SerpApi.Org
As smart glasses pack in more computing power, a California company has developed a cooling chip that's small enough to fit inside the frames to prevent overheating.
On Tuesday, xMEMS Lab introduced the XMC-1200 chip, which it calls the world’s smallest active micro fan. The cooling chip is about the size of a fingernail, measuring 0.2 by 0.31 by 0.044 inches, or 46mm². “Engineered for AR, XR, and smart glasses, the XMC-1200 brings targeted, active cooling into slim, space-constrained form factors conventional fans cannot fit,” xMEMS says.
However, the chip isn’t a traditional tiny fan that spins. Instead, the XMC-1200 features a “solid state” design meant to vibrate airflow, thus dissipating the internal heat. The XMC-1200 promises to offer up to a 10-degree Celsius reduction if the device generates 1 watt of heat. The chip itself also uses about 0.07 watts of electricity.
The technology is a smaller version of the XMC-2400, which the company debuted in 2024 for smartphones, tablets, and other portable electronics, including smart glasses. (In addition to the cooling tech, xMEMS has also produced tiny audio speakers.)
A company image indicates xMEMS envisions clients packing both cooling chips into a smart glasses frame along the temple for full cooling across the built-in processor.
The company notes that smart glasses can throttle or impose limits on video recording or increasing the augmented reality display brightness. At the same time, any potential overheating can make the glasses dangerous to wear.
In response, the company says its cooling chips can prevent manufacturers from resorting to trade-offs when designing their smart glasses. For now, xMEMS is offering the XMC-1200 to interested manufacturers as engineering samples while the larger XMC-2400 is already in production. The plan is to make the smaller XMC-1200 production-ready in Q4 2027.
