in june 1995, microoptical was founded by dr. mark spitzer to develop advanced micro-optical devices reduced to the size of integrated circuits. the company was funded by the defense advanced research projects agency through a contract with the u.s. army soldier systems command for the development of optical micro-electromechanical systems (mems). in 1997, microoptical demonstrated the eyewear display in which the viewing optics were incorporated in the eyeglass lens. the eyeglasses display provided a 320x240 pixel resolution with 8 bit greyscale and a field of view of approximately 8 degrees (horizontal).