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OPTICS 1, Inc. is an optical and opto-mechanical engineering firm that handles jobs from the initial concept through hardware production, assembly, testing, and final system integration. Its staff specialize in several areas, including: lens design, optical manufacturing issues, non-imaging optics such as illumination systems, polarization, radiometry and photometry. Founded in Westlake Village, California in 1987, OPTICS 1 has established satellite engineering offices in San Diego and Boston.
The Naval Training Systems in Orlando, FL awarded Optics 1 an SBIR contract in 1991 to develop night vision goggle simulators. These simulators would accustom pilots to the lack of depth perception, often associated with the use of night vision technology. The end result was a head-mounted display, called the PT-01 HMD, that immerses trainees in a "virtual world" where they can safely learn to compensate for the loss of depth perception. The military is putting this low-cost, light weight (less than 14 ounces), now commercial product to use in a variety of other applications, including missile tracking. Working in bright sunlight, military trackers have difficulties using conventional monitors because of the glare and image size. The PT-01, with its anti-reflection lenses ability to block ambient light and an image size comparable to a big screen TV, is making work safer and surer.
OPTICS 1, Inc. also realized the commercial market potential of a head-mounted display for professional use. The PT-O1 is being marketed for remote industrial inspection, television and film production, medical imaging, corporate training, and a variety of other professional video uses. The head mounted display device has also been attached to robots used by SWAT teams to disarm bombs and by surgeons to perform minimally invasive surgical procedures. The PT-01's most public display has been from its use in navigating the "SNOOP" robotic submarine in the blockbuster movie Titanic. OPTICS 1 expects sales of its head mounted display device to grow rapidly in the coming year.
Garrick Matheson
Tel. 805/373-9340
Fax. 805/373-8966
Email. gmatheson@optics1.com
Website. http://www.optics1.com
