SWAVE, which showcased its technology last year, is back with new developments in its holographic display solution. Their approach uses phase-change material, originally developed for memory applications, now repurposed as a holographic modulator. This enables extremely small pixels—just 0.25 microns—ideal for AR glasses, their primary target application.

Key Highlights:

• Static Modulator: Last year’s demo featured a static modulator that requires no power once the hologram is encoded. It displayed a negative hologram inside the device.
• Positive Hologram Demo: This year, SWAVE demonstrates a positive hologram projected onto paper, proving it’s a real image. It focuses at a specific height above the device and offers a high depth of field due to its small aperture. A second, dimmer image is encoded at a higher plane.
• Dual-Plane Imaging: Another demo shows near-field and far-field images using glasses with a holographic optical element acting as a combiner.
• True Holography with Lasers: Full-color requires three lasers—red, green, and blue. SWAVE uses color filters instead of field-sequential addressing to maintain the bistable nature of the device.
• Color Filter Approach: A random RGB filter pattern covers hundreds of quarter-micron pixels, enabling full color in a proof-of-concept stage.
• Image Delivery for AR: A thin holographic optical element expands and positions the image for the eye.
• Compute Simulation: A real-time simulator demonstrates dynamic depth rendering using sliders to adjust image and reconstruction planes. The FPGA-based system runs at ~8 fps, with plans for ASIC implementation at a 22 nm node for efficiency.

SWAVE is assembling the pieces—color, optics, and compute—to realize its vision for AR glasses.