Sensics
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Virtual reality hardware |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Founder | Larry Brown, Marc Shapiro |
| Defunct | 2019 |
| Headquarters | Columbia , United States |
| Products | Head-mounted displays (HMDs), OSVR platform hardware, simulated optical instruments |
Sensics is a U.S.-based firm focused on producing virtual reality hardware for both professional and consumer markets. The company played a pivotal role in establishing the OSVR ecosystem and spearheaded the development of its software infrastructure.
Located in Columbia, Maryland, Sensics’ official website has been inaccessible since January 2025, and records from the Maryland Secretary of State indicate that the company was forfeited in 2019.
History
The origin of Sensics’ technology traces back to patented innovations created at Johns Hopkins University in 1999, initially intended for a leading automobile manufacturer. The project aimed to develop a head-mounted display (HMD) that combined an expansive field of view with high resolution to improve immersion, mainly for designing vehicle interiors and expediting the development of new car models.
A key technical hurdle involved achieving sufficient magnification to deliver a wide field of view without compromising pixel density. The breakthrough came from optically merging multiple micro-displays into one seamless high-resolution screen. This method resulted in a prototype utilized during the design phase of a prominent family sedan.
Following this achievement, Dr. Larry Brown and Marc Shapiro—principal contributors at Johns Hopkins—established Sensics to bring this technology to market under a licensing agreement with the university. They obtained Phase I and II SBIR funding from NASA, which facilitated company incubation, further technological advancement, and the delivery of functional products to NASA.
2006–2013: High-end tiled display systems
In 2006, Yuval Boger was appointed CEO with the mission to commercialize Sensics’ offerings. That same year, the company released its inaugural product, the piSight, which incorporated 24 micro-displays (12 per eye) delivering SVGA resolution and nearly six million pixels per eye, alongside a field of view exceeding 150 degrees. Early operation of the piSight necessitated multiple networked computers to generate and synchronize all 24 SVGA video signals.
To appeal to a wider audience, Sensics introduced versions with fewer micro-displays—such as a 12-display model (6 per eye) that provided over 120 degrees field of view while reducing the number of displays and computational requirements by half. These configurations enabled users to upgrade to higher-resolution systems without replacing their entire setup.
In response to customer feedback regarding the complexity of managing numerous computers, Sensics developed high-speed hardware capable of real-time splitting of a single video input into multiple lower-resolution signals tailored for each micro-display. The product line also expanded with the xSight headset, which featured a ski-goggle style design as an alternative to the original "over-the-head" piSight model.
2010–present: Professional single-display HMDs
The company launched the zSight, a conventional HMD featuring one display per eye. Although it offers a narrower field of view compared to multi-display systems, this design provides advantages such as increased portability, reduced cost, simpler operation, and improved power efficiency, making it suitable for diverse professional uses.
2012–present: Simulated optical instruments
Sensics developed simulated optical devices—including virtual binoculars and rifle sights—by integrating micro-displays with adapted lenses and occasionally motion tracking into standard commercial field optics. These devices maintain the external look of traditional optics but display computer-generated visuals primarily targeting training and simulation sectors.
2014–2019: Consumer Devices and the OSVR Open-Source Project
Sensics collaborated with Razer Inc. to create OSVR, an open-source platform that includes both software components and a head-mounted display (HMD) named the Hacker Development Kit (HDK). Sensics took the lead in designing the software framework and key hardware elements for the OSVR HMD.
Representatives from Sensics frequently delivered presentations on OSVR's architecture at various industry conferences, demonstrating their expertise and leadership in open-source virtual reality technologies.
2019–present: Business Status
According to records from the Maryland Secretary of State, Sensics has not held legal authorization to operate since 2019.
Product Line
Sensics offers head-mounted displays categorized into four main types:
1. Open-source consumer devices developed through the OSVR platform, which Sensics helped establish.
2. Simulated optical instruments that mimic binoculars or spotting scopes but incorporate microdisplays to show computer-generated visuals. Sensics released a white paper explaining their development methodology.
3. Single-microdisplay professional units featuring one microdisplay per eye (for example, with a resolution of 1280x1024), such as the zSight model.
4. Multi-display professional systems that merge several microdisplays using a multi-lens assembly to achieve enhanced resolution (for instance, combining multiple 800x600 screens into a 1920x1080 output), with the xSight serving as an example.
Sensics' headsets are often paired with motion sensors and eye tracking technology to improve immersive user experiences.
Use Cases
The company's products are utilized across multiple industries including defense, automotive, and academic research, facilitating applications in simulation, training, and virtual reality environments.
References