Single-Lens AR Ecosystem Open for Mainstream Adoption
Researchers have created a new technique that makes it simpler to incorporate augmented reality (AR) into commonplace consumer gadgets by combining two optical innovations into a single, high-resolution display. Their results, which were published in ACS Photonics, detail how scientists used a computer program to eliminate aberrations and improve picture quality in an early version of the spectacles.
Overlaying digital pictures on top of real-world views, augmented reality holds great promise not just for entertainment but also for medical and autonomous vehicle developments. AR systems have traditionally relied on large optical elements, such as those seen in goggles or head-up displays. Attempts to shrink these devices down to the size of typical eyeglasses typically lead to a reduction in field of vision and picture quality. Youguang Ma’s group, nevertheless, may have made this technique simpler.
Using a microLED screen with clusters of microscopic green LEDs for picture projection, the team of researchers has created a compact, single-lens hybrid augmented reality system that combines two optical innovations: a metasurface and a refractive lens. The display’s ultrathin, patterned silicon nitride layer makes it both lightweight and energy-saving. The green microLEDs’ light is focused and shaped by the aforementioned layout. The next step is to shape the picture on a refractive lens made of synthetic polymer. This process improves how the picture looks by sharpening it and reducing light disturbances. After processing, the equipment projects the finished image onto a surface or object.
Ma and his colleagues used computational techniques to improve the picture quality by enhancing the level of detail of the projected picture by detecting and correcting optical defects prior to light exiting the microLED. They used image enhancement technologies to evaluate the performance of the hybrid augmented reality display that they integrated inside a pair of spectacles. The prototype’s single-lens setup achieved picture quality comparable to that of existing four-lens augmented reality systems, with distortion levels of less than 2% over a 30° field of vision.
For one test, the researchers used their computer preprocessing method to reproject a picture of a red panda. This increased the structural resemblance by 4%, taking it to 74.3%. They think that if the technology gets better, it could go from green displays to full-colour ones, which would make a new version of AR glasses more widely available.
Research funding was provided by a number of Chinese organisations, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Key Research and Development Programme of China, and the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province.
