate advanced 3D imaging capabilities, such as 3D modeling, depth capturing and face authentication, into next-generation smartphone designs.
“We anticipate face login to be one of the key features for upcoming mobile devices. Achieving this requires complete camera hardware and software system development, which can be an extremely complicated, resource-intensive and expensive process. The aim of this active stereo 3D camera reference design is to reduce time to market and other key hurdles for our customers,” said Sylvia Zhang, head of marketing for OmniVision’s mobile segment. “This offering reflects our strong partnership with Spreadtrum and our continued determination to deliver innovative solutions that ease our customers’ pain points.”
“Spreadtrum has always been flexible and agile to adapt to quick changes in the marketplace and address customer needs with differentiated solutions. This partnership with OmniVision to enhance 3D camera technology provides an excellent demonstration of our diversified product selection and customer-focused strategy,” said Mr. Yalei Mao, AVP, Camera System Design, Spreadtrum. “By incorporating the high-performance hardware and software into one simple yet elegant solution, we’ve ensured that customers can utilize the reference design’s full benefits with minimal tuning or customization.”
Pairing OmniVision’s ultra-compact OV9282 and OV7251 global shutter sensors with the powerful Spreadtrum SC9853 applications processor has resulted in a compelling active stereo camera solution that delivers the performance manufacturers expect in the remarkably compact and power-efficient form factor they need. Based on the 14nm octa-core 64-bit Intel Airmont processor architecture, the Spreadtrum SC9853 reaches 1.8 GHz in dominant frequency and delivers high-quality multimedia capabilities.
