Design and manufacture AR head-mounted displays: A review and outlook

Abstract

Augmented reality head-mounted displays (AR-HMDs) enable users to see real images of the outside world and visualize virtual information generated by a computer at any time and from any location, making them useful for various applications. The manufacture of AR-HMDs combines the fields of optical engineering, optical materials, optical coating, precision manufacturing, electronic science, computer science, physiology, ergonomics, etc. This paper primarily focuses on the optical engineering of AR-HMDs. Optical combiners and display devices are used to combine real-world and virtual-world objects that are visible to the human eye. In this review, existing AR-HMD optical solutions employed for optical combiners are divided into three categories: optical solutions based on macro-, micro-, and nanooptics. The physical principles, optical structure, performance parameters, and manufacturing process of different types of AR-HMD optical solutions are subsequently analyzed. Moreover, their advantages and disadvantages are investigated and evaluated. In addition, the bottlenecks and future development trends in the case of AR-HMD optical solutions are discussed.