Despite major advances in display technology, displays and the content are still designed with the assumption that all viewers are in-room lighting and are 25-year-old males. In the age of CRT televisions this assumption was adequate, today it is not. Displays are viewed in the dark, in-room lighting and in bright sunny conditions and physiologists have determined that we also see differently depending on other factors like age. The fact that displays are not dealing with these conditions leads to a poor viewing experience, additional eye strain, and unnecessarily high power consumption and cost. In vehicles, touchscreen infotainment systems make driving easier, but they also lead to driver distraction especially when the display is subject to glare and bright sun. Clearly, the solution is not to eliminate display devices from our daily lives, but to make their use safer and easier on our eyes. These display viewing challenges can be addressed by accounting for “perception”. For instance, perception is why we struggle to see colour and contrast on a smartphone in bright light compared to how we read the phone display in room lighting.
In order for a display device to be perceptually aware it must take into consideration:
1. The ambient lighting environment
2. The physiological characteristics of the viewer; and
3. The hardware capabilities of the display.
“Since I started thinking about founding IRYStec, my highest priority has always been to surround myself with amazing people and build a great team. It seems like a simple goal, but it takes a lot of effort and teamwork to keep the culture and spirit of our team. Every single new team member can have a huge impact on our culture and our success. We are always looking for smart and passionate individuals to join our family & the extraordinary journey of making every display a perceptual display.”
– Tara Akhavan 
“Imagine looking at two displays in bright sunlight both at 100% screen brightness. The display using IRYStec’s software will use the ambient light sensor to adapt the color and contrast of the content being displayed to create an increase in perceived brightness. Even though both displays are already at their maximum luminance, the one with IRYStec’s software in use will appear brighter. This is what we mean by Perception is Reality.”
– CEO of IRYStec Simon Morris
BRING PERCEPTION INTO THE DISPLAY EXPERIENCE
IRYStec’s Perceptual Display Platform (PDP) software takes these physiological and perceptual factors into account. Based on the science of the human eye, proprietary patent-pending image processing algorithms and physiological models, PDP replicates how the human eye sees leading to a vastly improved display viewing experience.
IRYStec’s PDP automatically adapts, in real-time, the content characteristics being displayed to match how a viewer’s eyes actually see. PDP improves display viewing experience by adapting the content to the ambient light conditions (dark to bright), to viewer attributes (age, gender, eye deficiencies) and to the display hardware characteristics (LCD, OLED, QD).
Licensed directly to display-based-device OEMS, IRYStec’s PDP enables display device manufacturers to offer a superior display viewing experience which not only improves readability but improves eye health, reduces eye strain, can reduce display power consumption and possibly panel cost.
IRYStec is working with some of the world’s largest automotive and mobile manufacturers and along the way, they have earned many startup accolades including most recently TiEcon Canada 2017 winner and Canadian Innovation Exchange Top-20 for 2018. IRYStec’s innovation is rooted in a team of developers and researchers who are leaders in their field.
