Variable Attenuator for See-Through Day/Night Displays

In this SBIR Phase I proposal, Kent Optronics and its partner, University of Central Florida, propose a feasibility study on the liquid crystal technology which eventually leads to a high performance variable attenuator for head mounted see-through day/night displays for military aviation and untethered infantry use. The attenuator is capable of changing from high optical transmission for an unobscured view of the environment to low transmission to enhance the contrast of the display versus the ambient. The proposed attenuator expectedly has a wide continuously variable attenuation dynamic range from fractional percent to =80% with a fast switching time less than 1 second over a wide operation temperate from -40 to 50 oC. The attenuator is designed to fit a few selected see-through augmented reality (AR) head-mounted display (HMD) platforms including wave-guide and/or prism, allowing 1.2:1 contrast of the display to the worst-case ambient conditions being 2,000-fL. In Phase I, a thorough trade analysis and model validation test on a few attenuator designs will be conducted to select the best candidate design for prototype development in Phase II. The prototype is expected to reach TRL of 6 or greater at the end of Phase II.