Avegant and Vuzix Announce New Lightweight Binocular AR Reference Design
Rhea-AI Summary
Vuzix (NASDAQ: VUZI) and Avegant announced a jointly developed lightweight binocular AR reference design unveiled at CES 2026. The platform integrates Avegant's AG-30L3 0.7 cc full-color LCoS light engine with Vuzix waveguide optics and will be manufactured by Quanta Computer to reduce size, weight and system cost. Evaluation units and full engineering documentation will be available to select OEM partners beginning Q1 2026.
Positive
- AG-30L3 light engine measures 0.7 cc
- Evaluation units and engineering docs available Q1 2026
- Manufacturing by Quanta targets lower system cost and faster time to market
Negative
- None.
News Market Reaction
On the day this news was published, VUZI declined 1.68%, reflecting a mild negative market reaction. Argus tracked a trough of -2.7% from its starting point during tracking. Our momentum scanner triggered 11 alerts that day, indicating notable trading interest and price volatility. This price movement removed approximately $5M from the company's valuation, bringing the market cap to $265M at that time.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
While VUZI was down 7.27%, key peers like WTO, KOSS, GPRO and ZEPP showed gains (e.g., WTO up 6.67%), pointing to a Vuzix-specific move rather than sector-wide weakness.
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 19 | Defense collaboration | Positive | -2.5% | Extended Collins Aerospace collaboration for defense waveguide AR production. |
| Nov 28 | AI smart glasses orders | Positive | +13.0% | Follow-on M400 smart glasses orders nearing <b>$1M</b> from major online retailer. |
| Nov 25 | Industry association | Positive | +2.2% | Joined AR Alliance, reinforcing position in AR hardware ecosystem. |
| Nov 13 | Q3 2025 earnings | Negative | -9.3% | Q3 revenue decline, continued net loss despite lower operating expenses. |
| Nov 12 | Conference participation | Neutral | +3.0% | Announced attendance at Craig-Hallum Alpha Select investor conference. |
Recent Vuzix news has mostly aligned with price reactions: four of the last five events moved in the expected direction, with one positive defense collaboration drawing a short-term selloff.
This announcement adds another AR hardware milestone following a series of strategic steps. In November 2025, Vuzix reported Q3 results with $1.16M revenue and a $7.35M net loss but highlighted Quanta’s total $20M investment and new orders. Subsequent news detailed AR Alliance membership and growing AI-powered smart glasses deployments nearing $1M in 4Q25 orders. A December collaboration with Collins Aerospace advanced defense waveguide systems. Today’s CES 2026 binocular AR reference design with Avegant and Quanta extends this theme of ecosystem partnerships and manufacturing scale.
Regulatory & Risk Context
An active S-3 shelf dated Oct 8, 2025 allows a selling stockholder to resell registered shares, including conversion shares from Series B preferred stock. The shelf has seen at least one usage via a 424B3 filing on Dec 12, 2025, but no specific dollar capacity is disclosed in the summary.
Market Pulse Summary
This announcement introduces a CES 2026 binocular AR reference design that pairs Avegant’s compact 0.7 cc LCoS light engine with Vuzix waveguide optics and Quanta’s manufacturing scale. It builds on prior defense and enterprise collaborations and Quanta’s existing investment relationship. Investors may watch for OEM adoption timing from Q1 2026 evaluation units, the impact on future sales reported in SEC filings, and dilution or resale dynamics under the existing S-3 shelf and Series B preferred structure.
Key Terms
waveguide optics technical
odm technical
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
Design features Avegant's AG-30L3 light engine, Vuzix waveguide optics, and is co-designed and manufactured by Quanta Computer
The reference design integrates Avegant's AG-30L3, a breakthrough 0.7 cc full-color LCoS light engine, with Vuzix' advanced waveguide optics, delivering bright, crisp, full-color imagery in an ultra-compact form factor. The platform enables OEMs to accelerate development of both consumer and enterprise AR smart glasses by offering a ready-to-manufacture architecture that significantly reduces size, weight, and total system cost.
To support rapid commercialization, the reference design will be manufactured by Quanta Computer (TWSE: 2382.TW), one of the world's leading electronics ODMs and a long-time partner to global consumer technology brands.
Key innovations include:
- Ultra-Compact Display System: Powered by the AG-30L3, delivering high brightness and full-color imagery from a light engine measuring only 0.7 cc.
- Lightweight Binocular Form Factor: A sleek, comfortable industrial design optimized for everyday wear incorporating Vuzix' Incognito™ for discrete content viewing.
- High-Efficiency Waveguide Optics: Vuzix' proprietary waveguides ensure bright, transparent, high-contrast visuals.
- Push-Pull Prescription Lens Ready: Supports users with and without vision correction in a clean, integrated design—eliminating bulky clip-on solutions.
- Cost-Optimized Architecture: Quanta's high-quality and large scale manufacturing capabilities reduce system cost and accelerate time to market.
"This reference design represents a major milestone in making truly wearable AR glasses accessible to broader markets," said Edward Tang, CEO of Avegant. "By combining the extremely small and efficient AG-30L3 with Vuzix's world-class waveguide optics and Quanta's manufacturing expertise, we are providing OEMs a complete, production-ready platform that accelerates time to market."
"Vuzix has long focused on delivering high-performance waveguide optics that enable sleek, lightweight smart glasses," said Paul Travers, President and CEO of Vuzix. "Our collaboration with Avegant brings together the best of both companies' technologies. This new binocular reference design is bright, compact, affordable, and ready for mass production — exactly what the AR market needs next. We are excited to showcase it live at our booth during CES 2026."
"Quanta is committed to enabling the next generation of innovative wearable devices," said C.C. Leung, Vice Chairman and President of Quanta Computer Inc. "We are pleased to support Avegant and Vuzix with our advanced manufacturing capabilities to bring this high-quality, lightweight binocular AR platform to market at scale. This collaboration aligns perfectly with Quanta's vision of delivering world-class technology to global customers."
Evaluation units and full engineering documentation will be available to select OEM partners beginning Q1 2026, with customization and integration support provided by Quanta.
About Vuzix Corporation
Vuzix is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of AI-powered Smart Glasses, Waveguides and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies, components and products for the enterprise, medical, defense and consumer markets. The Company's products include head-mounted smart personal display and wearable computing devices that offer users a portable high-quality viewing experience, provide solutions for mobility, wearable displays and augmented reality, as well OEM waveguide optical components and display engines. Vuzix holds more than 450 patents and patents pending and numerous IP licenses in the fields of optics, head-mounted displays, and the augmented reality wearables field. The Company has won Consumer Electronics Show (or CES) awards for innovation for the years 2005 to 2024 and several wireless technology innovation awards among others. Founded in 1997, Vuzix is a public company (NASDAQ: VUZI) with offices in:
About Avegant
Avegant is a well-funded, venture-backed technology company developing next-generation display technology to enable previously impossible augmented reality experiences. The company uses its deep scientific understanding of human sight and head-mounted display technologies together with its consumer electronics manufacturing experience to develop displays that enable realistic AR experiences for consumers. Since its inception, Avegant has developed numerous technologies ranging from the first consumer wearable high-quality head-mounted display, to lightfield and foveated displays and, more recently, the smallest LCoS light engine in production, the AG-30L2. For more information, visit avegant.com.
About Quanta Computer Inc.
Quanta Computer Inc. is a Fortune Global 500 company headquartered in Taoyuan,
Forward-Looking Statements Disclaimer
Certain statements contained in this news release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements contained in this release relate to Vuzix Smart Glasses, our business relationship and future business opportunities with Avegant and Quanta Computer, the competitiveness and performance of the reference design, any future OEM sales of the developed reference design and among other things the Company's leadership in the AI Smart Glasses and AR display industry. They are generally identified by words such as "believes," "may," "expects," "anticipates," "should" and similar expressions. Readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are based upon the Company's beliefs and assumptions as of the date of this release. The Company's actual results could differ materially due to risk factors and other items described in more detail in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Annual Reports and MD&A filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and applicable Canadian securities regulators (copies of which may be obtained at www.sedar.com or www.sec.gov). Subsequent events and developments may cause these forward-looking statements to change. The Company specifically disclaims any obligation or intention to update or revise these forward-looking statements as a result of changed events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release, except as required by applicable law.
Avegant Corp. Media Contact:
Vuzix Media and Investor Relations Contact:
Ed McGregor, Director of Investor Relations,
Vuzix Corporation
ed_mcgregor@vuzix.com
Tel: (585) 359-5985
Vuzix Corporation, 25 Hendrix Road,
Investor Information – IR@vuzix.com www.vuzix.com
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SOURCE Vuzix Corporation
FAQ
What is the Vuzix and Avegant AR reference design announced on January 6, 2026 (VUZI)?
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