Lumus obtained a serious increase in model recognition when one in all its waveguides was chosen to be used within the Meta Ray-Ban Show glasses. However that already appears like outdated tech now as a result of at CES 2026, the corporate introduced a few of its newest elements to the present and primarily based on what I noticed, they appear poised to noticeably elevate the optical high quality of the following wave of high-end smartglasses.
When the Meta Ray-Ban Shows glasses got here out, they wowed customers as they had been (and nonetheless are) one in all a handful of smartglassess to function a full-color in-lens show with no less than a 20-degree area of view. However going by the specs on Lumus’ latest waveguides, we’re set for a serious improve by way of future capabilities.
In the event you look intently, you may see the place mild from the waveguide propagates into the one of many smartglasses’ lenses. (Sam Rutherford for Engadget)
The primary mannequin I attempted featured Lumus’ optimized Z-30 waveguides, which not solely supply a a lot wider 30-degree FOV, they’re additionally 30 p.c lighter and 40 p.c thinner than earlier generations. On high of that, Lumus says they’re additionally extra energy environment friendly with the waveguides able to hitting greater than 8,000 nits per watt. It is a large deal as a result of smartglasses are at the moment fairly restricted by the dimensions of batteries they’ll use, particularly if you wish to make them small and lightweight sufficient to put on all day. After I tried them on, I used to be dazzled by each the brightness and sharpness I noticed from the Z-30s regardless of them being restricted to 720 x 720 decision. Not solely did the rise in FOV really feel a lot bigger than 10 levels, colours had been very wealthy, together with white, which is usually probably the most troublesome shades to correctly reproduce.
I needed to take a photograph of one in all Lumus’ non-functioning smartglasses with the corporate’s 70-degree FOV waveguide, as a result of two out of three of the working ones had already broke and the final one which I used was being held collectively by tape. (Sam Rutherford for Engadget)
Nonetheless, even after seeing how good that first mannequin was, I used to be completely not ready for Lumus’ 70-degree FOV waveguides. I used to be in a position to view some movies and a handful of take a look at pictures and I used to be fully blown away with how a lot space they lined. It was principally all the middle portion of the lens, with solely small unused areas across the corners. And whereas I did discover some pincushion distortion alongside the edges of the waveguide’s show, a Lumus consultant advised me that it will likely be attainable to right for that in ultimate retail items. However make no mistake, these waveguides undoubtedly produced a number of the sharpest, brightest and best-looking optics I’ve seen from any smartglasses, from both retail fashions or prototypes or. It nearly made me query how a lot wider FOV all these devices actually need, although to be clear, I don’t suppose we’ve hit the purpose of diminishing returns but.
That is one in all Lumus’ thinnest waveguides measuring in at simply 0.8mm. (Sam Rutherford for Engadget)
Different benefits of Lumus’ geometric reflective waveguides embrace higher general effectivity than their refractive counterparts together with the power to optically bond the shows to smartglasses lenses. Which means in contrast to a whole lot of rivals, Lumus’ waveguides will be paired with transitions lenses as an alternative of needing to resort to clip-on sunglass attachments whenever you go outdoors. Lumus additionally claims its designs additionally simplifies the manufacturing course of, leading to thinner waveguides (as small as 0.8mm) and customarily greater yields.
Sadly, taking high-quality pictures of content material from smartglasses shows is extremely difficult, particularly whenever you’re utilizing extraordinarily delicate prototypes, so that you’ll simply must take my phrase for now. However with Lumus within the technique of ramping up manufacturing of its new waveguides with assist from companions together with Quanta and SCHOTT, it appears like there will probably be a ton of smartglasses makers clamoring for these elements as momentum continues to construct across the business’s choose for the following “large” factor.
