THE PROJECT

Megamorph project has been created to boost the development of VR/AR with our unique graphene-based technology: GMOD®.

1. ABOUT THE PROJECT

Society is undergoing a new revolution because of virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) with head-mounted display (HMD) and head-up display (HUD) technologies. The strong demand in their current stage is already disrupting the market of digital games and entertainment, and an explosive growth is expected as soon as new display technologies enable their market uptake in every other sector: education and Industry 4.0; security and healthcare; aviation, transport, and even space.

Portable devices such as smartphones or laptops usually suffer from short battery life because their emissive displays need to convert electricity into light to show images and videos. Exceptionally, e-book readers use reflective-type (e- paper) displays that are less power consumptive, although this comes with the cost of being unable to offer colorful images and video-ready frame rates.

These standard technologies cannot meet the requirements for HMD/HUD applications: higher-resolution imaging through smaller pixels that can change their color faster, with less electrical power and withstanding high optical powers. GMOD® technology is the solution.

GMOD© technology

A Graphene MODulator (GMOD®) is a reflective-type display with a metasurface frontplane whose pixels can tune the sunlight to reflect natural colors or modulate RGB sources to create wide color gamuts. These pixels are freestanding micro-membranes that physically move to modify the ambient illumination (no light generation) and produce great contrast in bright environments, thus enabling ultra-high resolution while slashing down the average power consumption in HMD/HUD and other portable devices.

  • GMOD® is a green tech using chemically-vapor-deposited (CVD) graphene, a biocompatible and environmentally friendly material.
  • Graphene is the thinnest and strongest material known, which is ideal for micro-membrane pixels.
  • As graphene is also a great electrical conductor, the micro-membranes can be moved with small voltages.

However, the price of CVD graphene is too high for its integration into products.

Market-driven

MEGAMORPH project will make GMOD®-based large-area display evaluation kits to be showcased by our commercial partners, so to gain support from the private sector and bring our combined technologies to the market by 2024. Success will unlock a powerful consequence: the price reduction of CVD graphene.

  • We will finalize the development of GMOD® displays started in ATTRACT Phase 1 (GIMOD Project) by scaling up the frontplane sizes with a flat-panel display (FPD) process and by integrating custom backplane, electronic drivers, firmware, and software into industrial evaluation kits (TRL 8).
  • At the end of the project, we will have a running system to manufacture metasurface frontplanes, a manufacturing process for display modules compatible with flat-panel display systems, and several evaluation kits with 4K-8K resolution (315-8812 PPI, 0.5-14” in diagonal) and 60-120 Hz refresh rate.
  • We will demonstrate a business case (holographic imaging) and enter the Industry 4.0, healthcare and aviation sectors with GMOD® flat-panel displays for HMD/HUDs, smartphones, and e-books.

We will reshape the display landscape in Europe and lead the world towards a more sustainable, green future.

2. OBJECTIVES

Main Project Objectives

Objective 1.1
Engineering of metasurface frontplanes.
Objective 1.2
Design of backplane technology and integration route.
Objective 1.3
Manufacture of display modules.
Objective 1.4
Design and integration of custom electronics.
Objective 1.5
Design and integration of custom firmware, software and optics.
Objective 2
Demonstration and validation of display system.

3. WORK PACKAGES

WP1: Management

Nominated person for liaison: Santiago J. Cartamil Bueno
Responsible partners: SCALE Nanotech.

Management of the overall coordination among partners and with ATTACT, including supervision of task progress (schedule and budget), reporting and provision of final deliverables. There will be a significant effort dedicated to support and maximize the benefit from interacting with ATTRACT2 Academy students and scholars from the socioeconomic study.

WP2: Technology Development

Responsible partners: SCALE Nanotech; Graphenea Semiconductor; Morphotonics; CIN-ergy; VividQ.

Development of constituent technologies to reach a minimum maturity (TRL 6-8).
Most of the effort during the first year is placed on frontplane development: a R2P/R2R tool will be set to be used during the project, while related processes are designed and developed. In parallel, a study will be performed to design the FPD processing on glass and validate the direct integration of backplanes on frontplanes.
During the second year, development will continue with a main focus on electronics: fabrication tests of backplanes and characterization of the resulting display modules. In parallel, custom driver electronics will be designed, engineered, and manufactured along the design and simulations of custom firmware, which together allow running a software that displays holographic video. Both hardware and software must account for various illumination schemes to be defined in the final display system (custom optics might be needed). The display module with electronics/optics, firmware and software are assembled into display systems.

WP3: Technology Demonstration

Responsible partners: SCALE Nanotech; Morphotonics; CIN-ergy; VividQ.

Demonstration of a component sets its development cycle within the project to an end. Completing the frontplane component is the first milestone, so to unlock the next phase of backplane manufacturing. The second milestone is the integration of frontplane and backplane technologies into functional display modules. As soon as display modules become available, they will be assembled with the electronics and firmware into demonstrators. The final milestone is the demonstration of holographic imaging.

WP4: Dissemination and Outreach

Responsible partners: SCALE Nanotech.

MEGAMORPH consortium will engage the public through its own website (press releases) and online social media to advertise opportunities and project progress. We will communicate those scientific aspects that do not compromise the commercialization of our technologies via publication in peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Most critically, we will continue engaging potential investors and commercial partners through a balanced pull (co-development, industry fair showcase) and push strategy (pitching and strategic partnerships).