Property and equipment (Narrative) (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Property And Equipment Narrative Details
Depreciation expense	$ 414,000us-gaap_Depreciation	$ 923,000us-gaap_Depreciation
Property and equipment under capital lease	704,000us-gaap_CapitalLeasedAssetsGross	704,000us-gaap_CapitalLeasedAssetsGross
Accumulated depreciation related to assets under capital lease	$ 704,000	$ 704,000

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Namespace Prefix:	mvis_
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Amount before accumulated depreciation of leased physical assets used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services.

+ References

+ Details

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Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The total charge for the use of long-lived depreciable assets subject to a lease meeting the criteria for capitalization.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 840

-SubTopic 30

-Section 45

-Paragraph 1

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6455314&loc=d3e45014-112735

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 840

-SubTopic 10

-Section 55

-Paragraph 40

-Subparagraph (Note 2)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6584154&loc=d3e38371-112697

+ Details

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- Definition

The amount of expense recognized in the current period that reflects the allocation of the cost of tangible assets over the assets' useful lives. Includes production and non-production related depreciation.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef

-Publisher FASB

-Name Accounting Standards Codification

-Topic 230

-SubTopic 10

-Section 45

-Paragraph 28

-Subparagraph (b)

-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=31042434&loc=d3e3602-108585

+ Details

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