Holographic Waveguided Eye Tracker

To address the Air Force need for an eye tracker for avionics helmet systems, Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new Holographic Waveguided Eye Tracker (HWET). This proposed HWET is based on holographic waveguide technology and optical motion sensors. Innovations in angularly multiplexed diffractive optics and use of optical motion sensors will enable the design of a HWET that offers a low profile, lightweight, fast eye tracking device that can be integrated into the visor or lens of fighter pilot avionics helmets and will not inhibit the user’s vision or impair the pilot’s abilities during high-g maneuvers. This will provide eye position-based weapons cueing by line of sight. In Phase I, POC will design a near-to-eye gaze tracker that can be mounted in a waveguide HMD. We will demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed HWET with both computer modeling and a functional prototype. In Phase II, POC plans to optimize the HWET system and show its ability to function at an eye-safe, invisible wavelength and to be integrated into a near-eye display based on holographic waveguide optics with a 30 mm eye box and large FOV. BENEFIT: Eye tracking has a large commercial application in marketing research and usability testing. Businesses everywhere use eye tracking to determine how effectively their products and advertising capture potential customers’ attention. Other markets include academic and medical research. Medical researchers use eye trackers to link visual stimulus to physiological response. Compared with existing eye tracking systems, HWET will offer a smaller, cheaper, less cumbersome, more aesthetically pleasing eye tracking system unlike any current commercially available system.