Optical product development company, Optics for Hire (Arlington, MA) has acquired the patent portfolio and other assets developed and owned by Actuality Systems, Inc.
Optics for Hire acquired 19 U.S. patents and numerous patent applications, including foreign counterparts. Key assets include the Perspecta Spatial 3-D display technologies, multiple free-eye three-dimensional image projection patents, and a suite of software and hardware technologies for cancer treatment. According to the company the IP was developed over 12 years and involved about $20 million of investment.
Actuality's flagship technology, Perspecta is a free-eye volumetric 3-D display that creates hologram-like imagery visible from every angle. Applications include medical imaging, in which a patient's CT scan appears to float inside a transparent sphere that can be magnified and studied by multiple clinicians around the product. Other applications include oil and gas, security, military, and molecular visualization. Perspecta, which has been featured on the hit television series CSI:NY, received product innovation awards from the Society for Information Display and Saatchi & Saatchi.
"Current consumer and electronics industry enthusiasm over so called '3-D' demonstrates the potential of new displays. And what Actuality achieved is far beyond the 2-D image trickery and goofy glasses found at the local Cineplex," said OFH president John Ellis. "We intend to sell the 3-D displays in our inventory and continue to develop and license the technology," he said.
Actuality was dissolved on December 31, 2009, following the asset acquisition transaction.
For more information, see www.opticsforhire.com
Stephen G. Anderson | Director, Industry Development - SPIE
Stephen Anderson is a photonics industry expert with an international background and has been actively involved with lasers and photonics for more than 30 years. As Director, Industry Development at SPIE – The international society for optics and photonics – he is responsible for tracking the photonics industry markets and technology to help define long-term strategy, while also facilitating development of SPIE’s industry activities. Before joining SPIE, Anderson was Associate Publisher and Editor in Chief of Laser Focus World and chaired the Lasers & Photonics Marketplace Seminar. Anderson also co-founded the BioOptics World brand. Anderson holds a chemistry degree from the University of York and an Executive MBA from Golden Gate University.