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Synopsys Inc. Optical Solutions Group has launched the latest version of its CODE V optical design software, release 2024.03. This update focuses on enhancing user experience with an improved design workflow and faster image simulation capabilities. The new release also emphasizes enhanced learning tools for users. Key features incorporated in CODE V 2024.03 include Multi-Environment Coupling, an expanded Example Model Library, and support for metalenses. These additions are designed to boost innovation, save valuable time for designers, and enable comprehensive system analysis.

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London-based eyewear designer Tom Davies is making waves with his bespoke and luxury glasses, attracting a host of celebrity clients and becoming Hollywood’s go-to glasses maker. Operating from his Brentford factory, Davies demonstrated his craft, explaining how he infuses gold leaf, sourced from chef Heston Blumenthal, into acetate frames for glasses priced from £600. He also creates even more opulent pieces, including £10,000 frames crafted from 18ct gold, one of which he reportedly sold as a Christmas gift.

Davies’s client list boasts names like Victoria Beckham and Ed Sheeran, and his designs have graced the silver screen in major films. He crafted eyewear for Emma Stone and Emma Thompson in “Cruella,” Winona Ryder in the upcoming “Beetlejuice” sequel, and Angelina Jolie in the Maria Callas biopic “Maria.” Known for his innovative approach, Davies even incorporates meteorite dust into his designs, having once auctioned off sunglasses made from a Martian meteorite for £3,000 to benefit an eye charity.

His journey to becoming a celebrated eyewear designer began after an art and design degree and a move to Hong Kong, where he was hired by a clockmaker expanding into eyewear. Davies quickly learned the trade, drawing inspiration from fashion magazines and customer feedback. Returning to the UK four years later, he launched his eponymous company in 2002. Now, he operates four London stores featuring advanced eye care technology and dry-eye clinics.

Beyond his celebrity clientele, Davies recounts memorable encounters. Stephen Fry joked about using Davies’s gold business card after giving up cocaine. He also fondly remembers his initial celebrity commission from Sir Richard Branson, secured after noticing ill-fitting glasses on a Virgin Atlantic check-in desk employee. He even measured Branson’s waxwork at Madame Tussauds to ensure a perfect fit. A particularly amusing story involves borrowing Ed Sheeran’s wife’s hair straighteners and resorting to cooking oil and Marigolds to adjust horn frames for the singer. Another vibrant memory is of the late Carrie Fisher, who playfully dubbed him “Mr. Fisher” and with whom he shared a close friendship. He also once traded sunglasses with Heston Blumenthal for a microwave in a late-night exchange.

Davies’s work has featured in numerous films, including “Keeping Mum,” “The Tourist,” “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Allied,” and “Spiderman: Homecoming.” He even provided his own glasses for an actor in “Cruella,” testament to his dedication and the immediate demands of the film industry. From humble beginnings to Hollywood’s preferred eyewear creator, Tom Davies’s unique approach and dedication to quality have solidified his position as a leading figure in the world of luxury eyewear.

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A comprehensive study employed a multi-faceted approach to determine the market size of AI vision technology. The research initiated with extensive secondary data collection, delving into annual reports, press releases, investor presentations of key companies, alongside white papers, academic journals, and reputable industry publications. Websites, directories, and databases were also consulted to gather a broad spectrum of information. This secondary research phase focused on understanding the AI vision value chain, identifying key market participants, segmenting the market based on industry trends and geographical locations, and pinpointing crucial market and technology developments. Data from sources like the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Edge AI and Vision Alliance, and industry intelligence platforms such as Hoovers and Bloomberg Businessweek contributed to this initial market understanding. Following this, primary research was undertaken involving interviews with industry experts across the AI vision ecosystem. This included key industry players, subject matter experts, C-level executives, and consultants. These primary interviews aimed to validate and refine the data gathered from secondary sources. The research incorporated both top-down and bottom-up methodologies to estimate the overall market size and further segmented the market into smaller categories. Data triangulation was then applied, combining insights from both supply and demand side factors to ensure the accuracy of the market size estimations across various segments and subsegments. The study highlights that AI vision, which integrates artificial intelligence with computer vision, is being adopted across sectors like healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, retail, and agriculture, offering functionalities such as real-time object detection, image recognition, and enhanced analytical capabilities, thereby improving efficiency and decision-making. Key stakeholders involved in the AI vision market include raw data providers, cloud storage services, AI vision system and software developers, integrators, professional service providers, and research institutions.

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January 29, 2025 – Lumus, a company specializing in geometric waveguide technology for augmented reality eyewear, has unveiled its latest innovation, the Z-30 optical engine. This new engine features Lumus’ Z-Lens 2D waveguide architecture and offers a 30-degree field-of-view, specifically designed to fit within the dimensions of standard eyeglasses. According to Lumus, the Z-30 provides significant functional and aesthetic advantages for augmented reality devices.

Ari Grobman, CEO of Lumus, stated that the Z-30 is a direct response to the needs of the entry-level consumer market for AR glasses. He emphasized the company’s commitment to creating optical engines adaptable to diverse AR glasses designs and applications. Grobman highlighted that while maintaining the high image quality of their Z-50 model, the Z-30’s reduced field-of-view facilitates easier integration into typical glasses shapes and enhances device battery life, paving the way for wider consumer adoption.

Lumus explained that the Z-30 optimizes crucial performance aspects for an improved user experience. AR glasses incorporating the Z-30 engine will require less processing power and less robust hardware because of the reduced pixel count needed for rendering. This optimization is expected to lower production costs and make the technology more accessible.

The company further noted that a mid-sized field-of-view, as offered by the Z-30, leads to more efficient operation. This efficiency contributes to a smoother visual performance, extended battery life, and better suitability for prolonged consumer usage.

Weighing just 14.5g, the Z-30 delivers full-color visuals at a resolution of 720 x 720 pixels and boasts a brightness exceeding 3,000 nits/Watt. Lumus also points out that compared to the Z-50, the Z-30 achieves a 50% reduction in both weight and volume, enabling the creation of even more compact AR glasses designs.

Grobman further elaborated on the aesthetic benefits of the mid-range field of view, mentioning it allows manufacturers to create more appealing, smaller form factors that resemble standard eyeglasses, thereby enhancing user comfort and acceptance, as wearers will feel less like they are using bulky tech devices.

The Z-30 optical engine utilizes Lumus’ Z-Lens waveguide architecture, which enables smaller projector designs without compromising image quality. This architecture also offers flexible eye-box positioning, minimizes world ghost effects, and allows for direct bonding of prescription lenses or protective plastic elements. Lumus also stated that the Z-Lens waveguide architecture is compatible with microLED projectors, enabling slimmer and more energy-efficient designs.

Concluding his remarks, Grobman said that Lumus is expanding its product line to cater to a wide range of AR applications, from immersive entertainment to quick data access. He believes the Z-30 optical engine provides manufacturers with the necessary tools to tap into mainstream consumer markets.

For further details about Lumus and their geometric waveguide technology for AR eyewear, interested parties are directed to the company’s website.

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Office workers are losing valuable time on manual data entry, leading to decreased job satisfaction and increased operational costs for businesses. The tedious task of manually inputting data into systems like ERP and CRM software is not only time-consuming but also prone to errors. However, technology is providing a solution in the form of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tools. These tools, such as ABBYY FineReader, Google Cloud Vision, and Tesseract OCR, are automating data entry processes, offering significant benefits to organizations.

OCR technology enhances document searchability, boosts worker efficiency, reduces operational expenses, and improves data accuracy and overall quality. By leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI), these tools can extract data from a wide array of document formats, including scanned documents and digital images, and seamlessly integrate this information into various systems.

Several OCR tools are gaining recognition in the market. ABBYY FineReader PDF is presented as OCR and PDF software enabling users to work with and convert PDFs into machine-readable formats. It excels in digitizing text from scanned images and supports text recognition across multiple languages and document types. Adobe Acrobat Pro, known for PDF editing, also incorporates an OCR tool to convert scanned documents and PDFs into searchable and editable text. This tool boasts features like font matching and direct PDF editing capabilities.

Google Cloud Vision API, a cloud-based service, utilizes advanced machine learning models to automatically detect and extract text from images and documents. It offers features like text detection, document text detection with layout preservation, facial detection, and logo detection. OpenText Core Capture combines OCR with AI to automate document classification and data extraction, converting unstructured content into searchable data and including features like AI-powered classification and workflow design.

Tesseract OCR stands out as an open-source software capable of detecting and extracting text from images and scanned documents in over 100 languages. It can be used directly or integrated into custom applications via an API. Tungsten Automation, formerly Kofax OCR, offers a content automation platform with OCR and intelligent document processing (IDP) capabilities, maintaining complex formatting during text extraction and providing options for desktop, development toolkit, and server-based implementations. These tools are recognized by analyst firms and users for their effectiveness in streamlining data entry and enhancing document processing workflows.

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The unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industry is experiencing rapid growth, driving demand for advanced infrared imaging systems. This evolution necessitates higher quality optics for drones and UAVs, capable of maximizing imaging performance to match increasingly sophisticated detectors featuring larger sizes and smaller pixels.

Optical manufacturers are challenged to produce lenses that deliver crisp, clear images across zoom ranges, with modulation transfer function (MTF) performance approaching diffraction limits, all while adhering to strict SWaP requirements – size, weight, and power consumption. These optics must also endure harsh environmental conditions encountered in diverse UAV applications, including defense.

Market analysts predict worldwide UAV production to reach $135 billion in the next decade. Equipped with high-performance electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) cameras, UAVs and drones are used in military and police surveillance, border security, search and rescue, and commercial sectors like powerline and pipeline inspection, forest fire detection, and firefighting support.

To meet the demand for enhanced imaging, especially with higher detector resolution and smaller commercial drones, optical solutions are evolving. High-quality lenses are crucial to fully utilize advanced detectors. Innovations include folded-optics and lightweight zoom lenses optimized for next-generation infrared thermal imaging.

State-of-the-art technologies such as advanced optical and mechanical designs, specialized materials, and unique lens manufacturing and coating techniques are being employed. Continuous zoom lenses are favored for their SWaP efficiency, offering mission flexibility and being more compact and lighter than multiple fixed focal length lenses.

Companies like Ophir are developing lightweight, high-performance thermal imaging zoom lenses specifically for UAV payloads and handheld devices. Their LightIR 20-275mm f/5.5 lens, weighing only 264 grams, demonstrates high MTF across its field of view and maintains performance in temperatures from -35°C to +65°C. This lens allows for vehicle detection at ranges up to 15km when paired with appropriate detectors.

Folded-optic configurations, like Ophir’s 16-180mm f/3.6 zoom lens, are also emerging to address SWaP needs in compact gimbaled payloads. These designs achieve long optical lengths in minimized spaces, incorporating aspheric and diffractive surfaces produced with diamond turning technology for enhanced performance and reduced size and weight. Advanced anti-reflective lens coatings further boost optical performance without adding size or weight, crucial for diverse UAV operational environments.

For UAV optics, key capabilities include small form factors for miniature gimbals, ultra-lightweight designs, high optical performance, low power consumption, durability, rapid field-of-view change, continuous zoom with consistent F-number, accurate bore sight, compatibility with major infrared detectors, and diffraction-limited optical design. Ultimately, advanced optical solutions are essential for maximizing airborne mission performance and ensuring high imaging quality without overburdening UAV payloads.

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Synopsys Inc.’s Optical Solutions Group has launched LightTools 2024.03, the latest iteration of its illumination design software. This update brings new capabilities focused on improving the efficiency of illumination optics design. LightTools 2024.03 introduces features such as global system optimization and an innovative sequence ray tracing mode. The sequence ray tracing is specifically designed to accelerate the analysis of stray light paths. Synopsys highlights that these enhancements in LightTools are intended to streamline the development and time-to-market for new illumination optical products.

The software now incorporates a new global optimization engine, enabling users to explore a broader spectrum of design solutions. This is particularly advantageous when initial design parameters are uncertain. Synopsys explains that this new engine can effectively refine poorly defined starting points, guiding designs towards more favorable starting positions for local optimization. This ultimately contributes to a faster and more efficient design development process.

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