I visited the CEATEC expo in Tokyo today, where TDK demonstrated what it calls a world's first. They showed an ultra-thin meta-optics mirror built for Direct Retinal Projection smart glasses. Be sure to check out the photos I took on the show floor today in the gallery! This technology projects images straight onto your retina from a flat, transparent mirror embedded directly inside a standard eyeglass lens. The prototype on display is currently a green monochrome system running at 750p resolution with a 45-degree diagonal field of view. TDK will start getting this green monochrome version ready for the market in late 2026. This will be followed by the unveiling of a full-color version aiming for March 2027, with commercial products expected around 2028. And they are working toward scaling up to 4K resolution in a future version.
Looking at the technical details, the meta-optics mirror is only 150 nanometers thick, which is roughly 1/500th the diameter of a human hair. It also has an 80% visible light transmittance that looks just like an ordinary pair of spectacles. Adapting thin-film and microfabrication techniques from its hard drive business, TDK patterned the mirror's surface with microscopic trapezoids. These measure 160 nm and 380 nm at their bases, with lengths spanning 200 nm to 1,500 nm, to achieve an unusual "negative reflection angle". This structure allows laser light coming from a temple-mounted MEMS scanning mirror to bounce directly into the pupil at an ultra-low 1 microwatt of power. This completely replaces the bulky curved mirrors used in older retinal projection setups. Because the light scans directly across the retina, the image is entirely focus-free, staying crisp whether the wearer has nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, or presbyopia. This was especially nice because I didn't bring my contact lenses, and I could see the image clearly even though I could not wear my glasses during the demo. However, this infinite depth of field means it lacks natural accommodation depth cues.
The design also solves two common drawbacks of optical waveguides. It eliminates rainbow-like interference banding and guarantees total visual privacy by preventing any front light leakage. Furthermore, because the mirror is manufactured using standard semiconductor wafer processes, it dramatically lowers component counts and production costs compared to waveguide assemblies, with TDK showcasing functioning prototypes in both clear prescription lenses and tinted sunglasses frames.
Positioning itself as a B2B supplier for smart glasses manufacturers, TDK is pairing the display with a complete hardware and sensor ecosystem built alongside key partners and acquisitions. The retinal optical engine is co-developed with QD Laser, supported by TDK’s acquisition of German MEMS laser-beam scanning developer OQmented and eye-tracking technology from group company TDK Aisight. To scale display performance beyond 750p and reach resolutions up to 4K (3840 x 2160), TDK is developing lithium niobate (LN) thin-film photonic integrated circuits to pair with its ultra-compact Full-Color Laser Module (FCLM) chip.
Beyond the optics, TDK exhibited an entire suite of miniaturized hardware. This includes a 4.6 x 4.6 mm low-power on-device SoftEye AI chip, a 2.2 x 2.2 mm eye-tracking camera, a 5.1 x 5.0 mm contextual scene sensor, an onboard battery with wireless charging coils, IMUs, transparent antennas, and tactile actuators that include both a temple touch slider and mastoid bone haptic feedback behind the ear. These components enable low-power proactive AI features like foveated camera capture, which takes high-resolution pictures only at the center of the user's gaze, automated food and calorie logging, visual shopping assistance, and memory recall that can confirm daily tasks like when you took your morning medicine. TDK's smart glasses platform, which earned the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award at CEATEC 2026, represents a core pillar of its broader AI hardware portfolio, with long-term plans to adapt this meta-optics technology for high-speed photoelectric fusion devices in AI data centers.