r/augmentedreality

Hi everyone! I have been trying to build truly open source smart glasses (both hardware and software) based on ESP32 for almost a year now as a side project.

I did accomplish one version of PCB that functions similar to meta ray ban but the audio video quality is inferior (OV cameras cannot match Sony, and no bone conduction speaker with only one microphone). Image of the set attached.

I tried upgrading the product with an AR screen through a microled projected on the lens (similar to focals from North). This is where i am stuck. I am trying to build something inexpensive so waveguides and microprojectors are out of the question.

Needing suggestions and inputs from anyone experienced with options or has been developing smart glasses themselves. Would love to meet someone who can join me in building this if interested.

The total cost of this assembly is landing at 20$ for the PCB set, for bulk orders > 50 units from JLCPCB, and additional 20$ for other hardware components (screen, camera, speaker, battery and frame). So 40$ for audio-camera glasses, might land around 50$ for AR HUD.

I painfully learned through this project never to take ambitious development of industrial D2C products oneself. Better hand it to the chinese for refining, they get things done very quickly.

Hardware makers generally want thin waveguides around 0.5mm to keep smart glasses light and compact, but making the glass this thin actually reduces the maximum image resolution to 28ppd at typical bounce angles.

To reach 60ppd (the benchmark for sharp human vision) across lower bounce angles, a waveguide of at least 1mm is necessary, which doubles the thickness and adds unwanted weight and bulk to the frame. However, this resolution limit only affects narrow-linewidth laser light sources, whereas microLED displays are completely unaffected and can use ultra-thin waveguides without losing sharpness.

This difference comes down to how light from different projectors travels inside the glass. In waveguide-based smart glasses, each pixel of the virtual image enters the lens at a slightly different angle and bounces between the inner surfaces toward the eye. Because standard single-mode lasers emit pure light within a tiny color range under 0.1nm, the bouncing light waves overlap and cancel each other out at most angles. Only specific bounce angles survive the trip through a thin waveguide, meaning the glass blocks the angles in between and lowers the overall resolution across the FOV. In contrast, microLED emits a much wider color range above 10nm, which allows many overlapping bounce angles to survive and naturally fills in all the missing gaps.

The optical data shows that the exact resolution limit depends on how steeply the light bounces inside the waveguide. That 28ppd (2.13 arcmin) ceiling in a 0.5mm waveguide happens at a typical 40° bounce angle, where reaching the full 60ppd (1 arcmin) requires a 1.07mm lens. Increasing the glass thickness to 0.75mm still falls short of 60ppd for bounce angles under 50°, and any bounce angle below 42° requires glass thicker than 1mm. While manufacturers can force the missing laser angles through a thin waveguide by making the glass thickness slightly uneven by more than 100nm, doing so causes the bouncing light to spread out and blurs the image anyway.

Source: Angular resolution limit of augmented reality waveguides from guided mode theory

https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.09527

What if video game characters can jump in/out of screens and interact with the real world?

I’ve been exploring this idea with Quest 3 by tracking my monitors and attaching a portal shader to each of them.

3D models from asset store and Kenney.

the marketing slogan on the poster promises smarter glasses

and adds the RGB hint at the end.

the event will take place on october 27.

Running two or three sessions a week, 45 to 75 minutes each. For years that was either a tablet on a mini stand off to the side or printed cue cards I would thumb through, and losing eye contact to the stand was starting to show in feedback.

Monochrome green display sits in the upper part of my view, dim enough that nobody across the table can tell I'm reading. Auto-advance follows my voice and turns pages as I talk. If I need to jump a line manually there's a swipe on the temple, or a ring I bought with the INMO GO3 bundle that has a page-turn button.

For standing in front of a group and keeping eye contact while hitting your talking points, this is a different experience than looking down at a tablet. What surprised me more was the batteries. One in the glasses, one in the charging case out of the box, physical swap takes a few seconds. I started doing it between sessions as insurance and I've basically stopped thinking about battery life.

A couple of things to be realistic about. Auto-advance works great in a quiet room and gets confused in a noisy one. If a trainee cuts in with a long question or there's crosstalk at the back, the voice tracking can sit still waiting for me to pick back up. The ring is more reliable in that scenario. Nothing deal-breaking, just something you learn to work with over the first week or two.

The other small thing is script import. On Android you can only load plain TXT files so I'm stripping formatting out of a Word doc before every upload. iOS takes PDF and DOCX. I'm on Android.

Overall this is a notable upgrade from the tablet-on-a-stand setup for the people-facing training case specifically. Curious how it holds up over the next couple months as the software gets updates.

Created by The Forge, the AR experience technically stayed confined to the phone screen, but the real-world immersion was heavily enhanced by the physical environment built around it. Outside the UCI cinema, Umbrella Corporation personnel in white hazmat suits patrolled areas cordoned off with biohazard tape and weathered Raccoon City shipping containers. Visitors were even treated to blood-red ice cream shaped like the iconic Resident Evil logo. Inside the theater, Webedia pushed the atmosphere further for the invited community, guiding them from a sterile, clinical hospital environment through a descent into chaos, ultimately ending up in the snow-covered world of the film.

Work-in progress. I’ve always thought it’s cool to have an AR minimap of the area you are currently in, so I’ve been exploring this idea using Quest 3. Right now, the city is a generated low-poly placeholder (loosely Manhattan-shaped) that uses a hologram shader, with help from Claude Opus 5.5. Next, I will be plugging in real-map data.

Confirmatory Assignment agreement signed between Sony and Meta in December 2025

According to a report by ZDNet Korea, Sony transferred 419 XR headset patents to Meta. This move follows a December 2025 agreement to scale back Sony's internal hardware operations.

The patent portfolio includes 180 filings in the United States. Of those, 43 were already reassigned between June and September 2026. The remaining 239 patents are registered across Japan, China, South Korea, and Europe.

ZDNet believes this shows that Sony is stepping away from making its own XR devices, and that Meta will use the patents to develop smart glasses. However, I cannot say for certain if these patents cover anything beyond VR and MR headsets. At least based on ZDNet Korea's excerpt of the patent list (see image in comments). Also, keep in mind that I recently invited Sony's Chief XR Strategist for a keynote presentation, and he was very enthusiastic about the future of AR glasses.

🇬🇧 UK £749 / Sept 23
🇨🇦 Canada CA$1,149 / Sept 23
🇫🇷 France 899€ / Oct 13
🇮🇹 Italy 899€ / Oct 13
🇩🇪 Germany 899€ / Oct 13

Penn State researchers have developed a MEMS micromirror for augmented reality headsets that simultaneously steers light and shifts focal depth at microsecond speeds. Built around a 1mm mirror, this component replaces the multiple optical elements traditionally required for 3D beam control, reducing headset weight while eliminating the fixed-focus panel limitations that cause visual fatigue.

The unit uses thin layers of aluminum nitride, a piezoelectric material that flexes under applied voltage to physically tilt and reshape the mirror surface. This mechanism delivers true 3D spatial control of the beam in real time, demonstrating a 63mm focal shift in millionths of a second.

Engineers fabricate the mirrors using established semiconductor manufacturing processes, ensuring compatibility with standard microelectronics and compact optical architectures. Future development focuses on minimizing asymmetrical distortions and increasing scanning speeds for next-generation smart glasses.

Source: PennState

Paper: High speed biaxial piezoelectric MEMS micromirror with varifocal tunability

Hello all! I wanted to share my vision for the future of retro gaming in AR. Headed to Portland Retro Game Expo in a few days to showcase. Currently fighting with my soldering iron lol to get the controller bits all nice and tight.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated. I welcome the good, bad, and the ugly haha 🙌

Thank you,

Albert
idessa.io