Brilliant Labs Monocle Case Study
Brilliant Labs partnered with tinyVision.ai to design, develop, and prototype a compact, low-power, and programmable wearable display called the Monocle. The goal was to enable real-time embedded vision and heads-up display (HUD) functionality in an ultra-small, lightweight form factor that could attach to regular eyewear.
tinyVision.ai contributed to the hardware, firmware, and integration design to help bring Brilliant Labs’ vision to life.
Client Background
Brilliant Labs is an open-source wearable technology company building AI-powered, smart glasses and AR devices. Their mission is to make spatial computing accessible to everyone by providing open hardware and software tools for experimentation and innovation.
The Monocle, exemplifies their focus on openness, creativity, and cutting-edge embedded vision.
The Challenge
The primary challenge for Brilliant Labs was to develop a fully functional heads-up display (HUD) that integrates camera, display, battery, and wireless connectivity into a lightweight, 15-gram module. The device had to be small enough to clip onto existing glasses while offering real-time computer vision powered by an onboard FPGA. Achieving this level of miniaturization while maintaining low power consumption and heat management required deep system integration expertise.
Our Solution
tinyVision.ai collaborated with Brilliant Labs’ engineering team to architect a compact embedded vision system optimized for wearable use. Leveraging its expertise in FPGA-based sensor aggregation and low-power camera systems, tinyVision.ai designed the system architecture for efficient signal handling and data throughput. Key components included an FPGA for acceleration, a microcontroller for BLE and control, and a power-efficient micro-OLED module.
The firmware layer integrated MicroPython-based APIs, allowing developers to write and deploy applications quickly.
Development Process
The development followed a structured and iterative workflow—starting from prototype design. This was followed by FPGA firmware integration, and then system testing. The early prototypes implemented an on-board SRAM for recording clips that could be transferred over BLE.
Results & Impact
The collaboration resulted in the successful delivery of the Brilliant Monocle—a programmable, ultra-compact, 15g heads-up display. It offered 720p camera input, 640x400 OLED display, and FPGA-based acceleration for computer vision workloads. Developers could interact with the device through MicroPython, enabling fast prototyping of AR and AI applications.
The project demonstrated how tinyVision.ai’s expertise in miniaturized embedded systems could accelerate time-to-market for innovative wearable hardware. A combined microcontroller + FPGA resulted in a device that had an operating time of 45 minutes including camera+display operation.
Technologies Used
- FPGA for machine learning and computer vision acceleration
- Microcontroller for logic and control
- MIPI camera interface for image capture
- 640x400 OLED microdisplay for visual output
- Bluetooth for wireless connectivity
- MicroPython-based firmware for rapid development
- Fast-charging Li-ion battery and charging dock
Conclusion / Key Takeaways
The Brilliant Monocle project highlights how combining open-source innovation with expert hardware engineering can bring advanced embedded vision to the consumer level. tinyVision.ai’s contributions in FPGA design, sensor integration, and system optimization enabled Brilliant Labs to transform a bold concept into a working, developer-friendly wearable. The partnership demonstrates tinyVision.ai’s ability to deliver efficient, production-ready hardware for next-generation AR and IoT applications.
Looking to accelerate your embedded vision project? Contact our engineering team at tinyVision.ai to discuss your requirements.
Executive Summary
Brilliant Labs collaborated with tinyVision.ai to create the Monocle, an ultra-compact heads-up display that integrates a camera, display, and FPGA in a TBDg module. tinyVision.ai provided design and development expertise in embedded vision and low-power FPGA systems, enabling the rapid creation of a programmable, open-source AR platform.
We also helped them to write the patent, prototypenext generation tap based interfaces that is currently deployed and helped connect them to the supply chain. We became their engineering go-to and system designer and handled board design, layout, bringup, debug and firmware development.
Connect us