The holographic image at the heart of the next virtual reality headsets

One of the main shortcomings of current virtual reality headsets is the size of the devices. They are bulky and heavy, which makes them quite uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. Most use lenses, Fresnel lenses, which impose a minimum distance between the eye and the screen and suffer from chromatic aberrations.chromatic aberrations. More and more builders are turning to pancake optics. This allows the creation of thinner devices, but the image is less luminous and the field of view is reduced.

Nvidia has collaborated with researchers from Stanford University to create a third option that could revolutionize VR headsets and allow them to be worn comfortably all day long. They have thus created holographic glasses with a thickness of only 2.5 millimeters and which weigh only 60 grams.

A hologram in front of each eye

Their system is composed of a waveguide, a spatial light modulator (SLM) and what could be translated as a “geometric phase lens” (geometric phase lens). It generates three-dimensional holograms in front of each eye, but it can also display two-dimensional images for stereoscopic display like current virtual reality headsets.

The prototype looks like simple glasses, the glasses of which would have been changed.glasses. However, it should be noted that it contains only the display and nothing else, and is equipped for the moment with two large, unattractive ribbons that are used to connect it to a computer. It only offers a field of view of 22.8 degrees. However, the researchers indicate that it would be quite simple to reach 120 degrees (like current helmets). This technology seems very promising but it is only in its infancy. It will certainly take a few years and several generations of helmets before it hits the market.