Liquid Instruments FPGA Technology Now Compatible with Apple Vision Pro

Liquid Instruments, a company that specializes in reconfigurable test instrumentation, announced late last month that its Moku platform is now available for Apple Vision Pro. Moku uses field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to deliver and entire suite of instruments and adapt to new technologies (1). With this integration, users now can interact with multiple instruments using hand and eye gestures without the need for monitors. The goal of this integration, the company said, is to accelerate testing in optics, quantum, and photonics research laboratories (1).

“Moku for visionOS is the ultimate setup for optics labs,” said Daniel Shaddock, co-founder and CEO of Liquid Instruments in a press release (1). “It’s also a great example of how quickly software-defined instrumentation can adopt or integrate with new technologies in a way that conventional instrumentation simply cannot.”

Apple products are ubiquitous everywhere. Whether it is laptops, cell phones, or iPads, the company has a robust market of consumers around the world. For the first quarter of 2024, the company reported $119.6 billion in revenue, up 2% year over year, according to a press release from the company. Apple, along with other technology companies, including Google and Samsung, have been investing in wearable technologies like smart watches and VR headsets.

The Apple Vision Pro is a three-dimensional (3D) camera that allows users to navigate through apps with a glance while creating a unique visual experience that keeps users present in the world around them (2). One of the main features of the Apple Vision Pro is that it allows users to capture photos and videos in 3D, giving them opportunities to relive those memories more vividly with the spatial audio function of the device (2).

In the optics and spectroscopy space, 3D technology is important because it helps scientists to study spectra and structures with enhanced visualization, allowing them to model optical systems better. Using 3D technology allows scientists to create more comprehensive prototypes, which is especially true in the 3D printing space. As a result, a logical next step was to integrate Apple’s technology with optics devices to unlock its full capabilities.

When Moku was first launched, it contributed to the acceleration of implementing new ideas, which helped increase productivity and quickened research and development (3). However, Moku was created to be reconfigurable, and as a result, Liquid Instruments created a product that was designed to be continually improved through technical innovation (3).

In conjunction with Apple Vision Pro, users can now modify and monitor their experiments from anywhere. Because of this development, users now can use the Moku platform for more purposes, which will help optical laboratories keep operation costs down, owing to the need for less equipment, the company said (1).

References

(1) BusinessWire, Liquid Instruments brings its Moku test platform to Apple Vision Pro, launching industry-first capabilities for optics research. Available at: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240327538790/en/Liquid-Instruments-brings-its-Moku-test-platform-to-Apple-Vision-Pro-launching-industry-first-capabilities-for-optics-research (accessed 2024-04-01).

(2) Apple, Apple Vision Pro. Available at: https://www.apple.com/apple-vision-pro/ (accessed 2024-04-01).

(3) Liquid Instruments, Moku + Apple Vision Pro. Available at: https://info.liquidinstruments.com/visionos (accessed 2024-04-01).