Compact Waveguide Hologram Projection HMD Visor Optics

Physical Optics Corporation (POC) proposes to develop a new compact, lightweight wide-field-of-view visor optics for head (and helmet) mounted displays (HMDs) based on POC's demonstrated aberration-compensated holographic optical element (MAC-HOE)technology. Taking advantage of the flexibility of holography, the HMD optics can be made compact using see-through waveguide image projection conformal to the curved visor substrate, filling a wide field of view (FOV) without bulky optical components.This waveguide projection optics approach would be particularly useful for applications that require see-through capability such as for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). Using narrowband red-green-blue MAC-HOEs can significantly reduce the chromatic andgeometric aberration introduced by conventional HOEs and refractive optics. This proposal takes on the new challenge of extending the MAC-HOE concept of a full RGB color curved-substrate system combined with unique waveguide image projection forsee-through capability. In Phase I, POC will demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed HMD visor optics by computer design and analysis, and by fabricating and demonstrating the key components. The proposed compact, lightweight HMD visor optics willsignificantly advance head mounted display technology. Applications include virtual environment training, avionics, medicine, education, CAD/CAM, video conferencing, entertainment, and video games.