Sony Unveils LMX-001 Holographic Waveguide Display for AR Development

Sony has been working on an optical head-mounted display for several years now but have finally shown their latest LMX-001 hardware using holographic waveguide technology. Sony’s initial effort for head mounted displays in the market was with the Glasstron all the way back in 1996 which used two LCD screens and earphones buit-in. This was based on developments from the Visortron prototype before that. The LMX-001 is similar in that it is made available for developers to customize their augmented reality hardware and software solutions now that Sony has made the development kit available. There are several technologies and methods used by different augmented reality hardware to project their display but Sony uses a holographic optical element (HOE) which are three thin-profile lenses sandwiched together reflecting super-imposed RGB reflective volume holograms.

While this is not exactly for gaming, having a lower resolution than the Glasstron and having an 8-bit display with monochrome green graphics but has 85% transmittance, the LMX-001 is promising in that it is very lightweight and is extremely thin so it can be used in many industries where a heads-up display is necessary such as pilots or any tasks where having the HUD in person is more feasible than on the machine in front. Or if you want to make your own Dragon Ball-Z style scouter this could work too.

The hardware and software development kit is available directly from Sony. LMX-001 holographic waveguide specifications: