AR/VR optical designPalo Alto, California

NEAR-EYE / WAVEGUIDE / DISPLAY

AR/VR and near-eye display optical design, from architecture to prototype.

Palo Alto Optics provides AR/VR optical design and near-eye display engineering: waveguide, pancake, and birdbath architectures, exit-pupil expansion, and the optomechanical and calibration work that turns a display concept into wearable hardware.

Discuss an AR/VR display project Review engineering scope

01Requirements

02Architecture

03Optical design

04Prototype

05Calibration

AR/VR waveguide design services and near-eye display optical design for headset, smart-glasses, and HUD programs.

01Engineering reality

Near-eye optics trade image quality against size, weight, and eye box.

AR/VR display design is a system of competing constraints: field of view, eye box, form factor, brightness, efficiency, and cost all pull against each other, and the right architecture depends on the product.

Architecture selection

Waveguide, birdbath, and pancake architectures each trade field of view, eye box, efficiency, and thickness differently.

Eye box and pupil expansion

Delivering a usable eye box, often through exit-pupil expansion, without unacceptable loss or artifacts.

Wearable integration

Fitting the optics into a headset or glasses form factor with acceptable weight, comfort, and manufacturability.

02Engineering scope

The display architecture, optics, and integration designed together.

PAO can help select an architecture, design the optics, or diagnose a near-eye subsystem already in development.

Define a technical work package

Architecture trade studies

Waveguide vs birdbath vs pancake, microdisplay selection, and field-of-view, eye-box, and efficiency trades.

Near-eye optical design

Combiner, lens, and waveguide design and optimization for image quality, distortion, and uniformity.

Exit-pupil expansion

Pupil-replication strategies to deliver a usable eye box within the form factor and efficiency budget.

Illumination and microdisplay

MicroLED, microOLED, and LCoS integration, brightness, contrast, and etendue management.

Optomechanical design

Mounts, alignment, tolerance, and packaging for a wearable form factor and manufacture.

Prototyping and calibration

Build, alignment, distortion and color calibration, and image-quality verification.

03Technical envelope

Near-eye optics for AR, VR, and heads-up systems.

Representative capability is shown with the context needed to qualify it. Program requirements control the final architecture and acceptance values.

AR smart glasses

Waveguide and combiner optics for lightweight, all-day-wearable augmented-reality displays.

VR and mixed reality headsets

Pancake and refractive optics for wide field of view and compact headset form factors.

Heads-up and helmet displays

Combiner and projection optics for automotive, aviation, and defense HUD and helmet systems.

Enterprise and industrial wearables

Rugged near-eye displays for field, logistics, and manufacturing use.

REFERENCE ENVELOPE

ArchitecturesWaveguide / birdbath / pancakeSelected against field, eye box, efficiency, and form factor

MicrodisplaysmicroLED / microOLED / LCoSIntegration, brightness, contrast, and etendue

Design focusFOV, eye box, distortion, MTFImage quality within a wearable budget

Engagement stageArchitecture to prototypeEnter at any point in development

Near-eye performance depends on a tightly coupled set of requirements. PAO helps define achievable targets and the architecture that best meets them for your product.

04What you receive

Engineering outputs your team can review, build, test, and maintain.

The exact package follows the program stage and scope. Assumptions, interfaces, decisions, and acceptance evidence remain visible.

Architecture recommendation

Selected display architecture with the trade study and rationale behind it.

Optical design package

Combiner, waveguide, or lens design, prescription, performance budgets, and tolerances.

Eye-box and pupil analysis

Exit-pupil expansion strategy and eye-box, efficiency, and uniformity analysis.

Optomechanical concept

Wearable packaging, mounts, alignment, and tolerance interfaces.

Prototype and calibration plan

Build strategy, alignment, distortion and color calibration, and image-quality verification.

05Controlled delivery

A local engineering interface from first review through release.

PAO leads the technical work, coordinates specialized fabrication and production resources under the project quality process, and keeps responsibility for requirements, interfaces, evidence, and issue closure clear.

01
Technical intake
Define the system boundary, decision to be made, current evidence, constraints, and confidentiality path.
02
Requirements and risk
Create measurable requirements, interface assumptions, performance budgets, and a ranked technical risk register.
03
Architecture and proof
Compare viable concepts and retire the highest-risk assumptions with analysis, breadboards, or targeted tests.
04
Detailed engineering
Develop controlled optical, mechanical, calibration, test, and supplier-ready documentation.
05
Build and verification
Support procurement, assembly, alignment, test correlation, root cause, and evidence-based iteration.
06
Release and transfer
Close acceptance criteria, configuration, supplier questions, manufacturing issues, and production handoff.

06Qualification questions

Questions engineering teams ask before engaging.

01Which near-eye architecture is best, waveguide or pancake?

It depends on the product. Waveguides suit lightweight see-through AR glasses; pancake optics suit compact wide-field VR. PAO runs an architecture trade study against your field-of-view, eye-box, efficiency, and form-factor targets.

02Can you design the waveguide and exit-pupil expansion?

Yes. PAO designs near-eye combiner and waveguide optics including exit-pupil expansion strategies to deliver a usable eye box within the form-factor and efficiency budget.

03Do you support prototype build and calibration?

Yes. Engagements can run from architecture selection through optical design, prototype build, alignment, and distortion and color calibration.