Low-Latency Beaming Display: Implementation of Wearable, 133 μs Motion-to-Photon Latency Near-Eye Display

Area of Science:

• Optics
• Computer Vision
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Beaming Displays offer a novel near-eye display paradigm using a remote projector and passive headset.
• Existing Optical See-Through Head-Mounted Displays (OST-HMDs) face trade-offs in weight and computational demands.
• High motion-to-photon (M2P) latency in Beaming Displays degrades the augmented reality experience due to image displacement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a low-latency Beaming Display system.
• To reduce M2P latency without expensive high-speed components.
• To enhance the augmented reality experience by minimizing latency.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a modular Beaming Display system with a steerable remote projector and passive headset.
• Utilized a 2D position sensor on the projector to detect IR-LED light from the headset for tracking.
• Employed analog closed-loop control of a steering mirror for continuous image projection onto the moving headset.
• Developed a proof-of-concept prototype for evaluation.

Main Results:

• Achieved a motion-to-photon (M2P) latency of 133 μs.
• Demonstrated a functional prototype of the low-latency Beaming Display system.
• Evaluated system performance and augmented reality experience through user-perspective camera analysis.

Conclusions:

• The proposed low-latency Beaming Display system effectively reduces M2P latency.
• The modular design avoids reliance on costly high-speed devices.
• Further improvements are possible to enhance the augmented reality experience and system capabilities.