The AR Alliance Continues to Expand Membership with Five New Member Companies

Aluvia Photonics, ColorChip Group LTD, Fraunhofer IPMS, Swave Photonics ,Vitrealab GmbH join the growing number of companies shaping the augmented reality industry as part of the AR Alliance

BELLINGHAM, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The AR Alliance, a division of SPIE focused on augmented reality (AR), proudly announces the addition of Aluvia Photonics, ColorChip Group LTD, Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS, Swave Photonics, Vitrealab GmbH and to its membership.

Members of the AR Alliance reflect the global diversity and strength of the AR hardware development ecosystem, bringing expertise across foundational research, advanced optics, display technologies, intuitive user interfaces and spatial computing platforms. Their participation reinforces the Alliance’s collaborative mission to accelerate innovation, support open standards, and unify the AR industry through concrete action and shared success.

The AR Alliance provides a supportive and neutral environment for organizations of all sizes to take an active role in advancing and strengthening the augmented reality hardware development ecosystem. Diverse organizations across the expanding, global AR ecosystem work together through The AR Alliance to speed innovation and breakthrough technologies and processes for building AR wearables and devices that create meaningful and positive experiences for users.

“We are building AR together,” said Dr. Bharath Rajagopalan, Chair of The AR Alliance and Director of Strategic Marketing, STMicroelectronics. “The promise of AR and its potential market are so vast that there is ample room for all our member companies, and stakeholders, to succeed together. The AR Alliance is the place where concrete work takes place to harmonize approaches for advancing, unifying, and growing the global AR supply chain as well as accelerating innovation. We are pleased to welcome Aluvia Photonics, ColorChip Group LTD, Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems IPMS, Swave Photonics, Vitrealab GmbH to the AR Alliance and to join us in this important work and bring their deep technology and product leadership to help enable the AR market.”

Aluvia Photonics

Founded in 2022 as a spin-off from the Integrated Optical Systems group of the University of Twente, Aluvia Photonics leverages over a decade of photonics R&D to deliver cutting-edge integrated solutions. The company specializes in AlOx-based PIC technologies, enabling breakthrough performance for applications across telecom, datacom/AI, quantum, and beyond.

“Integrated photonics and laser technologies are taking on a larger role in the AR ecosystem, and Aluvia is well positioned to support that shift,” said Steve Stoffels, CEO of Aluvia Photonics. “Our AlOx photonic integrated circuits enable high-efficiency transmission and routing of visible light in the compact form factors AR systems demand. By actively collaborating within the AR Alliance and the wider AR community, we aim to accelerate progress in next-generation laser illuminators. Our photonic ICs are already running today, and we stand ready to deliver the next generation of laser-based PIC illuminators on our AlOx platform.”

ColorChip

ColorChip is a technology innovator, designer, and manufacturer in the field of photonic integrated circuits based on its home grown PLC waveguide technology. The company is delivering an array of advanced optical sub-systems spanning from the infrared regime, used in high speed connectivity solutions for mega data centers, in addition to the visual regime used in the fields of AR/MR, Automotive, and Medical industries. In the AR/MR use case, ColorChip integrates its proprietary ColorMux solution, the smallest and optically optimized miniature RGB, PLC waveguide-based projector, with a novel MEMS scanner. These two elements form an LBS-based optical head which is integrated into waveguide based AR glasses. ColorChip solution is based on a proven technology that is in mass production and scales at the lowest cost in automated assembly facilities.

“ColorChip joined the AR alliance as it shares the vision, innovation and challenges shared among the members and offers its ColorMux™, an RGB beam combiner that enables the smallest and the most versatile Laser Beam Light Source,” said Color Chip CEO, Yigal Ezra. “ColorChip’s ColorMux is based on the company’s novel wafer scale Planner Lightwave Circuit (PLC) and SystemOnGlassT™ integration technology. It combines off-the-shelf laser diodes into a single beam for high brightness and high resolution required for all day wearable glasses. In the past two years we run several successful POCs and our next offering is targeting a volume of sub 0.5cm 3 optical engine.”

Fraunhofer IPMS

Fraunhofer IPMS is an internationally leading research and development service provider for electronic and photonic microsystems in the application fields of intelligent industrial solutions, medical technology and health, mobility, green and sustainable microelectronics, aerospace, and defense. The institute works on electronic, mechanical, and optical components and their integration into miniaturized devices and systems. The offerings range from concept development to product development to pilot-manufacturing in its own laboratories and clean rooms.

Dr. Uwe Vogel, Division Director “Microdisplays & Sensors”, explains: “Participation in the AR Alliance is important for us because we can meet the right partners here to further advance developments in this field. Fraunhofer IPMS is at the forefront of research and development in the field of photonic components for Augmented Reality (AR). We focus on backplane IC design and frontplane process integration for microdisplays, micro-scanning mirrors, as well as MEMS-based spatial light modulators (SLM) to create innovative AR solutions - some are unique worldwide.”

Swave Photonics

“Swave Photonics is delighted to join the AR Alliance as a regular member,” said Mike Noonen, CEO. “We are eager to work with other Alliance members to advance and accelerate the development of AR + AI solutions. Swave looks forward to promoting and strengthening our Holographic eXtended Reality technology and products with the rapidly growing AR Alliance ecosystem of world class companies"

Swave, the true holographic display company, develops chipsets to deliver reality-first spatial computing powered by AI. The company’s Holographic eXtended Reality (HXR) display technology is the first to achieve true holography by sculpting lightwaves into natural, high-resolution images. The proprietary technology will allow for compact form factors with a natural viewing experience. Founded in 2022, the company spun-out from imec and utilizes CMOS chip technology for manufacturing for a cost-effective, scalable, and swift path to commercialization.

Vitrealab GmbH

Vitrealab GmbH is a Vienna-based Deeptech company driving innovation in Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC) for laser-LCoS based display technologies. Its proprietary Quantum Light Chip delivers new levels of brightness, efficiency, and optical quality for AR systems. Originating from the University of Vienna, the team combines decades of experience in photonics research, laser integration, and system architecture to translate academic advances into industrial solutions. With dedicated manufacturing equipment and proprietary direct laser writing techniques, Vitrealab develops and fabricates its own photonic devices, ensuring precision, reproducibility, and rapid development cycles. This vertical integration enables seamless scaling from prototype to mass production, supporting both flexibility in design and consistency in performance.

“By joining the AR Alliance, we look forward to contributing our expertise in laser-LCoS technology and working with industry leaders to advance smart glasses displays to the next level. We are honored to be part of this innovative community.” – Jonas Zeuner, CTO, Vitrealab GmbH.

About The AR Alliance

The AR Alliance Founding Board Members comprise STMicroelectronics, META, EssilorLuxottica, Corning, Dispelix, Optofidelity, ENGO, Google, and Qualcomm. Organizations of every size and in any sector of the ecosystem are respected, heard, and supported in The AR Alliance’s non-competitive, collaborative environment. Flexible membership levels remove barriers to access enabling companies of varying stages of maturity and resources to engage.

To learn more about membership in The AR Alliance, please visit www.thearalliance.org.