WayRay to open R&D centre in Schaffhausen

WayRay intends to open an R&D centre with an initial 20 employees in Schaffhausen next year, reports the Handelszeitung. Originally from Russia, the start-up is currently based in Lausanne and has offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong and San Francisco. 

WayRay is developing a technology based on augmented reality that can display information such as text messages or city maps in a three-dimensionally manner on a vehicle’s windshield. This will allow drivers to keep their eyes on the road at all times in the future, even when receiving information. 

According to the Handelszeitung, WayRay is moving to Schaffhausen so it can benefit in particular from the proximity to European automotive suppliers located in southern Germany. But the start-up also values the regulatory certainty and stable political conditions in Switzerland.

“We want to keep our technology in a very secure place,” WayRay founder and CEO Vitaly Ponomarev told the Handelszeitung.

WayRay has already attracted leading companies as investors, including the internet giant Alibaba and Banma Technologies, both from China. The latter is using WayRay’s technology in a car model planned for 2018. The technology is also used in the Oasis concept car from the Zurich-based company Rinspeed.