Holographic AR Smartglasses

For decades, companies have been working on developing holographic eyepieces to address the augmented reality (AR) market, which is expected to grow to $90 billion by 2020. Most of the solutions to date are bulky and expensive with unexceptional picture quality. But recently, a leading supplier of materials and systems for holography decided to repurpose its patented holographic data storage technology to develop prototype displays that provide good performance at a reasonable cost.

Over the past two decades, HoloMirror technology has been developed and refined to produce complex holographic recording systems, but along the way, the company gained unique insights into the use of holography to create the most elusive component of AR—the display. Utilizing high-performance polymers, and combining a multitude of holograms in a single layer, the method enables better control of the quality and size of the images to optimize performance. The result is a more vivid color spectrum and a wider field of view (the goal is 60 degrees) than has ever been achieved. Best of all, the headset itself will consist of a thin, transparent eyepiece to combine a seamless view of the outside world with a computer display.

The company hopes to have prototypes available for testing by summer of this year.