Dual-color augmented reality waveguide display for color vision assistance using color tracking

Color vision deficiency (CVD) impairs the discrimination of specific color pairs, particularly red and green, and curative treatments remain unavailable. Existing assistive approaches, such as tinted glasses, contact lenses, and screen-based recoloring methods, can improve color discrimination, but these approaches either modify the entire visual field globally or are constrained to fixed display environments. Here, we propose an augmented reality (AR) display that captures real-time real-world scenes, identifies regions of perceptual difficulty, and superimposes virtual content to assist users with CVD by integrating artificial neural network-based color tracking. The AR system incorporates a fabricated holographic optical element (HOE) integrated into compact waveguide optics, functioning as a dual-color narrowband coupler within a transparent combiner. Optical measurements confirm selective wavelength coupling, and proof-of-concept demonstrations show spatially selective overlay on the target objects. These results suggest the feasibility of HOE-based AR color vision assistance as a wearable approach for targeted color-discrimination scenarios.