2 weeks ago
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LAS VEGAS – The cameras in today’s smartphones and point-and-shoot cameras use stacks of plastic or glass lenses to focus light, but these may soon be replaced by a single flat lens, making devices slimmer and more battery efficient.
Such optics, called meta lenses, use existing semiconductor fabrication processes to carve tiny pillars 1/800th the size of a human hair onto glass wafers. A resulting 1.5mm lens can have around 6 million such pillars, which work together to focus light and capture images.
This cutting-edge tech was created by MetaOptics Technologies, one of 11 Singapore firms showcasing their innovations at the Singapore Pavilion of CES 2025 in Las Vegas.
They were among some 1,400 start-ups from around the world vying for investment, partnerships and media attention at the global tech event formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, with most of them packed in an exhibition hall the size of five football fields.
The Straits Times highlights the technology from Singapore showcased at CES, which runs from Jan 7 to 10.
Tiny projector shows meta lenses’ potential
A display of different MetaOptics Technology products, including the world’s first meta lens colour camera.ST PHOTO: LIM YAN LIANG
Smaller than a pack of cards and needing no external power source, MetaOptics Technology’s US$500 (S$684) pico projector can connect directly to a phone or PC with a USB-C cable and deliver 720p videos at 60 frames per second.
Its compact size is due to the meta lens used to project the image, said the firm’s chief executive, Mr Mark Thng.
Other products the start-up showcased that use meta lenses were a wide-angle facial recognition camera, a contactless fingerprint reader, and the world’s first meta lens colour camera.
The start-up, which was at CES to speak to potential investors and business partners, created the products to prove the nascent lens technology, and to give early adopters a chance to try out products using these optics of the future, said Mr Thng.
He added that the firm has sewn up at least one memorandum of understanding at CES – with a supply chain partner of a major South Korean smartphone maker.
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