These slides use concepts from my (Jeff Funk) course entitled analyzing hi-tech opportunities to analyze the increasing economic feasibility of virtual retinal displays. These displays focus light on a person’s retina using LEDs, digital micro-mirrors and lenses, which are all encased in a head-set about the size of glasses. They enable high resolution 3D video images with a large field of view that are far superior to existing displays. Rapid improvements in LEDs and digital micro-mirrors (one type of MEMS) are enabling these displays to experience rapid reductions in cost and improvements in performance.

1. 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

2. An Introduction to Virtual Retinal Display
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANivDWP2pQU

3. 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

4. Timeline of Diplays
1957: Split-flap
display
1964: Monochrome
plasma display
1968: Light
emitting diode
1986: Thin film
transistor LCD
2003: OLED
2013: VRD

5. Virtual Reality Display
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQfxvHhLrkk

6. 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

7. VRD System Set-up
• No real image produced
• Image formed on the retina of user’s eye

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. Important Dimensions of Performance
(ie. Customer needs)

13. Important Dimensions of Performance
• Size and weight
• Resolution
• Field of view
• Colour and intensity resolution
• Brightness
• Power consumption
• A true stereoscopic display
• Cost

14. Important Dimensions of Performance
Small size and lightweight
• Does not require a physical screen
• small number of components
• miniaturization of components

15. 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

16. Important Dimensions of Performance
Large field of view
• controlled by the scan angle of the primary scanner and
the power of the optical system

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. Important Technological
Components/Systems & their
Improvements

23. 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

24. 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.

25. Laser Technology
Fiber Lasers - have the increasing reliability and the lowering
costs

26. Laser Technology
Miniaturization of laser diodes

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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.

30. LED Technology
LED bulb efficiency expected to continue improving as cost decline

31. Scanners
Mechanical 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

32. Mechanical resonant scanner

33. MEMs
Reduction in size of MEMs technology

34. Improvement in MEMs technology

35. Future Opportunities

36. Future Applications
• Medical
o Radiology
o Surgery
• Manufacturing
• Communications
• Virtual Reality
• Military

37. Medical (Radiology)
• Observe patients
with real-time video X-
rays
•Replacing the present
bulky Video Monitors

38. Medical (Surgery)
• Easier location of tumors in the
body cavity
•A depth indicator could be
visually laid over the obstructing
organ

39. Manufacturing

40. Communications
• Personal Video Pager
• Video Fax Devices
• Telephone Service

41. Virtual Reality
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7Sgs2YxJ
QI

42. Military

43. Thank You