Business

Technology companies 3DIcon and Coretec Industries have merged as part of a move that Tulsa, Okla.-based 3DIcon said will help continue development of its CSpace 3D volumetric display technology, which can potentially be used in multiple industries, including entertainment, defense and medical. The CSpace display technology is being designed to produce high-res, full-color 3D images. Such a display doesn’t require glasses, a major criticism of stereoscopic 3D displays, with many users experiences fatigue after prolonged use. The volumetric displays are also capable of producing translucent images for viewing inside of objects, such as human organs, cargo containers or baggage, something beyond the capabilities of current display technologies, the company said. Its technology also delivers a 3D image without the user having to rotate the entire display or projection screen, something required with most other volumetric display technologies, 3DIcon said.

Entertainment applications for the CSpace displays include video games, according to 3DIcon’s web site. The gaming industry, of course, has dabbled with stereoscopic and autostereoscopic 3D technology for several years, and is now a prime initial market for virtual reality technology that includes elements of stereoscopic 3D.

The merged company will continue to pursue research and development of CSpace, and 3DIcon said it believes the merger and collaboration that will result will “spur the advancement and potential commercialization” of the company’s volumetric technology, it said in a news release.

“Our small company was just unable to raise the funds that would be necessary to really get to the finish line,” and the publicly-traded company needed some sort of partnership with another firm to continue its efforts, 3D Icon CEO Victor Keen said in a June 1 conference call with shareholders. The company was also looking to broaden its scope through additional technology offerings, he said, pointing out those goals were also communicated to 3DIcon shareholders last year. The company remained mum on its progress until June 1, when it announced the merger with Coretec, a merger that will enable 3DIcon to achieve both of those goals, Keen added.

The combined companies are “very synergistic” because they have “a lot of complementary technologies and mutual objectives,” Doug Freitag, VP of business and technology development at 3DIcon, said on the call.

Coretec is licensing “key patents” for silicon-based materials technology from North Dakota State University that are “required to scale the technology right away,” Freitag said. Coretec also has an option for 16 additional issued or pending patents globally pending the completion of a licensing agreement expected by June 15 that he said will allow conversion of the chemistry used in the technology to other silicon products. Coretec’s technology, among other things, provides laptop computer batteries for electric cars, he said.

They are “pretty significant” patents, he said, adding 3DIcon had realized it needed to look at lightweight solutions like silicon materials that are akin to “liquid glass.” 3DIcon gains exclusive rights to the technology in several parts of the world as a result of the merger, he said. The combined IP makes for an “extremely strong portfolio” of technologies, he said, adding: “We’re going to now have technology that can really hit some of those big market opportunities beyond what we were doing in 3D displays,” he said.

The merged company is focusing, at least initially, on five major markets: the 3D display market, solar energy, energy storage, printable electronics and solid state lighting, he said. It’s also not excluding other potential markets that include digital sensors and digital X-ray imaging, he said, pointing out that the sensors stand to be in heavy demand as a result of the growing popularity of the Internet of Things.