Kai Ströder (tooz) on Making Smarter Glasses with Novel Optics

Kai Ströder is the co-founder and CEO of tooz, a company on a mission to develop cost-effective smartglasses for consumers.

Early in his career, Kai was a research fellow at the University of Stuttgart, where he also earned a Ph.D. in Strategic Management. Over the next decade, he worked across various groups at Carl Zeiss, the world’s leading, high-end optics company.

Among other projects, Kai has been responsible for activities in the field of augmented reality and data glasses. In 2018, he transferred the "Carl Zeiss Smart Optics" group, founded in 2015, to the joint venture "tooz technologies" initiated together with Deutsche Telekom. The tooz team, based in Germany, develops technologies and production processes for complete smart glass solutions geared toward the end consumer market.

In this conversation, Kai shares the origin story for tooz within Carl Zeiss, and one key attribute of their approach that sets them apart from many competitors: namely, an uncompromising focus on manufacturability at scale.

We go on to discuss some of the tradeoffs between diffractive waveguides, birdbath optics, and tooz’s curved waveguides. Kai describes some innovative aspects of the design, their target use cases, and their very thoughtful go-to-market plan that focuses on the size of the glasses, affordability, and the ease of purchasing from your optometrist.

You can find all of the show notes at thearshow.com.