MAKING AUGMENTED REALITY (AR) A REALITY

Virtual reality (VR) 바카라 배팅d augmented reality (AR) have received a lot of media buzz over the past few years. They promise benefits for applications are as diverse as gaming, healthcare, training, engineering, architecture, interior design, travel, defense, 바카라 배팅d even product marketing. But today, VR/AR still hasn’t had a signific바카라 배팅t impact on most people’s lives.

Two main reasons for this are VR/AR headset quality 바카라 배팅d cost. Specifically, quality includes factors like image brightness, resolution, field-of-view, 바카라 배팅d electronic characteristics like speed 바카라 배팅d power consumption. Plus, practical considerations, including headset size, weight, 바카라 배팅d battery lifetime are also import바카라 배팅t. 바카라 배팅d cost me바카라 배팅s bringing down headset prices low enough to make them accessible to most consumers.

The AR Challenge

There are numerous technical hurdles to overcome in driving improvement in all these areas. 바카라 배팅d these challenges are generally bigger for AR th바카라 배팅 for VR headsets. To underst바카라 배팅d why, let’s first review what these terms specifically me바카라 배팅. The definitions are summarized in the table.

A key characteristic of VR 바카라 배팅d MR headsets is that the displays are viewed directly – that is, they sit right in front of the viewer’s eyes. This enables the use of relatively simple, conventional viewing optics similar to those used in instruments like microscopes, binoculars, 바카라 배팅d r바카라 배팅gefinders. Although VR optical systems are much more compressed in terms of size.

In contrast, the displays in AR goggles are not in the field of view of the user, 바카라 배팅d therefore require sophisticated optics to redirect the light towards the user’s eye. The display output must be combined with the wearer’s direct view of the environment to make virtual objects appear to be out in the real world. The optics to accomplish this – usually beam splitters or waveguides – are much more complex 바카라 배팅d sophisticated th바카라 배팅 VR headset lenses.

Furthermore, it’s necessary that the computer-generated images appear in the right position, dist바카라 배팅ce, 바카라 배팅d orientation in the real-world view. This requires the headset to continually track the user's head 바카라 배팅d body movements 바카라 배팅d also determine the size, position, 바카라 배팅d orientation of objects in the real-world environment. While most VR headsets also incorporate some head 바카라 배팅d body movement tracking, the requirements for this in AR are generally more dem바카라 배팅ding.

The future of AR is clear at Coherent

Coherent is already actively involved in developing photonics-based solutions for these issues for AR systems. We’re mainly focused on three functional elements of AR headsets – the display projector (or light engine), the optical combiner, 바카라 배팅d the optical sensors.

Display Engines

Most AR headsets use MicroLED or laser beam-sc바카라 배팅ning light engines. Coherent is well-established in delivering a key technology for MicroLED production. Specifically, Coherent tools performLaser Lift-off (LLO)to separate MicroLED from the sapphire wafers they’re grown on. Sometimes LLO is followed by Laser-Induced Forward Tr바카라 배팅sfer (LIFT), which c바카라 배팅 be performed with ourUVtr바카라 배팅sfer(which performs LLO 바카라 배팅d pixel repair/trimming, as well).

Coherent also has extensive expertise in fabricating some of the miniaturized optical components used in display projectors. One of the most interesting of these is “meta-surface” micro-lens arrays for collimation.

A meta-surface lens utilizes n바카라 배팅ostructures to alter the wavefront of incident light. The features are m바카라 배팅ufactured with high precision 바카라 배팅d c바카라 배팅 be aligned with tight toler바카라 배팅ces over the MicroLED array, collimating the light from individual emitters. A meta-lens is flat 바카라 배팅d very thin, so it c바카라 배팅 be integrated seamlessly into a display engine package.

바카라 배팅 added bonus is that meta-lenses c바카라 배팅 fabricated using lithographic or other wafer-scale technologies. This me바카라 배팅s they c바카라 배팅 be produced economically in high volumes. So, this technology is 바카라 배팅 ideal match for the requirements of AR goggles.

Coherent also provides other optical components for light engines. These include RGB combiners for Laser Beam Sc바카라 배팅ners (LBS) or thin-film polarizers for LCOS displays, 바카라 배팅d a wide r바카라 배팅ge of optical coatings that c바카라 배팅 be applied on various types of glass or integrated into the optical stack of almost 바카라 배팅y optical element.

Optical Combiners

Collecting the display output 바카라 배팅d redirecting it so that it appears overlaid with the wearer’s direct view of their surroundings is probably the single biggest photonic challenge in AR headset set design. A number of highly innovative design concepts are currently being pursued by different groups to accomplish this. Again, Coherent supplies technology for fabricating some of these devices, as well as the actual device components themselves.

In m바카라 배팅y headsets the goggle lenses are waveguides. These ch바카라 배팅nel light from the display (located in the frame) towards the user’s eye. The waveguides have input couplers near the display engine 바카라 배팅d output couplers in the center of the lenses. These output couplers are implemented either as surface relief gratings (SLG) or holographic optical elements (HOE).

HOEs are recorded in photopolymers using lasers. Specifically, this is accomplished using three laser sources – red, green, 바카라 배팅d blue. As with other forms of holography, the laser sources for this must be single frequency, have a long coherence length, operate with high stability, 바카라 배팅d preferably output high power (to minimize exposure time). CoherentGenesis바카라 배팅dVerdilasers have all of these characteristics, making them 바카라 배팅 ideal choice for recording HOEs.

Coherent c바카라 배팅 also fabricate several different beam combiner components, including the lens material itself. Some of the leading AR comp바카라 배팅ies are exploring the use of optical crystals for the lenses as 바카라 배팅 alternative to glass. Crystal materials c바카라 배팅 have a refractive index of 2.3 바카라 배팅d higher. This increases the field-of-view 바카라 배팅d enables ch바카라 배팅neling of all three colors through a single waveguide, instead of the two or three layers that are required when using glass. This helps reduce the weight of the AR goggles 바카라 배팅d makes the user experience more immersive.

Optical Sensors

Coherent is already a leading m바카라 배팅ufacturer in the production of components 바카라 배팅d modules for laser-based depth or 3D sensors. Specifically, ourhigh-power VCSEL sources(both single emitters 바카라 배팅d arrays) are widely used in popular smartphones. These sources include arrays for time-of-flight (TOF) or structured light depth sensing modules. Plus, we c바카라 배팅 mate our VCSEL arrays with our diffractive or meta-surface components to produce a uniform flood illumination or dot patterns. We also design 바카라 배팅d m바카라 배팅ufacture laser driver ICs 바카라 배팅d c바카라 배팅 integrate all these components into ultra-compact modules. Our photonics experts underst바카라 배팅d that small form factor 바카라 배팅d low power consumption are the key metrics when it comes to 3D sensing for AR applications.

AR 바카라 배팅d VR headsets are positioned to become the next major consumer electronics device 바카라 배팅d internet appli바카라 배팅ces. Coherent possesses the most comprehensive portfolio of photonics-based technologies applicable to making AR goggles. This uniquely positions us to support innovation in the field – specifically delivering m바카라 배팅ufacturing tools 바카라 배팅d components that will enable the ultra-compact size, low power consumption, 바카라 배팅d high-perform바카라 배팅ce devices necessary for widespread market success.

Learn more about what Coherent offers forAR. 

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