Apple AR headset debuts in mid-2022 with lightweight Fresnel lens design, Kuo says
Apple is expected to use Fresnel lenses in its rumored augmented reality headset to increase the device's field of view and keep weight less than 150 grams, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Credit: AppleInsider
In a note to investors Monday seen by AppleInsider, Kuo says that Apple will use Fresnel lenses as the design solution for the head-mounted device's ultra-short focal length lenses. That will increase the optical performance of the device while cutting weight and thickness.
"We believe that Apple will use a hybrid Fresnel lens design further to enhance the Fresnel lens's optical performance (e.g., improve vignetting and optical artifacts), and each hybrid Fresnel lens comprises three stacked Fresnel lenses," Kuo writes.
The analyst added that the micro-OLEDs used in Apple's head-mounted device could compensate for the light intake caused by adopting Fresnel lenses. He attributes that to the high brightness of the micro-OLEDs, and says the platform could "provide innovative [augmented reality and mixed reality] experiences."
Apple's supposed system could do away with some of the issues of current VR or AR headsets with Fresnel lenses, which typically weigh about 300 to 400 grams and sport a bulkier form factor. One of the major design challenges among VR headset manufacturers is to achieve a thin and light enough design.
However, Kuo says that one of the major competitive advantages of video-see-through augmented reality devices, like the rumored "Apple Glass," is that field of view requirements are generally lower than VR headsets. Because of that, they can be made thinner and lighter.
The analyst says that the use of Fresnel lenses will allow Apple to strike a better balance between its headset's form factor and its field of view. The rumored Apple HMD device could weigh about 150 grams or slightly less, he added. Each hybrid Fresnel lens for a single eye is made up of a stack of three Fresnel lenses. Since each Apple headset will use two hybrid Fresnel lenses, that will equal 10 lenses in total per device.
"The Apple HMD Fresnel lens material is plastic. Because of the customized material and coating, the light transmission is not lower than glass," Kuo writes. "It also means that the [average selling price] is not low."
Kuo names Young Optics and Genius as suppliers of Fresnel lenses for Apple's headset device. He believes Young Optics will be the primary supplier, since Apple and the company started working together and investing more resources earlier than Genius.
Earlier in March, Kuo predicted that Apple's AR headset could feature advanced eye tracking and possibly iris recognition technology.
Apple is thought to be working on at least two separate headset devices, including a visor-like, mixed reality device that Kuo says could debut in 2022 for an estimated $1,000. That device could then be followed by the thinner and lighter "Apple Glass" in 2025, and by AR contact lenses after 2030.
Credit: AppleInsider
In a note to investors Monday seen by AppleInsider, Kuo says that Apple will use Fresnel lenses as the design solution for the head-mounted device's ultra-short focal length lenses. That will increase the optical performance of the device while cutting weight and thickness.
"We believe that Apple will use a hybrid Fresnel lens design further to enhance the Fresnel lens's optical performance (e.g., improve vignetting and optical artifacts), and each hybrid Fresnel lens comprises three stacked Fresnel lenses," Kuo writes.
The analyst added that the micro-OLEDs used in Apple's head-mounted device could compensate for the light intake caused by adopting Fresnel lenses. He attributes that to the high brightness of the micro-OLEDs, and says the platform could "provide innovative [augmented reality and mixed reality] experiences."
Apple's supposed system could do away with some of the issues of current VR or AR headsets with Fresnel lenses, which typically weigh about 300 to 400 grams and sport a bulkier form factor. One of the major design challenges among VR headset manufacturers is to achieve a thin and light enough design.
However, Kuo says that one of the major competitive advantages of video-see-through augmented reality devices, like the rumored "Apple Glass," is that field of view requirements are generally lower than VR headsets. Because of that, they can be made thinner and lighter.
The analyst says that the use of Fresnel lenses will allow Apple to strike a better balance between its headset's form factor and its field of view. The rumored Apple HMD device could weigh about 150 grams or slightly less, he added. Each hybrid Fresnel lens for a single eye is made up of a stack of three Fresnel lenses. Since each Apple headset will use two hybrid Fresnel lenses, that will equal 10 lenses in total per device.
"The Apple HMD Fresnel lens material is plastic. Because of the customized material and coating, the light transmission is not lower than glass," Kuo writes. "It also means that the [average selling price] is not low."
Kuo names Young Optics and Genius as suppliers of Fresnel lenses for Apple's headset device. He believes Young Optics will be the primary supplier, since Apple and the company started working together and investing more resources earlier than Genius.
Earlier in March, Kuo predicted that Apple's AR headset could feature advanced eye tracking and possibly iris recognition technology.
Apple is thought to be working on at least two separate headset devices, including a visor-like, mixed reality device that Kuo says could debut in 2022 for an estimated $1,000. That device could then be followed by the thinner and lighter "Apple Glass" in 2025, and by AR contact lenses after 2030.
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I checked Wiki about it and, while there is probably no small way to explain what it is, a paragraph about it would have been helpful.
Not all lenses are equal. Hopefully they put in better lenses then the Oculus Quest uses. The Quest refracts light pretty badly (i.e. lossy) in dark scenes.
This 150g is pretty darn good for a VR headset, but it would be completely unacceptable for AR glasses. Who would accept the weight of an iPhone pushing down on the bridge of their nose and their ears? For AR glasses to become mainstream, they can't weigh much more than regular glasses - so, around 30g.
Simple lenses have surfaces which can be expressed as parts of two spheres. These are easy to make, as we have been making them for centuries, and have developed pretty complex machinery to help. The downside is strong lenses (which bend light a large amount) with spherical surfaces need to be very thick.
Fresnel lenses are a way of addressing the thickness of simple lenses. Take a simple, spherical lens, and cut it into concentric circles centered on the axis through which you look. Next, collapse it by making each ring thinner along the axis through which you look. If you take a cross-section of the lens, it looks a bit like the teeth on a rip saw. Close to the edges, the teeth can be very steep. As you get to the center, they become more shallow. Finally, at the center itself, you have what looks like a very thin spherical lens. The surface is very complicated (especially if you apply it to both faces of the lens), so they have historically been really hard to produce reliably with acceptable quality. A handful of photographic lenses use them, but cost a lot because of the high reject rate.
Fresnel lenses also have certain desirable properties like chromatic aberration going in the opposite direction from simple spherical lenses. Strong lens assemblies tend to produce weird color fringes, because the different wavelengths of light bend very slightly different amounts as they move between materials. Using a Fresnel lens in the path helps cancel this out, which lets you have a strong lens assembly which doesn't distort color.
Lenses to let us comfortably focus on something maybe an inch from our eyes have to be extremely strong. Without Fresnel lenses, the lens assemblies would have to be very thick (and heavy) or composed of exotic, high-refractive-index glass or plastic, and you would get weird color fringes on bright objects.
There is no way on earth you can expect Apple will sell goggles like that intended for street use. Seriously. 0% chance. If you’re worried about it you don’t know Apple very well.
”video-see-through augmented reality devices, like the rumored "Apple Glass,"
But depicted seems to be VR headset, for home use likely. This article, or Kuo’s statement, mish-mash with AR vs. VR, with see-thru and video see-thru. It don’t make much sense to me.
There's the VR-style headset a la Oculus or PSVR that these Fresnel lenses would be for, replacing the thick spherical lenses that typically exist directly in front of the eyes to present an OLED (or potentially microLED) screen behind the lenses directly to the eyes. You can also implement exterior cameras that pass through video to the screens inside for a "see through" effect as needed in between VR uses or to present an AR-like experience. But the goal here is to reduce the depth (and weight) needed by the spherical lenses and distance from the eye to the screen.
The AR glasses ("Apple Glass") would be using waveguide-type tech to direct images from tiny microLED or tiny OLED screens that are off to the side (usually) into the lenses and back into the eye, superimposing the imagery on top of real world environment passing through the lenses — which are thinner/flatter like eyeglasses and do not require a Fresnel-type design—directly.
Two different products. Some overlapping uses and tech. Sentences like this "Apple's supposed system could do away with some of the issues of current VR or AR headsets with Fresnel lenses, which typically weigh about 300 to 400 grams and sport a bulkier form factor." just confuse the issue as you wouldn't use Fresnel lenses in a pure AR headset like the Glass is rumored to be.