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Lumus got a major boost in brand awareness when one of its waveguides was selected for use in the Ray-Ban Meta Display Glasses. But it already seems like old technology now, because at CES 2026 the company showed off some of its latest components at the show and, from what I saw, they seem poised to seriously elevate the optical quality of the next wave of high-end smart glasses.
When the Meta Ray-Ban Displays glasses were released, they appealed to users because they were (and still are) one of the few smart glasses to have a color display built into the lens with a field of view of at least 20 degrees. But based on the specifications of Lumus’ new waveguides, we are poised for a major upgrade in terms of future capabilities.
If you look closely, you can see where the light from the waveguide propagates into the smart glasses lenses. (Sam Rutherford for Engadget)
The first model I tried featured Lumus’ optimized Z-30 waveguides, which not only provide a much wider 30-degree field of view, but they’re also 30% lighter and 40% thinner than previous generations. On top of that, Lumus claims they are also more energy efficient with waveguides capable of reaching over 8,000 nits per watt. This is a big deal because smart glasses are currently quite limited by the size of batteries they can use, especially if you want to make them small and light enough to wear all day. When I tried them, I was dazzled by both the brightness and sharpness of the Z-30s, despite being limited to a resolution of 720 x 720. Not only did the increase in field of view seem well over 10 degrees, but the colors were very rich, including white, which is often one of the most difficult shades to reproduce correctly.
I had to take a photo of one of the non-working Lumus smart glasses with the company’s 70-degree FOV waveguide, because two of the three working glasses were already broken and the last one I used was held together with duct tape. (Sam Rutherford for Engadget)
However, even after seeing how good this first model was, I was completely unprepared for Lumus’ 70 degree FOV waveguides. I was able to watch a few videos and a handful of test images and was completely blown away by the amount of surface area covered. This was basically the entire central part of the lens, with only small unused areas around the corners. And while I noticed some pincushion distortion on the sides of the waveguide display, a Lumus representative told me it might be possible to correct that in final retail units. But make no mistake, these waveguides have without a doubt produced some of the sharpest, brightest, and most beautiful optics I’ve seen in any smart glasses, whether retail models or prototypes. It almost made me wonder how much of a wider field of view these types of gadgets actually need, but to be clear, I don’t think we’ve reached the point of diminishing returns yet.
This is one of Lumus’ thinnest waveguides, measuring just 0.8mm. (Sam Rutherford for Engadget)
Other benefits of Lumus’ geometric reflective waveguides include better overall efficiency than their refractive counterparts as well as the ability to optically bond displays to smart glasses lenses. This means that unlike many competitors, Lumus’ waveguides can be paired with transition lenses instead of having to resort to clip-on sunglasses attachments when you go out. Lumus also claims that its designs also simplify the manufacturing process, resulting in thinner waveguides (as small as 0.8mm) and generally higher efficiencies.
Unfortunately, taking high-quality photos of the contents of smart glasses screens is incredibly difficult, especially when using extremely delicate prototypes, so you’ll just have to take my word for it for now. But with Lumus ramping up production of its new waveguides with help from partners like Quanta and SCHOTT, it looks like there will be a ton of smartglass makers clamoring for these components as momentum continues to build. the industry’s choice for the next “big” thing.
