Brother, Japan has developed an eyeglass-shaped retinal scanning display. The main unit installed on the eyeglass frame measures about 20cc and weighs about 25g. Compared with the prototype unveiled for the first time at the Aichi Expo (Exposition of Global Harmony) in 2005, the size and the weight of the latest model are significantly reduced, in particular, to less than 1/1000. The retinal scanning display irradiates low-intensity light on the retina and scans it with the light at a high speed. The user perceives the afterimage of the light scanned on the retina as an image. In other words, the retinal scanning display is like a projector that uses the retina as the “screen.”

In contrast to the pervasive head-mounted display (HMD) using an LCD panel and so on, the retinal scanning display provides an unobstructed vision. The image can be seen in the actual scenery in an overlapping manner.

Brother intends to commercialize the retinal scanning display in fiscal 2010 at the earliest. In this instance, the company plans to incorporate the light source module in the main unit with the size equivalent to that of the latest prototype’s main unit.