Bernard Kress plenary: Designing the next generation of wearable displays

In this Optical Engineering plenary talk, Bernard Kress of Google points out that three years ago, industry and consumers learned that there was more to head-mounted displays than the long-lasting but steady market for defense or the market for gadget video player headsets, when the first versions of Smart Glasses were introduced to the public.

Since then, most major consumer electronics companies have unveiled their own versions of eyewear-based headsets. This rush resulted in the build-up of a formidable zoo of optical technologies, each claiming to be best suited for the task on hand.

Today, the question for optical designers in particular is not, "will the market happen?" but rather, "which optical technologies will be best fitted for the various declinations of the existing wearable display market?"

Bernard Kress has made significant scientific contributions as a researcher, professor, consultant, instructor and author, in the fields of micro-optics, diffractives and holography, for research, industry and consumer electronics for over twenty years. He has been involved in half a dozen start-ups in the Silicon Valley on optical data storage, optical telecom, biophotonics, optical sensors, imaging and display. Kress holds 29 international granted patents. He is a short course instructor for SPIE on micro-optics.