Facebook's New Concept of Compact VR Optics

Facebook presented a new class of display designs that mixes holographic optics, directional backlighting, laser illumination, and polarization-based optical folding for thin, lightweight, and high-performance near-eye displays for virtual reality.

The new design uses only thin, flat films as optical components meaning that we might get VR displays with thicknesses of less than 9 mm, fields of view of over 90 degrees horizontally, and sunglasses-like form factors at some point in the future.

The team also promises "a full-color display using wavelength-multiplexed holographic lenses that uses laser illumination to provide a large gamut and highly saturated color." The team states that the new designs can give resolutions similar to modern VR headsets and scale to human visual acuity limits. 

You can learn more about the project and find the full paper here.