Kyocera Develops Ultra-Thin Meta-Lens for Wearable 3D Displays

Kyocera meta-lens wearable display uses ultra-thin metasurface optics to project realistic 3D aerial images, paving the way for compact AR and VR devices

Kyocera Corporation has announced a major advancement in optical engineering with the development of a new, metasurface-based lens and prototype wearable aerial display. This innovation has been demonstrated through the ultra-thin optical components of the Kyocera meta-lens wearable display, which can provide realistic depth perception without a cumbersome form factor.

What is a Meta-Lens and Why It Matters

A meta-lens is an advanced optical component created using a metasurface, which is a high-volume-density layer of microscopic pillar-shaped structures smaller than the wavelength of light. Unlike traditional lenses, which use thickness and multiple glass elements with curvature, the meta-lens modulates light directly at the surface. The newly developed lens by Kyocera measures less than 1 millimeter in thickness compared to traditional lenses that exceed 1 centimeter in thickness, thus enabling dramatic reductions in size and weight.

Multiple Optical Functions within a Single Lens

Because these small structures are shaped in such a precise way, Kyocera's meta-lens can control several optical functions simultaneously, for example, wavelength and phase. That negates the need for several discrete optical parts, which in turn minimizes system complexity in design. In the Kyocera meta-lens wearable display, this enables a highly compact optical module while maintaining advanced performance in imaging.

Color-based focal control allows for natural depth

Using its proprietary meta-atom design technology, Kyocera engineered a meta-lens whose focal position changes depending on the color of light. For example, green images can appear farther away, while the red images form closer to the viewer. By projecting images at different depths depending on wavelength, the system creates three-dimensional aerial visuals with clear and natural depth cues. This method produces floating images in mid-air without relying on bulky, multi-layer optics.

A Compact Wearable Aerial Display Prototype

By integrating the new meta-lens with its existing high-resolution aerial imaging technologies, Kyocera was able to create a compact, lightweight wearable display that projects realistic 3D visuals. The Kyocera meta-lens wearable display marks a milestone toward next-generation visual interfaces that embed high-quality optics into body-worn devices and opens doors to a more immersive user experience.

Future potential and applications

Currently, the technology changes focal depth according to color, but future improvements could allow full-color and high-resolution aerial imagery. Advances in meta-atom design might even allow for smoother, more continuous 3D visuals projected into mid-air. Thin and lightweight, the Kyocera concept of a meta-lens wearable display promises smaller AR and VR glasses, slimmer cameras and projectors, and even wider innovations in optics throughout consumer electronics, industrial equipment, and many new applications.