Researchers discover a method to make VR headgear smaller than a pair of glasses.

Nvidia and Stanford University researchers have joined together to produce VR glasses that resemble conventional eyeglasses much more closely. Although the ribbons that extend from either eye give them a rather silly appearance, they are significantly flatter and more compact than the typical goggle-like virtual reality headsets used today.

The research paper presented at Siggraph 2022(opens in new tab) states that the uncomfortable form factor of Ar / Vr screens is “a substantial obstacle to widespread adoption of VR technology.”

With lenses that are only 2.5mm thick, these aptly titled “Holographic Glasses” can deliver a full-color 3D holographic image. The ability to reduce all the necessary components to such a small size represents a tremendous advancement for VR technology, which now relies on a lens to amplify a smaller display that is placed farther away from the headset.

Pancake lenses are used in the Holographic Glasses prototype, an idea that has been floated a few times in recent years. In addition to getting a much smaller profile, these pancake lenses are supposed to have a few other advantages, including a limitless resolution that can be adjusted for VR headsets and a far wider field of view of up to 200 degrees.

Before this, earlier iterations of pancaked VR glasses were capable to use them to cut the distance between the lens and the screen to a tiny portion of that of modern VR headsets. They could only show 2D images, though. Not ideal for the immersive experiences of today.

The Stanford and Nvidia technology aims to improve upon those earlier prototypes by delivering 3D visuals and further decreasing the distance between the lens and the screen.

The glasses are outlined as follows in the research paper: “A phase-only SLM positioned on the waveguide in front of the user’s eye is illuminated by a coherent light source connected into a pupil-replicating waveguide. A thin geometric phase (GP) lens expands the little image that the SLM behind the device generates.”

Granted, the issue is a little difficult to understand from the essay alone, and I’m certain that the outcomes are even more astounding in person. The end result, meanwhile, is a very little VR gadget that, if developed outside of a lab, has the potential to transform the industry. Additionally, it is significantly lighter than even the Meta Quest 2(opens in new tab), which weighs in at 503g, at just 60g.

However, it’s more of a teaser of things to come than a prepared item at this time. There are certain restrictions: this wearable prototype only provided a FOV of 22.8°, but there is potential for a significantly larger FOV than current generation VR headsets. With only 16.1°, the benchtop prototype supplied even less.

Another disadvantage is the probable need for extremely accurate measurement of the user’s pupil, which will be difficult without a carefully considered design. The researchers point out that it might be conceivable to utilize an infrared gaze tracker for this, but you would need to be able to continuously monitor the wearer’s pupil size as they will frequently adjust to different types of lighting while wearing the glasses.

Holographic Glasses for Virtual Reality, a recently released research article by Jonghyun Kim, Manu Gopakumar, Suyeon Choi, Yifan Peng, Ward Lopes, and Gordon Wetzstein, provides detailed information on the entire project.

But even these idea VR glasses have a number of pretty impressive features. According to the researchers, “a true glasses-form factor holographic VR was presented for the first time with an idea employing the user’s pupil as a natural Fourier filter as well as the Pupil-HOGD algorithm considering the HDOs and the pupil size.”

We just need to wait and see which resourceful business uses it effectively in a shipping product.