MicroVision begins shipping samples of pico-projectors

28 Dec 2016

Also, earlier in December the company announced it has raised $15million from sale of stock.

MicroVision, a developer of ultra-miniature projection display and sensing technology, has begun on-schedule customer shipments of samples of its new, small form factor display engine.

The company announced in November that it plans to sell a display engine beginning in the second quarter of 2017. This small form factor display engine is based on the company’s proprietary PicoP scanning technology, a laser beam scanning approach for “pico projection” and 3D sensing. MicroVision said it is planning to be ready for mass production of this engine early in the second quarter of 2017.

The small form factor display engine (which has the model number PSE-0403-101) is a compact laser scanning engine measuring 36mm x 53mm x 6mm thick, with a volume of 11.6 cm³. MicroVision says the size of this engine suits it to applications in products such as smart phones, portable media players, tablets and other handheld electronics.

All-in-one unit

A short focal length version of the engine (model PSE-0403-102) is suited to the aftermarket head up display (HUD) applications and other applications with a fixed, short focal length. The PSE-0403-101/2 display engine is an all-in-one unit combining an integrated photonics module (IPM) containing MEMS and lasers and an electronics platform module containing MicroVision’s proprietary ASICS and system control software.

MicroVision commented, “Some customers prefer a flexible solution of the IPM and our standalone MicroVision ASICS, which they can combine with the electronics of the device into which the engine is embedded. The form factor of the IPM, which measures only 47mm, is a critical attribute for OEMs considering incorporating pico projectors inside their consumer products.”

Besides the PSE-0403-101/2 engines, MicroVision plans to offer two other scanning engines: an interactive display engine that can support simultaneous projected display and multi-touch interactivity with the projected images and a sensing engine for mid-range LiDAR.

Samples of the interactive display engine are planned to be released in the second quarter of 2017 with production engines expected in the third quarter of 2017. The company said it expects to begin shipping samples of the mid-range LiDAR engine in the second half of 2017 with production units planned for first half of 2018 availability.

MicroVision raises $15 million from stock sale

MicroVision also announced on December 21, 2016, the sale of two million shares of its common stock at a price of $1.07 per share to Ben Lawrence-Farhi in a registered direct offering for gross proceeds of $2.14 million. The company said it intends to use the proceeds for “general corporate purposes”.

Also, on December 9, 2016, the company announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 12,149,533 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $1.07 per share, for gross proceeds of approximately $13 million. Farhi had indicated his interest in participating in this underwritten public offering, but was unable to do so “due to logistical reasons”.

This offering closed on December 14, 2016 at $13 million in gross proceeds. MicroVision commented that it expects to receive approximately $11.8 million in net proceeds from the offering after deducting the underwriting discount and estimated offering expenses, and intends to use it for “general corporate purposes” as well.