Biaxially curved ultra-thin, light ambient dimming LC films for AR headsets

Abstract

One of the challenges in see-through AR headsets is rendering outdoor scenes when there is high ambient brightness. This is because in such conditions the luminance of real objects becomes comparable to or higher than the maximum luminance of the virtual object, severely impacting the virtual image contrast. One solution to this is to use LC-based ambient dimming cells to modulate background brightness. However, conventional glass LC cells add unwanted weight and volume to headsets and cannot be biaxially curved. This talk will explain how a breakthrough liquid crystal optics technology built on ultra-thin, light bioplastic films instead of glass uniquely enables active-matrix pixelated ambient dimming on biaxially curved surfaces.