Compact augmented-reality glasses using holographic optical element combiner

Abstract

The novel design for the compact augmented reality (AR) glasses that utilize holographic optical element (HOE) as a combiner is presented. The wide field of view (FoV) that is larger than 90°, full color and high contrast ratio (CR) are achieved based on the single layer HOE, which has the thickness of 25 μm. In order to implement compactness of AR glasses using HOE combiner, the combination of optical lenses is proposed. In this design, a chromatic aberration and astigmatism, which are caused by highly off-axis projection of the image onto HOE, and the precise wavefront reproduction that maximize the efficiency of the HOE are taken into account simultaneously. The geometrical image distortion is corrected by implementation of image pre-distortion algorithm. The interpupillary distance (IPD) adjustment is applied to compensate small eye box. Based on the design, wearable prototype is introduced. Through the experiments both on benchtop and prototype, at the distance of 2 m, large image with diagonal of 150 inches is displayed.