We are getting closer to a market where AR, or Augmented Reality, can become part of our everyday life. One of the big obstacles has been the screen technology, and during an event in California company has presented panels that could be the future of AR.
The event in question is the Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara, California. Companies with peak competence in reality augmenting technology come here to present their latest creations, and a technology that has gained special attention is a prototype for a new type of OLED micropanels with several interesting properties.
The panels are about half an inch diagonally, with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels in color. They are both see-through and backlit and according to the maker of the prototype, Fraunhofer, they have an impressive maximal brightness of over 1000 nits. When one panel is used for each eye they can do 3D.
Panel and camera in one
What really makes these prototypes different from other AR-adjusted OLED panels is that they can not only show pixels, but also act as a camera that can capture visible light and infrared. This is partly because of a separate camera module is not necessary, but can be used for better image quality, and partly because the panels can track the movement of the eyes and adjust the content accordingly.
Mainly the latter property can really spur an active imagination. Using this technology you could make Google Glass-like glasses that automatically shows information about what you are looking at, or what you’re head is turn toward. Similar eye-tracking has been shown before, but has required external hardware that has been hard to implement with AR.
The technology is not intended for commercial production, but Fraunhofer intends to sell the technology to a company that is willing to implement it with an actual product. This is probably several years into the future, but if Glass gets the breakthrough Google is hoping for and Augmented Reality really takes off this could be one of the more interesting solutions we can hope to see in future products.
Source: Dvice
