Wedoany.com Report on Feb 26th, Apple has recently acquired the photonics startup invrs.io, integrating its artificial intelligence optical design technology. According to a notification disclosed by the European Commission, Apple purchased certain assets of invrs.io and hired the company's sole employee and founder. This acquisition involves an open-source framework focused on photonics research, aiming to enhance Apple's innovation capabilities in the fields of virtual reality and augmented reality.
invrs.io was founded in 2023 by Martin Schubert. The company developed an artificial intelligence-based platform for designing optics and optical components, applicable to VR and AR systems, data centers, and autonomous vehicles. Its inverse design methodology starts from performance characteristics, using algorithms to automatically calculate optimal configurations, while artificial intelligence optimizes designs by searching variant spaces and iteratively adjusting parameters. This open-source platform provides standardized AI design tasks and benchmarks for the optics field.
Martin Schubert has over six years of experience in inverse design projects and previously led related teams at Google and Meta. He was born in Germany, grew up in the United States, and studied electrical engineering at Cornell University. Schubert initially worked on LED and memory technology at the American manufacturer Micron, then spent seven years at Alphabet's research lab X, where in 2017 he founded and led an AI-based photonics design project, developing an advanced inverse design platform.
During his time at Meta Reality Labs, Schubert focused on VR and AR technologies, developing new methods for the inverse design of micro-LEDs. These technologies are considered key components for AR glasses, but large-scale production still faces challenges. The knowledge Apple gains through acquiring invrs.io may help optimize displays and optical systems for VR and AR glasses, such as new microstructures for waveguide displays, lenses, or micro-LED arrays, which are difficult to achieve with traditional design methods.
