Stereoscopic near to eye display using a single microdisplay

A binocular Near to Eye Displays (NED) offering stereoscopic images is technically very challenging to realize. Already in a biocular system, there are may issues related to health and wellbeing although both eyes get an identical image. The virtual reality display (VRD), based on planar waveguide, offers an opportunity to realize a stereoscopic, ergonomically superior NED, if it is based on a single optical system offering images for both eyes. In this paper it is discussed how frame sequential stereoscopic images can be shown using a planar waveguide based NED. This system has only a single microdisplay and single image formation optics. The illumination of the LCD in this stereoscopic application differs from the biocular one. It is essential that the diffractive planar waveguide has very asymmetric grating profiles. An example of a design of a planar waveguide based optical engine is shown.