AR/VR display technology

Although Apple recently lowered its shipment forecast for its high-end VR device Vision Pro, reflecting the market's cautious attitude towards high-priced VR products, Meta Glass's sales have far exceeded expectations, with 300,000 units expected to be shipped in the first quarter of 2024. It is worth noting that although Meta Glass is currently a smart glasses without display function, relying mainly on voice and camera technology, according to relevant reports, Meta plans to add AR ()display function in future versions.

How many types of AR/VR devices are there currently?

(1) Standalone VR devices:

Independent operation, without the need for external sensors or external computing power, such as meta Quest and Vision Pro. For example, Vision Pro has 12 cameras, a LiDAR sensor, a depth sensor, 6 microphones, and R1+M2 processing chips.

(2) VR head mounted display：

Connected to a host through HDMI or DP, such as Sony PlayStation VR, or connected to PS, but without its own battery and game rendering capabilities.

(3) Standalone AR glasses:

Operate independently without the need for external sensors or connection to external computing power, such as Microsoft's HoloLens.

(4) Split AR glasses:

Generally connected to mobile phones as external computing power, they have display and camera functions. For example, AR glasses from Xreal, Thunderbird, Rokid and other companies are connected to mobile phones or Android boxes through DP. The display effect of this type of product is weaker than that of VR glasses, but it is light and portable.

(5) Information prompt AR glasses:

They cannot display complex images, are generally single green, and mainly contain text and other content, such as Meizu glasses, Oppo AR glasses, etc.

* How many display solutions are there for current VR/VR glasses, and what are their respective advantages and disadvantages?

(1) LCD:

Usually used with aspherical, Fresnel lens or pancake optical system, the advantages are low cost and mature technology; the disadvantages are slow response time and relatively low contrast.

For example, Meta’s Oculus Quest2 uses a 1600×1400 resolution LCD display + Fresnel lens. Pico3 also uses a similar solution.

Pico 4 uses the LCD+ pancake solution:

(2) OLED:

Basically the same as LCD.

(3) Silicon-based OLED:

The advantages are small size and high PPI, but the disadvantage is limited brightness. Also called Micro OLED, it is usually combined with Pancake optics to form a VR solution, or with Bird Bath to form an AR (Augmented reality )solution.

For example, Vision Pro uses Sony's silicon-based OLED plus Pancake optics.

For example, the split AR glasses of Xreal, Rokid, Lenovo and other companies use SONY's OLED with Bird Bath optical solution.

(2) MicroLED:

The advantages are high brightness, low power consumption, and long life; the disadvantages are high manufacturing costs, the technology is not yet fully mature, and the price is very high. In addition, it is currently mainly monochrome display, and color display has just been launched on the market and is even more immature. Micro LED is generally combined with waveguide optics (such as DOE or HOE) to achieve a thin and light design and high brightness output, so it can only be used in information prompt glasses.

3) LCoS:

Advantages are high resolution and high contrast; disadvantages are high cost and temperature sensitivity. Usually used in conjunction with waveguide optics, such as DOE, because LCoS requires efficient light coupling into the waveguide.

(4) MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems):

MEMS technology, such as DLP, is usually combined with free-form lenses or specially designed optical systems to achieve high brightness and high efficiency.

*. Which display and optical solutions will be more suitable for the future development of AR and VR?

MicroLED and LCoS technologies may be more suitable for the future development of AR glasses due to their balance in brightness, contrast, power consumption and resolution. For VR(Virtual reality), OLED-on-Si may maintain its position in the high-end market due to its high contrast and fast response time, while MiniLED technology may be competitive in the mid-end market due to its cost-effectiveness and good contrast.

*. Why AR glasses are not popular now? But sales of smart glasses are starting to rise?

There are many reasons why AR glasses have not yet become widely popular, including insufficient technological maturity, high cost, lack of killer applications, and consumer acceptance of the wearing experience. However, with the improvement of technology and reduction of costs, as well as the integration of AI technology, sales of smart glasses are starting to rise. The addition of AI provides smart glasses with more practical functions, such as real-time translation, health monitoring, etc. These functions are gradually attracting consumers' interest and driving sales growth.