Apple acquires photonics startup invrs.io
Apple has acquired a startup that develops tools for designing optical components. The knowledge could be incorporated into VR headsets and smart glasses.
Apple brings an expert in optical design into the company with its latest acquisition.
(Image: Joseph GTK / Shutterstock.com)
Apple has secured the technology and know-how of the startup invrs.io. The company is acquiring certain assets and hiring the sole employee and shareholder, according to a reporting list from the EU Commission, where large companies like Apple must disclose their acquisitions.
The report states that invrs.io develops “open-source frameworks for photonics research.” According to its GitHub presence, the startup developed an AI-powered design platform for optics and optical components, such as those that could be used in VR and AR systems, data centers, and autonomous vehicles.
The startup was founded in 2023 by Martin Schubert. According to his LinkedIn profile, he led so-called inverse design programs at Google and Meta for over six years.
In inverse design, the technical design process does not begin with a specific shape or material, but with the desired performance characteristics. From these target specifications, an algorithm automatically calculates the configuration that best meets them. The AI searches through large spaces of possibilities, compares potential solutions, and iteratively adjusts the design parameters. The open-source platform invrs.io provided standardized AI design tasks and benchmarks specifically for the field of optics.
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From Google via Meta to Apple
According to an older Photonics article, Martin Schubert was born in Germany, grew up in the USA, and studied electrical engineering at the elite university Cornell.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Schubert worked at the US manufacturer Micron on LED and memory technologies. He then spent seven years at Alphabet's research lab X, where he founded and led an AI-powered photonics design project in 2017. There, according to his statements, Schubert, and his team developed the most advanced inverse design platform of its kind.
He continued this work at Meta Reality Labs, a division of the company specializing in VR and AR technologies. There, Schubert developed new methods for the inverse design of micro-LEDs (not to be confused with micro-OLEDs). These are considered key technology for AR glasses, but are currently still difficult to produce in large quantities.
For Apple, the acquired know-how could be relevant for displays and optical systems in VR and AR glasses, for example. Inverse design methods can help to find novel microstructures for waveguide displays, lenses, or micro-LED arrays that would be hardly achievable with conventional design methods.
(wpl)
