Leia (company)

Leia Inc. is an American company producing 3D Lightfield^{[clarification needed]} products and software applications.

Leia Inc.

Company type	Private
Industry	Display technology
Founded	2014
Founder	David Fattal, Pierre-Emmanuel Evreux, Zhen Peng
Headquarters	Menlo Park, California , United States
Website	www.leiainc.com

Leia is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, with a nano-fabrication center in Palo Alto, a content team in Los Angeles and Auckland, New Zealand, and industrialization center in Suzhou, China.^{[citation needed]}

History

The company was founded in 2014 as a spin-off of HP Labs.^[1] Its research into the holographic display concept under HP was published by Nature in 2013.^[2] CEO David Fattal explained the diffraction-based system was intended to address shortcomings certain limitations of other mobile three-dimensional display approaches including support for multiple simultaneous viewers, the ability to operate in a conventional two-dimensional mode without loss of resolution, and reduced reliance on computational eye-tracking.^[3] The company foresaw uses of its technology in mobile devices, automobiles, and medical applications.^[4][5][6]

In May 2016, Leia announced a partnership with Altice to market a smartphone featuring its technology.^[7]

In 2017, Red Digital Cinema announced its intent to produce a high-end smartphone featuring the technology (the Red Hydrogen One). As part of its development, Red entered into a partnership with Leia, including funding, and Red's founder Jim Jannard joining Leia's board of directors.^[8][6]

In 2018, Leia launched its lightfield content platform LeiaLoft™^[9] including an Android App Store and a developer portal.^[10]

The Red Hydrogen device, which used Leia’s switchable lightfield display, was released in the United States on 2 November 2018 through carriers including AT&T and Verizon, and was later offered in Mexico through Telcel.^[11]

In July 2019, Leia and Continental announced a partnership to explore the integration of lightfield displays and related content into automotive applications.^[12]

In 2020 Leia introduced the Lume Pad, an Android tablet equipped with a 10.8-inch switchable lightfield display marketed to education, medical, retail and hospitality customers.

Lume Pad received CES 2021 Awards (Computer Hardware & Components and Digital Imaging & Photography).

In 2021, Leia released a consumer edition of the Lume Pad; the device was also listed on Amazon’s Launchpad program.