SPIE - Education Optical Technologies and Architectures for Virtual Reality , Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality Head-Mounted Displays SC1218

The course provides an extensive overview of the current product offerings as well as the various optical architectures, as in: - Smart Glasses and Digital Eyewear - Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) headsets - Virtual Reality (VR) and Merged Reality headsets The course describes the optical backbone of existing systems, as well as the various optical building blocks, as in: - Display engines including microdisplay panel architectures, scanner based light engines and phase panels - Optical combiners integrated either in free space or waveguide platforms - Depth mapping sensors either though structured illumination or time of flight - Head tracking, gaze tracking and gesture sensors Emphasis is set on the design and fabrication techniques to provide the best display immersion and comfort: - Wearable comfort (size/ weight, CG) - Visual comfort (eye box size and IPD coverage, angular resolution, FOV, distortion, dynamic range, contrast,…) - Passive and active foveated rendering and peripheral displays - VAC (Vergence Accommodation Conflict) mitigation through varifocal, multifocal, spatial and temporal light fields and per pixel depth holographic displays. The features and limitations of current optical technologies addressing such specifications are reviewed. In order to design next generation head worn systems, one needs to fully understand the specifics and limitations of the human visual system, and design the optics and the optical architecture around such. :: Challenges for next generation systems are reviewed, where immersion and comfort need to be addressed along with consumer level costs requirements. Finally, the course reviews market analysts’ expectations, projected over the next 5 to 10 years, and lists the main actors (major product design companies, start-ups and optical building block vendors, and current investment rounds in such). Demonstration of some of the state of the art AR, MR and VR headsets will be offered to attendees at the end of the course.