With NexT, the world’s lightest and most miniaturized technology platform, French company ActiveLook® is bringing augmented reality smartglasses within reach of everyone

ActiveLook® is reinventing sports eyewear by using its miniaturized and invisible augmented reality technology to display essential sports performance data with zero obstruction to the wearer‘s field of vision. ActiveLook® now has its sights set on going further still and taking the brand further upmarket with its new NexT technology platform.

Designed to improve the practice and performance of sports competitors, ActiveLook® technology enables real-time display of useful and essential data, such as speed, heart rate, direction, etc. In combination with expert software, this unique miniaturized technology can be elegantly integrated into eyewear without affecting its design or ergonomics. Its low power consumption means record battery life for longer athlete support.

ActiveLook® Founder Eric Marcellin-Dibon says: “Mass adoption of AR relies on discrete integration. Consumers aren‘t prepared to put on superhero helmets, but they definitely do want eyewear that helps them to see and do their activity better. We believe that ActiveLook® is the inevitable technological evolution of the eyewear that has been making our lives easier for centuries“. 

Marc Vernet, ActiveLook OEM Business Line Manager, adds, “NexT” is the new generation of eyewear platform, it fully embodies the vison we have with ActiveLook: a solution to deliver information in action through extra light and stylish eyewear. Our highly customizable platform, combined with a rich and growing ecosystem of ActiveLook compatible applications offers our partners a unprecedent short-curt to creating cutting edge experiences, on the move!”

Augmented reality: encouraging active involvement in sport

Already used in more than 1 million devices worldwide for high-precision applications, the MicroOLED microdisplays have already been integrated into premium camera systems, precision binoculars and other optical devices.

Since 2000, screens have become part of our daily lives and our lives increasingly depend on them. In developing a new product category of smartphone-connected eyewear, ActiveLook® now brings its users the opportunity to ‘seize the moment’. ActiveLook® is now targeting the world of sport, where mixed reality delivers significant benefits as a navigational aid and physical performance reporting technology that is particularly powerful for cyclists, runners, skiers and triathletes.

A new NexT platform to create the world’s lightest connected eyewear

Developed out of a 5-year research and development program costing several million euros, ActiveLook® is now showcasing its second NexT technology platform at the AWE 2021 Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara, CA, USA, on 9, 10 and 11 November. Integrating ActiveLook® technology will enable any sports professional, eyewear manufacturer or tech company to produce their own connected sports eyewear incorporating head-up display of critical data via Bluetooth®.  

Available from Quarter One 2022, ActiveLook® NexT is a comprehensive package of hardware and an open API that enables user companies to produce the world’s lightest connected eyewear (30-34g) and set themselves apart distinctively in the marketplace by using a new range of designer looks and enhanced comfort solutions to customize their own styles.

How does it work? 

Eyewear equipped with ActiveLook® technology contains an embedded and invisible microdisplay that, depending on the sport concerned, shows route, speed and heart rate data without obstructing the wearer’s view of the horizon. The heart of the ActiveLook® module is based on a monochrome AMOLED display with 304 x 256 pixel resolution consuming less than 1 milliwatt; 30 times less energy than the most advanced of its competitors. With a battery life of more than 12 hours, and weighing just 6g, ActiveLook® provides a readable display regardless of ambient light conditions. The ActiveLook® device connects via BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) to a smartphone, watch and to some more specific sensors (heart rate sensor, power sensor, etc.).

Discover more about smartglasses with ActiveLook® technology on video. 

AWE 2021: November 9 to 11, Santa Clara, USA, Booth 718.

For more information, please click here

About ActiveLook®

ActiveLook is the specialist augmented reality division of the French company MICROOLED, which manufactures high-resolution OLED microdisplays with very low energy consumption. ActiveLook is developing a compact module that can be integrated into eyewear and connected to a smartphone or smartwatch app to manage the data screened on the near-eye display. The system works in conjunction with the ActiveLook app, which is compatible with Garmin and other devices. This solution has already been adopted by sports eyewear manufacturers including Julbo, Engo eyewear, and now Cosmo Connected.

More information about ActiveLook®

About MicroOLED

MICROOLED, the specialist in very low-power, high-resolution OLED microdisplays, was launched on the Minatec Campus in Grenoble at the heart of France’s Tech Valley in 2007. The company has just passed the significant milestone of one million microdisplays sold, and is now the second-largest supplier in the world. Its devices are used in high-precision applications, including the most advanced cameras, precision binoculars and optical measuring devices, as well as connected smartglasses for sport through its ActiveLook® division. The company now has more than 100 employees.

Eric Marcellin-Dibon is CEO & co-founder of MicroOLED, has more than 25 years of experience in Hi-Tech and Consumer Electronics, and holds a number of senior management positions in France, Germany, and the UK. He was previously Director of Display Strategy and MD of the strategic sourcing group at Thomson. Working with a team of talented engineers, Eric has grown MicroOLED to become the leading-edge provider of very low-power, high-resolution microdisplay technology. More recently, he has extended the company’s expertise by creating the most compact integrated solution for augmented reality eyewear: ActiveLook® technology.

More information about MicroOLED