TDK launches a retinal-projection display with no waveguide; Rokid partners with Krys Opticiens; Meta teams with an Indian star
Source: XR Vision (WeChat official account) · Published: 2026-10-03 · Language: Chinese
Note: this is a lightly condensed English translation of the WeChat article. Image references and promotional boilerplate have been removed; technical content preserved. The lead story is TDK’s meta-optic mirror DRP display; the same issue also reports Rokid’s France launch and a Ray-Ban Meta ambassador in India (brief items at the end).
TDK demonstrates a meta-optic mirror display for the first time
TDK Corporation (TSE:6762) has successfully demonstrated, for the first time, a smart-glasses direct retinal projection (DRP) display using a meta-optic mirror. Unlike the conventional MicroLED + waveguide approach, this flat mirror consists of nanoscale reflective elements, is just 150 nm thick, and can be embedded directly inside an eyeglass lens. Its visible-light transmittance is about 80%, giving smart glasses lens transparency close to ordinary eyewear — a natural appearance suitable for daily wear.
TDK will exhibit prototype hardware at CEATEC 2026, which opens on 13 October 2026, and at electronica (Munich), 10–13 November 2026.
TDK has developed an ultra-compact full-colour laser module (FCLM) — among the smallest of its kind in the world — as well as a visible-light full-colour laser control chip capable of 4K resolution, and continues to develop the core devices needed for DRP in smart glasses. Conventional DRP systems place a curved mirror in front of the eye to project images onto the retina, which makes natural-looking glasses hard to achieve. The new approach arranges unique nanoscale reflectors on a flat substrate so that the reflection angle changes with position across the mirror, redirecting laser light incident from various angles at exactly the angle DRP requires — replacing the conventional curved mirror.
The DRP smart glasses also prevent the image from being seen by someone facing the wearer (image leakage), protecting privacy as well as appearance — bystanders cannot see the projected content.
Conventional waveguide displays have complex structures and relatively high manufacturing costs. The meta-optic mirror can instead be produced with semiconductor-style processes, opening the way to cost-competitive volume production. The current mirror supports monochrome operation; TDK plans to demonstrate full colour and achieve mass production within the next few years.
Meta-surface optics upend the conventional view of optics
TDK’s metasurface-optic mirror DRP display breaks through the limitations of conventional optics: it needs neither a waveguide nor a bulky curved mirror — a third technical route for smart-glasses displays.
Meta-optics is a technology that uses nanoscale structures arranged on a plane to control the reflection, refraction and focusing of light, with extremely high flexibility. By arranging structures as small as one ten-thousandth of a millimetre (i.e. 100 nm) in carefully designed patterns on a transparent substrate, light can be guided in precisely controlled directions. Conventional optical elements rely on the thickness and curvature of glass or plastic to change the light path; the meta-optic mirror instead uses nanostructures to achieve a negative reflection angle, directing light differently from an ordinary reflection. This makes possible an ultra-thin mirror just 150 nm thick — thin enough to embed in an eyeglass lens — reproducing the function of a large curved mirror on a light, flat lens surface. Laser reflected by the planar mirror can be projected directly onto the retina at the back of the eye.
A design indistinguishable from ordinary glasses
The meta-optic mirror is expected to solve long-standing smart-glasses challenges: appearance, privacy and cost. Despite its extreme thinness, the mirror still achieves ~80% visible-light transmittance and can be embedded directly in ordinary-looking lenses. It removes the need for parts such as curved mirrors protruding in front of the eye and eliminates the rainbow artifacts characteristic of waveguide displays. Combined with DRP, the approach also prevents the projected image from leaking outward — the wearer need not worry about others seeing the screen content on a train or city street.
Meta-optics also has strong cost-reduction potential: instead of expensive waveguide displays or complex optical assemblies, the mirror can be manufactured with the mature wafer-processing technology of semiconductor manufacturing. This greatly simplifies the module structure and opens the path to large-scale production and significant cost reduction.
Beyond smart glasses
TDK is currently conducting initial evaluations of smart glasses equipped with the meta-optic mirror and plans to show the technology at CEATEC 2026. Although the current system supports monochrome images, the company is accelerating preparations for a full-colour demonstration and aims for mass production within a few years. TDK says the potential applications of meta-optics go far beyond smart glasses: the technology can also play an important role in photoelectric conversion devices — devices that convert electrical signals into optical signals — enabling high-speed, energy-efficient communication for AI data centres handling massive data volumes. Such applications could make meta-optics a foundational technology of next-generation digital infrastructure. The significance of the meta-optic mirror is not only smaller and thinner components, but a challenge to the traditional assumptions of optical-system design. Smart glasses that convey digital information while letting the wearer see the surrounding world could become the interface connecting daily life with AI, and TDK hopes its technology will help create a future in which people and information coexist more seamlessly.
TDK has entered a business cooperation agreement with QD Laser (TSE:6613). The two companies will combine QD Laser’s proprietary retinal-projection technology and patent portfolio with TDK’s full-colour laser modules, visible-light full-colour laser controllers and meta-optic mirror technologies to accelerate development of next-generation RGB light-source modules and optical engines for smart glasses. Smart glasses are a priority application area for TDK, expected to grow rapidly within the AI ecosystem, and TDK will drive innovation and adoption of smart-glasses products. (Source: TDK official website)
Also in this issue
Rokid enters the French market with Krys Opticiens. Rokid (China) is entering France in partnership with the French optical chain Krys Opticiens, offering Rokid AI Glasses and a Style Pack from €499, compatible with both GPT and Gemini AI assistants. The launch was announced at SILMO Paris, the global optics trade fair; the company described it as another milestone after entering Germany, positioning France as a key market in its international expansion. Rokid’s core selling point is its open multi-LLM ecosystem; the Krys partnership will progressively place the products in about ten of the chain’s stores. General Manager Shao Huaqiang said the company wants to advance smart glasses that bring AI into everyday and professional scenarios.
Ray-Ban Meta signs an Indian celebrity ambassador. Ranveer Singh becomes the first brand ambassador for Ray-Ban and Ray-Ban Meta in India. Meta describes a long-standing relationship with the actor. Ray-Ban Meta (third generation) — the next generation of the world’s best-selling AI glasses — is now on sale in India at a starting price of 44,300 Indian rupees (meta.com, india.ray-ban.com and major consumer-electronics and eyewear retailers), with a slimmer, more comfortable design, longer battery life and a customizable action button that instantly calls Meta AI.