Virtual Retinal Display

(VRD)

Ng Heng Chung Jaryl, Muhammad Nabil, Xavier Liau

For information on other technologies, please see Jeff Funk’s slide share account (http://www.slideshare.net/Funk98/presentations) or his book

with Chris Magee: Exponential Change: What drives it? What does it tell us about the future?

http://www.amazon.com/Exponential-Change-drives-about-future-ebook/dp/B00HPSAYEM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1398325920&sr=8-

1&keywords=exponential+change

An Introduction to Virtual Retinal Display

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANivDWP2pQU

Contents

• Timeline of VRD

• Virtual Reality Display

• Definition

• VRD System Setup

• Safety

• Advantaged Features (Customer needs)

• Important Technological Components

• Important Dimensions Of Performance & Cost

• Key Components & Important Dimensions of Performance and Cost

• Future Applications

• Avegant Glyph/Conclusion

Timeline of Diplays1957: Split-flap

display

1964: Monochrome

plasma display

1968: Light

emitting diode

1986: Thin film

transistor LCD

2003: OLED

2013: VRD

Virtual Reality Display

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQfxvHhLrkk

Definition● Known as a retinal scan display (RSD) or retinal

projector (RP)

● Display technology that draws a raster display directly

onto the retina of the eye

● User sees what appears to be a conventional display

floating in space in front of them

VRD System Set-up

• No real image produced

• Image formed on the retina of user’s eye

VRD System Set-up

• Photon source generates a coherent beam of light

• System uses it to draw a diffraction spot on the retina

• Intensity modulated to match intensity of image

• Modulated beam scanned to place each image point at

the proper position on the retina

• Scanner could be used in calligraphic mode or in raster

mode

VRD System Set-up

• Optical beam must then be properly projected into the

eye

• Exit pupil of VRD to be coplanar with entrance pupil of

eye

• Lens and cornea will focus the beam on the retina

forming a spot

• Brightness of spot controlled by intensity modulation

VRD System Set-up

• Moving spot draws an image on the retina

• Eye’s persistence allows image to be continuous and

stable

• Drive electronics synchronize the scanners and intensity

modulator forming a stable image

Safety

• Rigorous safety standards by the American National Standards Institute and the International Electrotechnical Commission were applied in the development

• Prevention of eye damage by constantly shifting from point to point with the beams focus

• Emergency safety system

• Harmless to the eyes and increase comfort during viewing due to reflected light

Important Dimensions of Performance

(ie. Customer needs)

Important Dimensions of Performance

• Size and weight

• Resolution

• Field of view

• Colour and intensity resolution

• Brightness

• Power consumption

• A true stereoscopic display

• Cost

Important Dimensions of Performance

Small size and lightweight

• Does not require a physical screen

• small number of components

• miniaturization of components

Important Dimensions of Performance

High resolution• Limiting factors: diffraction, optical aberrations from

the optical components and how small the light spot on

the retina can be made

• Capable of reaching resolutions equivalent to Nyquist limit base on photoreceptor spacing of the retina

Important Dimensions of Performance

Large field of view• controlled by the scan angle of the primary scanner and

the power of the optical system

Important Dimensions of Performance

Vibrant colours and intensity resolution

• Colour generated by using three photon sources(eg. red, green, blue laser) overlapping in space yielding a single spot color pixel

• thus able to emit highly saturated pure colours

• Proper control of the current will

allow greater than ten bits of

intensity resolution per colour

Important Dimensions of Performance

High brightness• VRD brightness is only limited by the power of the light source

• a bright image can be created with under one microwatt of laser light

• Laser diodes in the several milliwatt range are common

• systems created with laser diode sources will operate at low laser output

levels or with significant beam attenuation

Important Dimensions of Performance

Low power consumption• VRD delivers light to the retina efficiently

• The exit pupil of the system can be made relatively small allowing

most of the generated light to enter the eye

• the scanning is done with a resonant device which is operating with

a high figure of merit, or Q

Important Dimensions of Performance

A true stereoscopic display

• The VRD has an individual wavefront generated for each pixel

• It is possible to vary the curvature of the wavefronts which determines the focus depth

• This variation of the image focus distance on a pixel by pixel basis, combined with the projection of stereo images, allows for the creation of a more natural three-dimensional environment

Important Dimensions of Performance

Falling cost• Basic design of VRD consist of subsystems that largely make use of

established optical and electronic technologies

• investment in specialized manufacturing equipment is not required currently

• thus, due to these standards manufacturing practises and parts,VRD can be mass produced at lower cost

Important Technological

Components/Systems & their

Improvements

Light sources

LED Technology• lower power consumption

• cheaper and easier to manufacture

• Small and durable

Laser Technology• High intensity of light emitted by the

photons

• light can be collected and easily focused

down at a point

Laser Technology

During the past several years, the evolution of high-power solid-state lasers has outstripped Moore’s law. This chart shows the power available from commercial single-mode and multimode solid-state lasers and, for comparison, what the power would be if it had doubled every year.

Laser Technology

Fiber Lasers - have the increasing reliability and the lowering costs

Laser Technology

Miniaturization of laser diodes

LED Technology

The development of LED technology has caused their efficiency and light output to rise exponentiallly, with a doubling

occurring approximately every 36 months since the 1960s, in a way similar to Moore's law. This trend is generally attributed

to the parallel development of other semiconductor technologies and advances in optics and material science, and has

been called Haitz's law after Dr. Roland Haitz

LED Technology

Yole Développement’s LED experts expect all phases of LED production, including packaging, to undergo a >10× cost

reduction over the next 10 years

LED Technology

Cost reduction is driven by increasing production volumes, which affects LED and material costs, and by improvement in

LED luminous intensity, which enables the use of fewer LED chips.

LED Technology

LED bulb efficiency expected to continue improving as cost decline

ScannersMechanical resonant scanner• Low power

o Operate at natural resonance frequency

• Compact-sized, Lightweight

• Virtually unlimited operating life

o No frictional contact between parts

• Less error

o Use of a single facet

MEMs scanner● Ultra-small ● Highly precise and fast response● offers low-cost high-volume fabrication

capability

Mechanical resonant scanner

MEMs

Reduction in size of MEMs technology

Improvement in MEMs technology

Future Opportunities

Future Applications

• Medical

o Radiology

o Surgery

• Manufacturing

• Communications

• Virtual Reality

• Military

Medical (Radiology)

• Observe patients

with real-time video X-

rays

•Replacing the present

bulky Video Monitors

Medical (Surgery)

• Easier location of tumors in the

body cavity

•A depth indicator could be

visually laid over the obstructing

organ

Manufacturing

Communications

• Personal Video Pager

• Video Fax Devices

• Telephone Service

Virtual Reality

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7Sgs2YxJQI

Military

Thank You