Many of the augmented reality applications we have seen in the last few years have been toys and gimmicks used for entertainment value, but AR technology has been steadily gaining popularity in the enterprise. U.K.-based startup WaveOptics is one of several companies looking to make AR not only viable, but also scalable for big businesses.

Today the company announced that it has closed a $15.5 million Series B funding round to continue expanding its platform. WaveOptics’ funding round included existing investors Octopus Ventures, Touchstone Innovations plc and Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH, and they were also joined by new investor Gobi Ventures. The company’s total funding to date is now $15.71 million.

Founded in 2014, WaveOptics does not produce entire AR systems, but instead it focuses only on the optics technology used to display the actual AR images. Unlike many other AR systems, WaveOptics’ optics technology does not use prisms or mirrors to project AR images. Instead, the company’s optics rely on waveguide technology, which uses hologram physics to project an image inside of a transparent display.

The benefit of waveguide versus traditional AR projection technology is that it is less cumbersome, allowing the devices to be smaller and lighter. WaveOptics also said its system is cheaper and easier to manufacture because it does not require rare materials or complicated fabrication processes.

“Until now, there has not yet been a mass market [augmented reality] product; we’re confident that we can capitalize on the expansion of the market,” WaveOptics Chairman Martin Harriman said in a statement. “WaveOptics is the only AR company in the world right now that has solved an industry-wide challenge — the display element of AR that provides a compelling visual performance, possesses a compact form factor and is inexpensive to manufacture at scale.”

The AR industry has seen significant investments over the last few years, both for hardware and software. For example, Florida-based startup Magic Leap alone has raised $1.39 billion for is standalone AR headset, which the public has not even seen yet.

Some of the biggest tech companies have also started to embrace AR. At this year’s Worldwide Developer’s Conference, Apple Inc. announced that it would release an augmented reality development platform called ARkit, which is aimed at making it easier for developers to create AR apps. Google Inc. also has its own AR projects such as Tango, which allows developers to take advantage of special 3D sensors on certain smartphones to build powerful AR experiences.

Photo: WaveOptics