Google backs Distance, the startup bringing mixed reality to cars, planes

Distance Technologies, a Finnish startup that aims to bring mixed reality technology to any car windshield or airplane cockpit, has raised €10 million ($11.1 million) in funding from venture capital arm GV A Alphabet and other investors.

Distance raised the cash injection in a seed round led by GV, with existing investors FOV Ventures and Maki.vc also raising more money for the startup, the company told CNBC on Thursday.

Helsinki-based Distance is developing technology it says can turn any transparent surface into an augmented reality display, allowing the user to see 3D digital objects superimposed on top of the panel they’re viewing.

This avoids the need for any cumbersome hardware such as a mixed reality headset or augmented reality glasses, both of which require the user to pull an actual device over their eyes to immerse themselves in the experience.

“One of the big barriers to mixed reality is that as long as you have to put something on your head, it’s never going to be effortless or elegant as a solution,” Distance CEO and co-founder Urho Konttori told CNBC. in an interview earlier this week. Kontori was previously CTO of Varjo, another Helsinki-based mixed reality firm.

Distance focuses primarily on selling into the automotive, aerospace and defense markets.

The way Distance works is by using tracking technology to identify where you’re looking and then calculate the correct light field to match your exact eye positions, according to Kontori.

The Distance solution adds a set of optical layers over most liquid crystal displays (LCDs) that allow its technology to transmit an image to the places where your eyes focus.

Using this technique, Distance can separate the light fields in the left and right eye, while creating an additional optical layer underneath that creates high brightness.

Distance says its system is capable of “infinite” pixel depth, meaning it can create a life-size field of view in any frame — whether it’s behind the wheel of a car or in an F-18 fighter jet.

GV, which was formerly known as Google Ventures and counts the Internet search giant’s holding company Alphabet as its sole limited partner, told CNBC that it was drawn to invest in Distance because of “the potential to build the next generation of user interfaces “.

“We’re particularly excited about how some of the nearer-term paths to bringing this to market in automotive and aerospace allow potential users to get their hands on this technology,” Roni Hiranand, director at GV, told CNBC.

Marketing mixed reality is no easy feat. First, mixed reality devices are still expensive. Apple Vision Pro and of Microsoft Both HoloLens 2 devices start at $3,500 – and they’re not cheap to make either. A new AR glasses concept device Meta Unveiled on Wednesday, it reportedly cost the company $10,000 per unit, according to The Verge.

Meta was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

Augmented reality heads-up displays, or HUDs, are not a new phenomenon in the automotive industry. Companies have been working to add AR features to cars for several years, with tech giant Huawei among the first to jumpstart the technology in China.

A host of other display technology firms are developing their own AR HUDs for cars, including First International Computer, Spectralics, Envisics, Futurus, CY Vision, Raythink, Denso, Bosch, Continental and Panasonic.

According to Distance Technologies Chief Marketing Officer Jussi Mäkinen, the company’s system can cover the entire surface of any transparent surface, not just a specific corner or bottom half of a display—a limitation that most automotive AR HUDs face.

“The main difference here is that we’re software-driven,” Mäkinen told CNBC.

The company previously presented a proof-of-concept version of its technology at the US Augmented World Expo 2024, the mixed reality industry show in June.

For now, Distance has had to use simple optics and normal LCD screens to demonstrate its technology to potential partners and investors. Next, Konttori said he’s preparing to push a “very expensive” button: advancing the Distance’s optical technology into what he calls the next generation early next year.

“I would say we’ve been in the research cycle now,” said the Distance CEO. “Now we’re moving into the product cycle. And the key thing to do is to work with someone who will become your customer…one or two to work very closely with and then a final product specification.”