New technology doesn't arrive fully formed, I remind myself as I strap on a pirate's eye patch, then place a heavily modified bicycle helmet onto my head. It isn't the most glamorous getup. But here, in a small office on an unassuming business park on the outskirts of Cambridge, England, it could be the foundations of something quite remarkable I'm here to meet AllFocal Optics, a startup that has patented a new type of nanophotonic lens with the power to transform everything from virtual and augmented reality headsets, to night vision goggles, binoculars, cameras and heads-up displays (HUDs). It's the latter that piqued my interest, after hearing Jaguar Land Rover has embarked on a research project to discover whether the lens can improve car HUDs and, with it, road safety. Its makers also claim'and prove, with the aforementioned helmet, as well as a butchered Meta Quest 3'that the lens can produce a digital image with perfect clarity, even if you have poor vision, without the need...
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